Probably, in all of world literature there is no such famous and great work that has not lost its relevance over the centuries as the play “Romeo and Juliet”. Who wrote this immortal creation is known to all educated people today. One of the tragedies that made William Shakespeare famous is Romeo and Juliet. Its author, a famous playwright, is recognized as the greatest of the genius personalities of the Renaissance. His story about Romeo and Juliet is permeated with a bright feeling of love, conquering not only many years of human enmity, but also death.

History of creation

"Romeo and Juliet"... Who wrote the brilliant work? It is known that before the creation of this play, several legends and short stories by other authors already existed about the love of two representatives of warring clans. Shakespeare's tragedy was based on three short stories. The earliest was written in 1562 by Arthur Brooke, a famous playwright. It was called "The Tragic Story of Romeus and Juliet." This poem is considered the direct source of the plot on which Romeo and Juliet is based.

Who wrote another prototype of Shakespeare's play is also known from the history of literature. It was the short story “Romeo and Juliet”, created by one of the famous Italian writers of the 16th century, Matteo Bandello. Even later, the Italian writer and historiographer Luigi Da Porto wrote the short story “The Story of Two Noble Lovers,” which almost completely repeated the plot of Shakespeare’s play.

As you know, William Shakespeare only slightly changed his previous works, for example, in the early plays the action took place over a longer period of time - about nine months. In Shakespeare, according to the plot, five days are allocated for everything that happens.

"Romeo and Juliet". Summary

In the play, the author describes the events that take place in the Italian city of Verona. Two warring clans, two families - the Montagues and the Capulets - have been competing with each other for a long time. Their enmity either subsides or resumes again. The last outbreak begins with a squabble among the servants, then turns into a real massacre. Romeo Montague, the heir to one of the families, does not participate in the bloodshed; he is busy thinking about winning the noble beauty Rosaline, whose heart he wanted to conquer. His friends - Mercutio and Benvolio - are trying in every possible way to distract him from his heavy thoughts, but Romeo continues to be sad.

At this time, a cheerful holiday is planned in the Capulet family. These people do not have aristocratic roots, but they are very wealthy, and with the help of organized balls they strive to further demonstrate their wealth and luxury. A relative of the Duke himself is invited to their celebration - Count Paris, who falls under the spell of the beautiful Juliet and asks the head of the family for her hand. Juliet's father gives his consent, despite his daughter's young age. Juliet is only 13 years old.

At this time, Romeo's friends invite him to put on a mask and sneak into the Capulet house for a ball to have fun. Romeo agrees. One of the relatives of the Capulet family - Tybalt - recognizes Romeo as the son of Montague, with whom there is enmity. But at this time Romeo sees Juliet, falls in love with her at first sight and forgets about his former lady love Rosaline. Juliet also falls in love with Romeo, they hide from everyone and take an oath of devotion to each other.

Late in the evening after the ball, Juliet goes out onto the balcony and begins to talk out loud about her feelings for Romeo, he hears her words and confesses his reciprocal attraction to her. The lovers are planning to get married. Early in the morning, Brother Lorenzo, a minister of the monastery of St. Francis, helps them with this.

At the same time, Mercutio and Tybalt meet by chance. A quarrel breaks out between them, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. Romeo is forced to avenge the death of his friend, he kills Tybalt. After this, the young man hides so as not to incur the wrath of the Duke. He is forced to flee the city. Before this, Romeo spends the night with Juliet, the approach of dawn means their separation. Listening to the morning chirping of the larks, they say goodbye.

The Capulet family is determined to marry Juliet to Count Paris, and the bride's parents begin preparations for the wedding. The girl, in desperation, seeks consolation from her brother Lorenzo, and he offers her an insidious plan - to drink a drink that will plunge her into a deep sleep similar to death. Juliet will sleep, meanwhile everyone will think that she has died, and thus the fatal wedding will be avoided. Romeo is sent a letter warning him of this plan. Unfortunately, the messenger does not have time to warn Romeo due to the quarantine due to the plague, and the news of Juliet's death arrives earlier. Romeo returns to Verona to say goodbye to his beloved.

At the sight of the dead Juliet, not knowing that she is just sleeping, Romeo drinks poison, unable to imagine life without her. Juliet wakes up when Romeo is already dead. In despair, she considers herself guilty of the death of her beloved, snatching his dagger and striking herself in the heart. When the rival Montague and Capulet families learn of the tragedy, they negotiate peace - the death of their beloved children softens their hearts, and the hostility ceases. The love of Romeo and Juliet becomes atonement for all the evil the clans caused to each other.

William Shakespeare. "Romeo and Juliet". Who wrote the masterpiece

There is very little information about the life of the most talented English playwright William Shakespeare. He did not keep a diary, did not write down his memories and corresponded with practically no one. All documents bearing his signature or at least some recording made by his hand have enormous historical value.

In the small English town of Stratford, which is located on the banks of the Avon River, in 1564.

His father, a wealthy merchant, went bankrupt when William was fifteen years old. From this age he was forced to earn his own living. In 1585 William Shakespeare went to London. There he changed several professions. For example, he guarded the horses while noble gentlemen watched the performances. Then he joined the theater, where he sometimes replaced the prompter, rewrote some roles and made sure that the actors went on stage on time. Such work in the future helped him stage amazing plays, since he knew the backstage very well.

Gradually, after serving for several years, he ensured that he was given small roles on stage. Then he himself began to write and stage plays. Shakespeare is famous for his poems and sonnets. In addition to “Romeo and Juliet”, he has some other immortal creations - “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Macbeth”, “The Taming of the Shrew”, “Hamlet”, “King Lear”, “Twelfth Night”, “Much Ado About Nothing” and others. In total, 37 Shakespeare plays, 154 sonnets and 4 poems are known.

