Romeo and Juliet
Get this SparkNote to go!
Key Facts
full title · The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
author · William Shakespeare
type of work · Play
genre · Tragic drama
language · English
time and place written · London, mid-1590s
date of first publication · 1597 (in the First Quarto, which was likely an unauthorized incomplete edition); 1599 (in the Second Quarto, which was authorized)
publisher · Thomas Creede (in the Second Quarto, using the title The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedie, of Romeo and Juliet)
climax · The deaths of Romeo and Juliet in the Capulet tomb (5.3)
protagonists · Romeo; Juliet
antagonists · The feuding Montagues and Capulets; Tybalt; the Prince and citizens of Verona; fate
settings (time) · Renaissance (fourteenth or fifteenth century)
settings (place) · Verona and Mantua (cities in northern Italy)
point of view · Insofar as a play has a point of view, that of Romeo and Juliet; occasionally the play uses the point of view of the Montague and Capulet servants to illuminate the actions of their masters.
falling action · The end of Act 5, scene 3, when the Prince and the parents discover the bodies of Romeo and Juliet, and agree to put aside their feud in the interest of peace.
tense · Present
foreshadowing · The Chorus’s first speech declaring that Romeo and Juliet are doomed to die and “star-crossed.” The lovers’ frequent thoughts of death: “My grave is like to be my wedding bed” (Juliet, 1.5.132). The lovers’ thoughts of suicide, as when Romeo threatens to kill himself after killing Tybalt. Friar Lawrence’s warnings to behave moderately if Romeo and Juliet wish to avoid tragedy: “These violent delights have violent ends . . . Therefore love moderately” (2.5.9–14). The lovers’ mutual impression that the other looks pale and deathlike after their wedding night (3.5). Juliet’s faked death by Friar Lawrence’s potion. Romeo’s dream-vision of Juliet kissing his lips while he is dead (5.1). Romeo’s outbursts against fate: “O, I am fortune’s fool!” (3.1.131) and “Then I defy you, stars” (5.1.24).
tones · Passionate, romantic, intense, rhapsodic, violent, prone to extremes of emotion (ecstasy, rage, misery, etc.)
themes · The forcefulness of love; love as a cause of violence; the individual versus society; the inevitability of fate
motifs · Light/dark imagery; opposite points of view
symbols · Poison; thumb-biting; Queen Mab
Translation
by DenerioWillis19, October 18, 2012
I really like how they translated the quotes into modern day time.
Thanks.
90 out of 117 people found this helpful
6Vague translation
by darklove123, December 17, 2012
Everything in the translation is correct, but a huge part was not included. The last few sentences which makes a HUGE difference, Shakespeare said not to be stupid and think the play is about what the SPARKNOTES TRANSLATION says. In fact he says star-crossed lovers are not real and not to depend on it, our futures are determined by us, and not some stupid stars. He wrote this entire play to make the point Romeo and Juliet are only the symptoms of the tragedy. The tragedy is the loss of humanity in Verona as you can see in the play.... Sorry
45 out of 65 people found this helpful
1Dramatic Irony
by Shookie219, December 18, 2012
This site is wonderful but it doesn't point out some literary elements I think it should such as dramatic irony. In Act IV Scene I one of the first occurrences of dramatic irony is that Paris believes Juliet is weeping over Tybalt's death but she is weeping over Romeo which the audience knows.
It would be nice to have dramatic irony's pointed out a little!
39 out of 53 people found this helpful
1
