Prologue Romeo + Juliet

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

Romeo and Juliet

Objectives

At the end of today's lesson

• I understand the start of the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
• I can translate Shakespeare's English to modern English

R+J

Prologue

1. Two households, both alike in dignity,
   
2. In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
   
3. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
   
4. Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
   
5. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
   
6. A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
   
7. Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
   
8. Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
   

9. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

10. and the continuance of their parents' rage,

11. Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,

12. is now the two hours' traffic of our stage.

13. The which if you with patient ears attend,

14. What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

In which fixed verse form is the prologue written?

civil blood

bloed van burgers

both alike in dignity (line 1)
a synonym for dignity would be

1. aristocracy
2. gold diggers
3. nobility
4. working class

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes (line 5).
Which answer is a synonym for foe?

1. vow
2. friend
3. lover
4. enemy

"A pair of star-crossed lovers" (line 6)
star-crossed =

1. stare really hard
2. unlucky
3. lucky
4. a cross in a star

Who will the play be about according to the prologue?

1. Romeo and Juliet
2. two households
3. a pair of lovers
4. children

What will the duration of the play be? (tip: line 12!)

1. one hour
2. two hours
3. three hours
4. unknown

PLOT SUMMARY

Activity (5 min)

• Watch the prologue
• Read the prologue
• Translate to modern English

Who will the play be about according to the prologue?

1. Romeo and Juliet
2. two households
3. a pair of lovers
4. children

Where is the story set?

What line tells us already how the story will end? Cite the first two words

Count the lines and look at the rhyme scheme? What kind of poem is this?

What you need to know

 The film is an adaptation and modernization of William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. 

While it retains the original Shakespearean dialogue, the film represents the Montagues and the Capulets as warring mafia empires, with legitimate business fronts, during contemporary America.  Swords are replaced with guns with brand names such as "Dagger" and "Sword".