William did not invent many of his texts, but simply reworked real events - it is thanks to this talent that his works are known for their truthfulness and vitality. Shakespeare's work conveys the breath of that time - the humanistic ideas of the Renaissance. His works are thoughtful, his heroes are spiritual and strong people, they struggle with human passions and vices.

One of the main ideas of the brilliant Shakespeare: people should be assessed not by status and titles, not by level of wealth or position, but by thoughts, actions and human qualities. Shakespeare’s contribution to world culture is difficult to overestimate; his works are still relevant today, they are winning the hearts of millions of fans around the world.

William Shakespeare died at the age of 52 in 1616. He is buried in his hometown, Stratford. Numerous fans and tourists still come to his grave. Perhaps life in the town would have completely come to a standstill if the “Shakespearean” industry had not been organized in it - every sign in the city certainly points to the genius of William Shakespeare. Crowds of tourists come to Stratford every year to pay homage to the grave of the great writer and playwright.

Theater productions

The play “Romeo and Juliet” has been staged thousands of times on many stages around the world. Perhaps this play can be called one of the most popular in the repertoires of many world theaters. In Russia, the play “Romeo and Juliet” was staged at the Satyricon Theater named after. A. Raikin, in the theater. Pushkin and many others. The main characters are played by the most talented actors, great directors undertake to stage this play.

Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet” is that eternally relevant timeless classic, the production of which can be considered an honor for any theater. Musicals on the theme of unhappy lovers are constantly updated, sometimes the most unexpected details are introduced into the tragedy, the production is interpreted by the most talented people in the most unexpected way. West Side Story is one of the adaptations of Shakespeare's classic play, which premiered worldwide in 1957. The play “Romeo and Juliet” (author - Shakespeare) is a treasure of world culture; it constantly attracts many admirers of the talent of the great master.

Romeo and Juliet in cinema

Since 1900, almost since the advent of cinema, Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet in particular) has been filmed a huge number of times. Almost every year, films about the tragedy of lovers are made in different countries of the world. In France and the USA, in Great Britain and Spain, in Mexico, Belgium, Italy, Argentina, Brazil and Portugal, Romeo and Juliet are played by the best actors of world cinema. In the USSR, the film-ballet “Romeo and Juliet” was filmed in 1983, the main roles were played by Alexander Mikhailov and Olga Sirina. The last film co-produced by the USA and Italy was released in 2013. It was a success in many countries around the world and was recognized as one of the best at the end of the year.

Music

Many academic works have been written based on Shakespeare's immortal play. In 1830, the opera “Romeo and Juliet” by V. Bellini appeared, in 1839 - a symphonic poem; in 1938, a ballet to the music of Prokofiev was published.

In addition to operatic and classical versions, there are many compositions by rock bands and pop performers. Songs about Romeo and Juliet were performed by V. Kuzmin, A. Malinin, S. Penkin. The title of the play is used in the titles of albums of different groups.

Translation in literature

The work “Romeo and Juliet” (translation in Russian and not only) has been republished many hundreds of times. Based on the immortal play, short stories by G. Keller and a novel by Anne Fortier were published. The creation “Romeo and Juliet” first appeared in Russian in the second half of the 19th century. The translation by I. Raskovshenko is considered one of the best. Translations by Grekov, Grigoriev, Mikhalovsky, Sokolovsky, Shchepkina-Kupernik, and Radlova were popular among readers. The work “Romeo and Juliet” (the original was in English) translated by B. Pasternak was received especially warmly. This option is far from the most accurate, but the most beautiful and poetic. It was Pasternak who wrote the lines “But the story of Romeo and Juliet will remain the saddest in the world...”.

Curious facts

Until now, tourists in Verona are offered to visit the houses of Romeo and Juliet, and even their graves. In fact, it is known that these attractions have nothing to do with Shakespeare's literary characters. However, in the courtyard of the house where Juliet supposedly lived, there is a statue of her, cast in bronze. Local legend says that anyone who touches her breasts will find happiness and love.

Another interesting fact is that in Italy, when talking about Shakespeare’s play and its characters, it is customary to mention first the girl’s name and then the guy’s name - Juliet and Romeo. For the Russian language, it is more common to use names in the title in reverse.

Juliet's balcony is an important detail of any production or film about the legendary lovers. However, it is known that in Shakespeare’s original version it is not about the balcony - Romeo simply listened to her speech from the window. However, over time, Juliet’s balcony became one of the significant details of all productions about lovers. Guides in Verona still show numerous tourists exactly the balcony on which Juliet stood.

Historical figures or literary characters?

The story of Romeo and Juliet is beautiful and very tragic. Many researchers, historians and literary scholars are concerned with the question of whether the characters in Shakespeare's play actually lived. It is known that some personalities really existed - for example, Escala, mentioned by Shakespeare, was in reality Duke Bartolomeo I della Scala. It is approximately established what year is described in the play - 1302.

Italy of that time was indeed characterized by various conflicts, when various clans competed for titles and nobility of the family. The American historian Olin Moore devoted several years to studying the legend of the lovers, and thanks to his research, it was possible to find out that precisely in those years in question, there really were two clans with very similar surnames in Verona - Dal Capello and Monticoli. There was actually a confrontation between them, which was explained by the different parties whose adherents these families were. The history of the city indicates that in fact there lived a girl who did not reciprocate the feelings of a high-ranking official and married a poor young man, despite pressure from relatives. took revenge on them, and the lovers died during torture, never admitting any guilt and not parting even after death.

