Literature lesson 5 January 2021

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5,6

Romeo and Juliet

What do you know about Romeo and Juliet?

Take notes while watching

As you watch, make notes. What do you learn about:

The Montagues

The Capulets

Juliet

Romeo

Count Paris

Tybalt

Friar Lawrence

Which character is your favourite and why?

Important facts:

1. Prose and verse

R&J is mostly written in verse, but prose is also used. Can you find it in your reader?

*verse = has a set rhythm and structure

* prose = conversational way of speaking (no rhythm)

2. Antithesis (oxymoron)

In Romeo’s ‘Banished’ speech in Act 3 Scene 3, he uses antithesis to describe how it feels to be separated from Juliet. ''Tis torture and not mercy’ (Romeo, 3:3) is just one example. Opposites like light and dark and heaven and hell are used a lot in Romeo and Juliet.

3. Dramatic irony

- an important literary device used by Shakespeare in his tragedies

- audience is aware of the fate of the characters, but the characters are unaware of the implications of the meanings

Watch this video and identify the dramatic irony.

Example in Act 1 scene 4:

Before Romeo meets Juliet at the ball, for example, he says his ‘mind misgives / Some consequence yet hanging in the stars' (Romeo, 1:4).

Key moments and facts

Act 1 scene 1: the scene is set

Act 1 scene 4: R&J meet for the first time

Act 2 scene 1 (or 2 in many editions): the balcony scene

Act 2 scene 5: R&J get married in secret

Act 3 scene 1: Romeo kills Tybalt

Act 3 scene 5: The unhappy couple are parted

Act 4 scene 1: Dangerous solution

Act 5 scene 1: Romeo finds out Juliet is 'dead' and plans suicide

Act 5 scene 3: Romeo kills Paris, drinks poison. Juliet wakes up, stabs herself to death with Romeo's knife. Montagues & Capulets are reconciled.

Listen and read along

You will listen to an extract of the play. The extract can be found in your reader page xx

Literary devices

Dramatic irony

Similes

Metaphors

Personification

Oxymoron/Antithesis

Foreshadowing

Soliloquy