It is quite possible that the story of unhappy lovers described by Shakespeare in his tragedy was based on real events, but slightly changed by the author and decorated with artistic details for greater expressiveness.

Symbol of eternal love

The tragedy about two unhappy lovers, written by the great W. Shakespeare, has not lost its relevance for several centuries. The story took place more than four hundred years ago, but the theme still lives on in numerous theatrical productions, in sculpture and painting, in music and cinema. Perhaps all of humanity with its diverse culture would have become noticeably poorer if Shakespeare had not written his brilliant work.

The story of Romeo and Juliet is the most touching and beautiful story known to the world. Young people are recognized as a symbol of high feelings, devotion and fidelity, eternal love and its power over death and time. This play has many fans - there is a Museum of Love, which displays all the exhibits that testify to the veracity of the story of Romeo and Juliet. There are clubs for fans of legendary lovers. You can even write a letter to Juliet - in one of her clubs there are special secretaries who receive messages in different languages, read them and respond on behalf of Juliet.

On February 14, this club chooses the most touching and romantic story, and the author of the letter receives a gift from Juliet. A thirteen-year-old girl, stricken by deep feelings, is revered by her fans as the one who can bless lovers, give them confidence and bring them true happiness.

In Verona, the legend of lovers is very popular to this day - there is a travel agency and a hotel named after Juliet, pastry shops sell cakes of the same name, guides give tours of mansions that supposedly belonged to the Montague and Capulet families. The name “Romeo and Juliet” is given to champagne, confectionery, furniture, flowers and aromas - everything that one wants to consider romantic and beautiful. In general, you can see that the industry also supports the Romeo and Juliet brand with pleasure and benefit - their story sells well, and manufacturers cannot help but take advantage of this.

It doesn’t really matter whether Shakespeare’s heroes actually existed; people still want to believe in a fairy tale, not lose hope and dream of a feeling as strong and pure as Romeo and Juliet. As long as we are able to love, the story of Romeo and Juliet will remain one of the most popular and most romantic in world culture.

The first of Shakespeare's "great tragedies" is one of those plays whose dating is quite difficult to determine. Nevertheless, many stylistic features allow us to attribute the play to Shakespeare's early works. The comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, undoubtedly dated 1595, helps, where the legend of Pyramus and Thisbe, very close to the story of Romeo and Juliet, is depicted comically, performed by amateur actors. This comical and archaic-looking plot represents Shakespeare's farewell to antiquity, which is now used only in the mention of famous figures. The time will come when Shakespeare will again turn to ancient plots, but his approach will be completely different. In the meantime, he laughs and even allows himself, through Pyramus and Thisbe, to slightly parody Romeo and Juliet, which is still quite close to antiquity.

Since a number of circumstances allow us to assert that “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” was written immediately before “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, since in the 1590s Shakespeare always wrote two plays a year, and it is obvious that “Titus Andronicus”, staged on January 24, 1594, was created in the previous year, it is logical to assume: “Romeo and Juliet” was written in the first half of 1594.

The play was clearly a great success and was published four times before the First Folio (1597, 1599, 1609 and once again in an unknown year). The first edition is much shorter than the second (2232 lines instead of 3007), which led to speculation that Shakespeare had altered the original version. Then, as in many similar cases, it was proven that the first quarto was pirated, with distorted and abbreviated text. So, Shakespeare created Romeo and Juliet immediately after Titus Andronicus, clearly trying not to repeat himself and write a completely different tragedy. However, the plot, although it may seem paradoxical, was ancient. The love story of two representatives of warring families has been used many times in ancient literature; The most famous is the above-mentioned story of Pyramus and Thisbe.

The revival of interest in antiquity and the vital relevance of the topic led to the fact that this plot became very popular in Renaissance Italy. Masuccio the Salernitan was the first to turn to him (short story 36 in the book Novellino, 1476). The action took place in Siena, and the characters had different names. However, already in Luigi da Porto (“The Story of Two Noble Lovers”, around 1524) Siena was replaced by Verona, the names Romeo and Juliet were used, as well as the surnames Montague and Capulet, borrowed from Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. I liked the plot; it was processed by Bolderi (“Unhappy Love”, 1553), Bandello (“Stories”, 1554), Luigi Groto (tragedy “Adriana”, published in 1578). Finally, Girolamo della Corta, in his book “History of Verona” (1594-1596), depicted the fictitious story as a true incident. Soon a fake tomb of Romeo and Juliet was erected, which is still shown to tourists today and brings a lot of income to the city.

It is little known, but another great playwright, Lope de Vega, used this theme in the play “Castelvins and Montes” (circa 1600). However, his tragedy cannot in any way compare in its popularity and significance with Shakespeare's tragedy.

In 1562, the English poet Arthur Brooke wrote the poem Romeo and Juliet, freely handling the plot. Brook mentions that he saw a play based on this plot. Unless it is his invention (no evidence has ever been discovered), the play was most likely written in Latin, quite typical of the time; in addition, Brooke names the main character in the Latin form Romeus. The statements of some Shakespeare scholars (for example, A. Smirnov) that Brooke’s poem, which Smirnov himself called slow and unartistic, served as Shakespeare’s source, do not look convincing.

Shakespeare's source was, of course, the most famous of the Italian short stories - that of Matteo Bandello. Shakespeare could have used Painter's translation in The Palace of Pleasures (1565-1567); however, most likely he read the novella himself.

Getting acquainted with Bandello's novella makes a strong impression - it seems that you are reading a short retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy. Exactly following someone else's plot, Shakespeare supplemented it with bright, colorful lyrics and made the images of the characters much deeper. Several comic scenes with the participation of servants were added, and the image of the nurse was made colorful.

Thanks to Brooke's poem and Painter's translation, the story of Romeo and Juliet was well known in England, and Shakespeare took the liberty of opening the play with the words of the Chorus, played by one actor. These words, expressed in sonnet form, set out the main storylines. The only time in his dramaturgy Shakespeare indicates the time of the performance - two hours (the plot itself lasts only five days!). The chorus appears again at the beginning of the second act, but Shakespeare does not resort to this device again.

The massacre carried out by two warring families has already been mentioned, and in the very first scene, viewers can watch the beginning of another fight. The servants start it, but very quickly they are joined by noble representatives of both families. The behavior of the bailiff and the townspeople speaks volumes; The bailiff calls for beating both the Montagues and the Capulets. It is clear that the residents of Verona are fed up with the protracted conflict. Their view is shared by the Duke, who forces the fighters to disperse on pain of death and strives to stop the riots. He takes the elder Capulet with him, and orders the elder Montague to appear to him during the day. Romeo separated from both his family and the bloody quarrel. He is consumed by love for a certain Rosaline. His cousin and friend Benvolio persuades him to go to the Capulets' ball, where Rosaline should be there. Romeo agrees.

Mercutio, another friend of Romeo, who does not belong to the ill-fated family (he is a relative of the Duke), comes to the ball along with Romeo and Benvolio. Tybalt, the nephew of Signora Capulet, recognizes Romeo and informs the head of the family about this. But Capulet pacifies Tybalt - he does not want to offend Romeo, who, according to him, behaves like a true nobleman. Most importantly, he considers the manifestation of anger during the holiday inappropriate. Tybalt is forced to accept his decision, although Tybalt's aggressiveness does not weaken at all.

Meanwhile, without seeing Rosaline, Romeo turns his attention to Juliet. He manages to talk to her, he even kisses her. And only after she leaves does he learn that it was Capulet’s daughter. Juliet also learns (from her nurse) who Romeo is.

It has become a typical statement that Romeo's love for Rosaline was insincere, far-fetched, and only after meeting Juliet did he truly fall in love. In fact, such a sharp transition shows that Romeo's love is the love of a young man incapable of deep feelings. It exists as if by itself; the beloved's personality is secondary. Brother Lorenzo defines him and many like him very accurately: “In your eyes, passion is not in your heart” (hereinafter translated by T. Shchepkina-Kupernik).

It is not for nothing that the play takes place in July: the summer heat of Verona heats up both love and hatred. Romeo is brave; the feeling of prohibition only strengthens his love for Juliet.

Juliet behaves differently. As often happens with girls, she matured earlier. She is younger than Romeo, just about to turn fourteen years old, but in fact she is older. She loves because she feels sincere and deep love. Juliet is smart and educated; arguing that the name Montague cannot influence her love, she utters the famous philosophical words about the “name of the rose”:

What's in a name? What we call a rose -
And under a different name it would be saved
Your sweet smell!

She talks philosophically, and for Romeo, “Juliet is dearer than all philosophy.” Their conversations resemble conversations between a teenager and an adult woman. She, expressing her thoughts beautifully and deeply, is forced to interrupt his euphuistic cliches, debunked by Shakespeare in Love's Labour's Lost:

I swear to you by the sacred moon,
What silvers the flowering trees...;

How much deeper is Juliet's answer:

Oh, do not swear by the fickle moon,
The moon, changing its appearance so often...

It is no coincidence that the tragedy ends with the words not about “the story of Romeo and Juliet,” as it happened in Russian translations, but “about the story about Juliet and her Romeo.”

Brother Lorenzo plays a large role in the play. He is a Franciscan monk, but no religious feelings are visible in him. More like a scientist. Already in the first monologue, he talks about flowers, herbs, stones, and reflects on the contradictions of nature:

There is no most vile thing in the world,
So that we cannot find any benefit in it,
But we will take the best substance,
And if only we turn him away
From its true purpose, -
It will only contain deception and seduction...

There is nothing surprising. Until the 17th century, science was strongly controlled by the church. Many became monks not because of faith in God, but because of the desire to quietly engage in science. This was clearly Brother Lorenzo. Romeo is surprised that Lorenzo condemns the changes in his feelings: after all, he also condemned him for his love for Rosaline. Lorenzo explains that he condemned not for love, but for stupid ardor. He considers Romeo's new love to have the same stupid ardor. At the same time, Lorenzo hopes that this turn will help end the feud between the two families. He secretly marries Romeo and Juliet. Meanwhile, in the piazza, Mercutio and Benvolio meet Tybalt; Romeo also appears. Mercutio and Tybalt begin to fight. Romeo tries to stop them, but nothing works. Romeo even turns out to be to blame; from under his hand, Tybalt mortally wounds Mercutio and runs away. Mercutio dies, having twice uttered the famous phrase: “A plague on both your houses!” That Mercutio, who in the first act pronounced a brilliant monologue about Queen Meb (Queen Mab), about whom Pushkin wrote that after Juliet and Romeo (Pushkin also calls Juliet before Romeo) he “is the most remarkable person in the whole tragedy.” Shocked, Romeo enters into battle with the returning Tybalt and takes revenge on him for his friend. Then, at Benvolio's request, he flees. The Duke who appears, given the circumstances, does not sentence Romeo to execution, but announces his exile. Juliet, listening to the incoherent speeches of the nurse (“He died, died, died!”), first thinks that Romeo died, then that both Romeo and Tybalt died. Finally, she realizes that Romeo killed Tybalt and survived. She forgives her husband for the murder of her cousin. (It must be said that the archaic theme of blood feud continued to remain relevant many years after the writing of Romeo and Juliet. In 1636-1637, famous plays were written dealing with this topic. Tirso de Molina created Pious Martha, where the main character , showing great dexterity and cunning, manages to save her beloved, who, in self-defense, killed her brother, and marry him. Pierre Corneille in the famous tragedy “The Cid,” based on Spanish romances, showed how Ximena married the Cid, who , avenging his father’s honor, killed her father in a duel). Romeo spends his wedding night with Juliet and leaves for Mantua. Lorenzo promises to inform him about what is happening. Juliet's parents are planning her marriage to Paris, another relative of the Duke. Paris is handsome, noble, loves Juliet. However, as the nurse says, he is “as if cast from wax.” His name, apparently, is not accidental, because ancient Paris was the culprit of the Trojan War. Thus, the name of Paris symbolizes that after his illegal marriage with Juliet, the feud between the families will become even worse. Lorenzo advises Juliet to agree and then drink the liquid he prepared, after which she will look dead, but then, buried in the crypt, she will come to her senses. He intends to write to Romeo about this: he will come for her and take her to Mantua. Juliet has no choice. And here the ancient tragedy of fate begins. Juliet is mistaken for dead and buried in the crypt. Brother Giovanni, whom Lorenzo asked to carry a letter for Romeo, was not allowed into Mantua. His servant Balthazar, who came to Romeo, informed him of Juliet’s death. Romeo goes to Verona. This is no longer the same boy we saw at the beginning. Considering his beloved wife to be dead, having experienced the death of a friend, he became different. Back in Mantua, he bought poison from a pharmacist, and now he is heading to the crypt. Paris, who brought flowers to the supposedly dead Juliet, sees Romeo getting ready to open the crypt. He perceives this as an outrage and wants to arrest Romeo. But he resists and kills Paris. Dying, Paris asks to be placed in the crypt next to Juliet. Romeo fulfills his request. He himself drinks the poison. Lorenzo enters the crypt and finds Romeo dead. Juliet wakes up. There is a noise. Lorenzo wants to leave and invites Juliet to do it with him. However, she wants to stay. Lorenzo leaves, not expecting her to commit suicide (and, it would seem, there is no way to do this). However, Juliet finds Romeo's dagger and stabs herself. The situation is strikingly similar to the story of Pyramus and Thisbe. Here occurs the only significant difference from Bandello's novella, which Shakespeare allowed himself. In the story, after the death of Romeo and Juliet, the families reconciled, buried them in the same grave, but then the enmity flared up again (apparently, this is what inspired Grigory Gorin to create the play “A Plague on Both Your Houses!” - a continuation of “Romeo and Juliet”, where the Montagues and The Capulets are at war again.) But Shakespeare followed the canons of Elizabethan tragedy and had to end the play with the restoration of the destroyed harmony. Therefore, the feud between the two families ends forever. It is worth noting that both Romeo and Juliet committed suicide, that is, they committed the most terrible Christian sin (the most terrible, because it can no longer be redeemed). But it seems that Shakespeare did not care at all. This is how his tragedy differs from Brooke’s poem. In addition, despite certain sympathies, the love of Romeo and Juliet is shown, if not as a sin, then as excessive passion and delusion that caused punishment. Shakespeare created a tragedy of great love, where the heroes, having died, reconciled their families.

Two facts prompted me to write this note. First, the newest translation of “Romeo and Juliet” directed by Ivan Didenko has now appeared online, which I listened to with pleasure, and I must say, this is the best thing that has happened to Shakespeare’s tragedy in the last 100 years.

Secondly, a post about “how old we all are” began to circulate on social networks again, where it was mentioned that Juliet’s mother was 28 years old, and this is absolutely not true. The note contains 12 quick facts about the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”, after reading which, I hope, you will want to read the new translation of the play, because it is incredibly good. So, let's go!

1. First and foremost. Shakespeare did not create a play about two star-crossed lovers from Verona from scratch. By the time the tragedy was staged at the Globus Theater, the whole of Europe already knew this story. The first to put it into literary form was the Italian writer Luigi da Porto. In 1530, he published The Newly Found History of Two Noble Lovers, but the novella gained its greatest fame in the interpretation of Matteo Bandello, another Italian writer, who reworked the plot of da Porto in his own way. By the way, Bandello is also the author of the short stories that later formed the basis of the plays “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Twelfth Night,” so researchers, not without reason, believe that Shakespeare was inspired by his version of the tragedy.

Romeo and Juliet, film adaptation by Franco Zeffirelli

2. If we talk about Luigi da Porto, then, as many literary scholars believe, the plot of Romeo and Juliet is based on the writer’s autobiography. Luigi was in love with his cousin, 16-year-old Lucina Savornian from the Italian city of Udine, and it was she who became the prototype for Juliet. The lovers were involved in family feuds and as a result, Lucina married someone else. To this day, many Udine guides call this city the place where the plot of the well-known tragedy originated.

3. Another point on the map of Italy associated with “Romeo and Juliet” is the town of Montecchio Maggiore, located near Vicenza, where Luigi da Porto lived and worked. There are two castles on the neighboring hills - former Scaliger fortresses, built for defensive purposes. Today everyone calls them “the castles of Romeo and Juliet”, they say that Luigi da Porto, who described the confrontation between two families, was inspired by these very fortresses. In addition, the name of the town of Montecchio is consonant with the surname of Romeo Montague, which, of course, is not without reason. Today, castles have restaurants and, for obvious reasons, they are most often rented for weddings. In the courtyard of “Juliet’s castle” the current owners even installed a white statue of Romeo for some reason holding an apple.

OUR VIDEO ABOUT ROMEO AND JULIET CASTLES

4. Juliet's surname "Capulet" is a corruption of the Italian surname "Cappelleti", which means "Shlyapnikova". So, translated into Russian, the main character of Shakespeare’s tragedy is called simply: “Yulia Shlyapnikova.”

5. The play takes place between 1301 and 1304. Where does such accurate information come from? It's simple: the text of Luigi da Porto indicates that at this time Bartolomeo I della Scala was the Podestà of Verona, and he ruled the city from 1301 to 1304.

6. It is possible to determine with relative accuracy the month when the tragic events occurred. Most likely, Romeo and Juliet met, fell in love, got married and died in late April - early May. Here everything is also very simple: during the first wedding night they hear birds singing, and brother Lorenzo, in the scene when Romeo asks to marry him and Juliet, collects spring flowers and herbs for potions.

7. Juliet's mother is believed to be 28 years old. This is not so, most likely, she is only 25. Do the math yourself: at the time of the tragedy, Juliet is “not yet fourteen years old,” while her mother mentions that she “gave birth to her before,” that is, at 12. By the way, this particular one the age was considered in the fourteenth century to be the "age of first youth". 12 + 13 = 25. Or 24, if Juliet's mother was completely unlucky.

8. The name “Juliet” indicates two aspects at once. Firstly, that the girl is very young, because in Italy this is a childish address to a female person named “Julia”. Moreover, in the story by Luigi da Porto (the first version of this story), the main character is already 18 years old, but in Shakespeare she is only 13. Secondly, the name Juliet tells us that the girl was born in July. For those who doubt it: the Nurse mentions that Juliet will turn fourteen on Peter's Day - July 29th.

9. Apparently, Juliet's father and the Nurse had an intimate relationship in the past. The Nurse herself hints at this: in the scene of preparation for the wedding of Juliet and Paris, she calls Senor Capulet “an old libertine.” By the way, if we look at the realities of Northern Italy in the 14th century, this is quite likely. The nurses here often became former “common-law wives” of influential lords, that is, mistresses from the lower classes who taught young people of the upper class in the art of family life and love. Relations with them, as a rule, ceased after the lord married as an equal. Then the girls got married, gave birth, and then moved into the category of wet nurses: you wouldn’t trust your little blood to an unfamiliar woman?

10. Everyone knows the famous scene on the balcony: when Romeo and Juliet first declare their love for each other and agree on marriage. In fact, neither Shakespeare nor other versions of the tragedy have any trace of a balcony. Juliet stands at the window, which is closed with shutters, then opens them, looks at the stars, and then Romeo, sighing under the window, makes himself known, after which their famous dialogue begins.

This is especially noticeable if you read the original text. It is not for nothing that the balcony does not appear in the scene of the first wedding night: Romeo climbs in and out through the window. Where did he come from? It’s all the fault of the theatrical tradition, which became entrenched over time, and everyone began to associate the scene of declaration of love with a balcony, which Romeo, of course, according to the laws of the genre, must climb, risking his life.

In the photo: Juliet's balcony in Verona

11. If we talk about Shakespeare's text, then know that everything we read today is just a pirated version of the play. Shakespeare's works were not published, it was just that competitors who came to the Globe Theater recorded the action by ear, so the same Hamlet today exists in very different versions. Another important point: the play was written for the crowd, so it contains an unimaginable amount of all kinds of obscenities and jokes below the belt of some Pavel Volya. But, starting from the 18th century, when theater began to be perceived to a greater extent as a sublime and noble art, producers began to systematically erase obscenities from the original text. In the classical Russian translations of the tragedy, there are no obscenities left at all.

12. Filmmakers and even theater directors most often remove the same scene from Shakespeare's play. It takes place in a cemetery when Romeo, heading to Juliet’s tomb, meets Paris on his way, and a duel occurs between the young people. As a result, Romeo kills the groom with his beloved, after which he takes his body to the crypt. This episode is not in Zeffirelli’s classic film, nor in the modernized adaptation of the tragedy with Leonardo DiCaprio, nor, of course, in the musical. Apparently, the directors are diligently getting rid of the ambiguity of the image of Romeo, and besides, they do not want to distract the audience’s attention from the story of two lovers, which brings the play closer to the pre-Shakespearean versions: the texts of Luigi da Porto and Matteo Bandello.

William Shakespeare occupies, perhaps, the most important place in world literature; this brilliant playwright and poet has no equal to this day. In 8th grade, when preparing for literature lessons, it will be useful to familiarize yourself with the analysis of Shakespeare's work, which is presented in our article. In “Romeo and Juliet” the analysis has a number of features that distinguish it from ordinary plays by other authors.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing – 1594-1595.

History of creation– “Romeo and Juliet” is a creative interpretation of a plot already existing in literature.

Subject– the struggle of loving people for their feelings with society and circumstances, love and death.

Composition– a ring composition built on parallel oppositions in all 5 acts.

Genre- a tragedy in 5 acts.

Direction– romanticism.

History of creation

In literary criticism there is quite a bit of information that can be considered reliable about the history of Shakespeare’s creation of his immortal masterpiece. It is known that the plot and even the names of the characters have already appeared in literature, but they received a brilliant embodiment only in the tragedy of W. Shakespeare.

The writing of the tragedy dates back to 1594-95. In 1597 the play was first published. A similar plot, telling about the love of two young people from warring families, was written by the Roman poet Ovid. The basis for Shakespeare's work was obviously the poem “The Tragic History of Romeus and Juliet” by Arthur Brooke.

It is interesting that a similar plot existed in world literature not only before, but also after Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet. Many variations of this plot appear in art to this day. A deep and thorough analysis of the origins of the plot of the work gives the right to believe that the story that happened to the lovers was actually a reality and was preserved as a legend in oral form.

William Shakespeare took only the plot of the work as the basis for the story; his play describes 5 days in the life of lovers. For A. Brook, the effect lasts about 9 months. The English poet and playwright changed the season, added several bright scenes, and revised many essential details. His work is neither a parody nor a copy of any other, it is an original and original play, the glory of which has passed through the centuries.

Subject

The meaning of the work It is revealed to the reader rapidly already in the first act: a person’s life can be full only when he has a choice. Love theme, which permeates the entire work (the characters love, talk about the essence of this feeling, philosophize about the types of love) is revealed in many ways: mother’s love, love of life, love and marriage, passion, unrequited love, family love. The nurse loves Juliet sincerely, like a mother, the main characters face the first most reverent feeling in their lives, even the priest, respecting the love of young hearts, breaks the rules and marries lovers without the consent of their parents.

Issues of anger, revenge and unforgiveness are also strong in the overall outline of the play, they keep pace with love and death. Issues of the play versatile, like the lives of the heroes themselves. Idea of ​​the play– affirmation of the human right to free choice in love. It is not difficult to determine what the play teaches the reader: you need to fight for your feelings, this is the meaning of human life. The lovers made the only possible conclusion: they were not destined to be together in earthly life. No matter how scary it is to talk about such things at such a young age, the morality and morals of Shakespeare’s contemporary society were based precisely on such values.

Present in the tragedy theme of fighting against God, which critics consider quite significant: a secret wedding, murders and revenge, attempts to deceive fate on the part of the priest, Romeo’s participation in a masquerade dressed as a monk. The dialogues and monologues of the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedy have become the most quoted and recognizable in all world literature. The reasoning of young hearts about the essence of love turned out to be so vital that their lives went far beyond the boundaries of fiction and music.

Composition

The entire structural composition rests on symmetrical opposition. In the first act, the servants of the masters meet, in the second - the nephews of the Montagues and Capulets, then - the heads of the warring clans: duels, quarrels, feuds, murders - there are no trifles here, they play in life in a big way.

In the last act, the Montagues and Capulets appear on stage, and the feud ends. Children find new life in gold sculptures. The play has an exposition (the meeting of the servants of the opposing families), a beginning (the meeting of Romeo and Juliet at the ball), a climax (the scene in the crypt) and a denouement - the scene of the reconciliation of families and the narration of Friar Lorenzo.

The composition of the play takes on ring structure precisely because of parallel conflicts. The monologues of the main characters about conscience, passion, love and honor form a special layer in the composition of the play: they are the inner essence of the work.

Main characters

Genre

Tragedy was popular during the Renaissance; this genre involved an insoluble conflict and a very disastrous ending. However, from the perspective of the semantic component, the lovers still won, they managed to reunite. In terms of content, love wins, it triumphs over revenge and anger, because warring families make peace around the lifeless bodies of their children.

Shakespeare's tragedies are special for their sensuality, tension and acute tragedy. A feature of the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet,” which dates back to the early period of the writer’s work, is its satirical intensity. The author puts subtle humor and gentle irony into the mouths of many characters. Several centuries later, Shakespeare's tragedies became the model and standard of this genre. During the 20th century, the play was filmed in many countries about 50 times.

Work test

Rating analysis

Average rating: 3.9. Total ratings received: 486.

The story tells of a tragic ending love between a boy and a girl due to hostile confrontation between two noble Italian families Montagues and Capulets. The work is included in the compulsory school curriculum.

For many decades, a young couple has symbolized a beautiful love that can overcome any enmity. What preceded the appearance of this tragic story, who is the author who wrote the play “Romeo and Juliet”, brief content and meaning - we will talk about all this in more detail.

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The author and his intention

First, let's look at who wrote this wonderful work. The author is considered a famous English writer, playwright, poet William Shakespeare, who composed the best sonnets and plays.

The history of creation is traditional. The staged death of a girl, which led to the suicide of her loved one, and then to her real death - this plot has already been used more than once in many works long before the play was written. An example of this is the poem “ Metamorphoses» Ovid, whose main characters are Pyramus and Thisbe, residents of the city of Babylon.

The lovers, despite the opposition of their father and mother, decided meet secretly under the cover of darkness. Thisbe appeared first, but when she saw the bloody lion, she began to run.

When Pyramus arrived, he saw his beloved’s handkerchief covered in blood (during her flight, Thisbe dropped it and the lion tore it) and realized that the girl is dead, so he stabbed himself with a sword. Returning, Thisbe discovered the dying Pyramus and also threw her chest at the sword.

Shakespeare inserted this plot into the comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, so it is logical to conclude that he was well acquainted with it.

This poem became the basis for many similar works by other authors. Luigi da Porto, a writer who lived in Italy, wrote the famous novella " The story of two noble lovers" The plot is very similar to Shakespeare's play, only with some differences.

Attention! The girl in the Italian writer’s short story managed to wake up even when her beloved was alive, but Shakespeare’s Juliet was not.

In addition, there is an assumption that Shakespeare took the plot from the poem “ The tragic story of Romeus and Juliet", authored by Arthur Brooke. He, in turn, took some elements from Italian short stories by Matteo Bandello, as well as the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer. It is this version of the creation story that is considered reliable.

This topic was developed by many writers, but it is generally accepted that a masterpiece of the highest level came from the pen of William Shakespeare that no one will dispute.

Reliability of the stated facts

The authenticity of the story, unfortunately, not proven. But the historical background of the story, the basis of life, traditions may indicate that there is a possibility of existence there was never such a love story in the city of Verona.

The existence of life sources can be evidenced by da Porto's novella, which William could partially take as a basis. Stories about the unhappy love of couples of that time in Italy serve basis for the plot, the use of real surnames of clans that really were at enmity with each other (I even mentioned this).

Genre of the work

Those who do not know this masterpiece well (or know only by hearsay) will find it difficult to determine its writing form. This is a play written in tragedy genre.

True, such a statement causes heated debate among critics: although everything ends sadly, the narrative is saturated joy, love, and most of all with light sadness without serious tragedy.

There is no darkness or strong drama in the play (this is what is present in other works).

A purely theoretically described story cannot be novel or story. The novel, as a rule, is of long form, covers a significant period of time and describes the fate of many characters.

Here the action takes place over five days, the center of the play is the life of the two main characters. The story should also be more complex and larger in volume. But the main difference of the work is sonnet form.

What did the author want to tell the reader?

What are the characters in the play like? Some of the heroes belong to the Capulet family, in which Juliet was brought up, the second part - Montague (surname Romeo).

The Capulet family is represented by:

• Signor Capulet is the head of the family;
• Senora Capulet - the lord's wife;
• Juliet is their daughter;
• Tybalt - Juliet's cousin, nephew;
• The nurse is the kind nanny of the main character.

Members of the Montague family:

• Signor Montague - head of the family;
• Senora Montague - the wife of the lord;
• Romeo is their son;
• Abram - servant;
• Benvolio is the protagonist’s friend, his father’s servant;
• Balthazar is the servant of the main character.

Residents of Verona, noble people:

• Escalus - Duke of Verona;
• Count Paris - Juliet's future husband;
• Mercutio is a relative of the Duke, a friend of the protagonist.

Exposition

The play begins with a fight between servants who belong to two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, who are at war with each other. The Supreme Ruler separates the fighters. This background shows the dreams of the main character: his thoughts are filled with Rosaline with whom he is in love. His friend Benvolio suggests taking a break and finding another girl. Simultaneously in Juliet's house preparing for the ball in honor of the fact that she is already the bride of Count Paris, a rich young man from a noble family.

The beginning

Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio, thirsting for thrills, secretly come to the ball, hosted by the Capulet family. Romeo and Juliet meet their gazes, and between them love is born. Juliet's cousin Tybalt recognizes Romeo, who was not killed only because of the desire not to completely ruin the feast. After this, the main character hides under my lover's balcony and detects her presence. A dialogue begins between them, at the end of which they swear love to each other. In the hope of future peace between the warring clans, brother Lorenzo crowns the lovers.

Friends Benvolio and Mercutio, not without disastrous consequences, meet Tybalt in the square, who intends to kill their friend. Who did Tybalt kill? Mercutio, which Romeo could not come to terms with, so took the life of his friend's killer. He is forced to leave Verona to avoid execution, but manages to make his way to Juliet to spend the whole night talking with her.

Climax

In alarm, the girl turns to her brother Lorenzo, who advises her drink a drink, causing her to fall soundly asleep. The family will think she is no longer alive and will leave her alone.

Juliet accepts the advice. Meanwhile, Romeo acquires a poisonous drink and then returns to Verona. Near the crypt of his beloved, a battle breaks out between him and the girl’s fiancé, whom Romeo kills. Thinking Juliet is dead he takes poison and dies.

Juliet wakes up and, seeing the dead Romeo, with commits suicide with a dagger. Thus, they died together on the same day.

Denouement

Capulets and Montagues, bitterly mourning their children, resume peaceful relations. The death of the children helped them admit their mistake and make reconciliation. How old were Romeo and Juliet? A very interesting question. Juliet's age was about 13 years old(two weeks to fourteen), which is stated several times in the text itself. But how old Romeo and her lover were is not indicated exactly, but there are assumptions that somewhere 15-16 .

The essence of the play

A tragedy is a dramatic work where the hero faces a hostile world and is shown how he dies because his ideals collapse. The basis is laid acute experiences, suffering, death, collapse.

In our play, first of all, the tragedy lies in the fact that the lovers belong to warring clans. This prevents them from being together, speak openly about yours and get married. After all, in fact, they are obliged to hate each other.

The confrontation between the families leads to a fight, and a few moments later, to the murders: first of Romeo's friend, then of his beloved relative. The author showed all the cruelty of this world. Romeo's flight from execution completely deprives the lovers of the opportunity to unite their lives and be together.

The girl’s action may have saved her from an unwanted wedding, as she wanted, but in the end it brought her even greater grief: The young man committed suicide, not knowing that her beloved is alive. This is the biggest tragedy. None of the heroes could have imagined such a turn of events. Time and chance played their tragic role, because if the girl had woken up earlier, everything could have ended completely differently

Important! Not everything is so sad, because the death of the heroes served as the reason for a truce between two huge families. Who knows how many people they saved or made happy in the end.

Excerpt from the film Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Conclusion

In this masterpiece, lovers find reflection of their feelings and circumstances Not everything in our life is as smooth as we would like. The play is still widely popular among other literary works - dramatic, classical. Many saw the theatrical production. The problems addressed by the tragedy remain relevant to this day. To fully experience the atmosphere and depth of what happened, it is recommended read the whole play.