The theme of Violence in Romeo and Juliet

After reviewing our history, one easily feels tempted to conclude that violence is innate to human beings. Romeo and Juliet’s Verona, for example, is a violent world whose source of violence is the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets.

 Assuming Verona is a civilized city, dialogue should have been able to solve the conflict between the two families. However, after Romeo marries Juliet, Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel, and Romeo tries to solve things peacefully, yet his attempt results in Mercutio’s death, which proves that dialogue is unable to solve conflicts in their world. On the contrary, it actually causes more violence as Mercutio’s death infuriates Romeo so much that he ends up killing Tybalt.

Furthermore, violence in Romeo and Juliet is portrayed as universal (Resnick 1): “The quarrel is between our masters, and us their men.” This shows that both masters and servants are involved in the feud. Furthermore, when the first fight scene takes place, even common people get involved in the fight, which shows violence is universal in Verona: “Down with the Montagues! Down with the Capulets.”

Unexpectedly, violence in Verona seems to be necessary because “it pushes the story forward and makes things happen” (Violence in Romeo and Juliet), and Shakespiare turns it into a source of hope (Resnick 1): It is the deaths of Romeo and Juliet that ends the feud, as if “the only way that they [Capulets and Montagues] learn is through the horrible deaths of their children” (Resnick 1).

All of the above leads to ask ourselves whether violence is inherent to human beings or not. Although at first sight that seems to be the case, it is actually not. As a matter of fact, external stimulation is more likely to result in violent behaviors rather than internal ones (Kohn). This idea is pefectly applicable to Romeo and Juliet, as the violence taking place is caused by external reasons. For example, when Romeo kills Tybalt, he does so to avenge his friend Mercutio, which is clearly an external reason.   

So classmates, do you think violence is innate to human nature? Do you agree that although violence is bad, it gets things going in Romeo and Juliet? If not, do you think dialogue could have ended the feud instead of the deaths of Romeo and Juliet (consider the duel between Tybalt and Romeo)? I’m looking forward to reading  your answers.    

Works Cited

Kohn, Alphie. “Are Humans Innately Aggressive?” www. Alfiekohn.org. alfiekohn.org/miscellaneous/aggression.htm, June 1988. Web. 07 Sep. 2014.

Resnik, Chris. “Violence in Romeo and Juliet.” pages.towson.edu. pages.towson.edu. Web. 07 Sep. 2014.

WriteWork contributors. "Violence in 'Romeo and Juliet', Shakespeare." WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 04 February, 2006. Web. 07 Sep. 2014.

Shylock: a Villain or a Victim?

Does the play The Merchant of Venice ask us to sympathize with Shylock as an oppressed outsider or hate him because he is a Jew?

The play is loaded with anti-Semitism. Shylock is constantly humiliated by Antonio and mocked by the other characters. And it is the depiction of Shylock that reinforces the stereotypes of Jews as money-hungry and wicked beings. This also reflects the historical context of the Shakespeare’s times, in which the Jewish population were not allowed in England. And according to the Anti-defamation League (2006) it is probable that people from those times shared a dislike for Jewish people.

According to the Anti-defamation League (2006), the very notion of a Jew seeking Christian flesh has a long anti-Semitic history. Jews are said to have used Christian blood for religious rituals. And they killed Christ. For these reasons, the Jews were thought to be an invention of evil. Whereas in the play, Shylock is the only obstacle for the happiness of all the other characters. His villainy is specifically Jewish because he wants Antonio’s life (a Christian life). In this sense, Shylock's malice is not a quirk of his own individual character. It is specifically Jewish.

On the other hand, there are those who intend to humanize Shylock:

I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is ? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? (Shakespeare, 1987)

These lines, according to Fuller (2014), represent a request for dignity, in which “the aggrieved speaker is laying claim to the status of full and equal membership in the human family”. As a consequence, Shylock’s lack of dignity paves the way to his marginalization of society.

 Recognition is to the identity what food is to the body–indispensable. By confirming our identity and          affirming our dignity, recognition provides assurance that our membership in the group is secure. Absent  this, our survival is at risk. Without recognition, individuals may sink dignity and recognition into self-       doubt and subgroups are marginalized and primed for exploitation (Fuller, 2014).

What Shylock is trying to convey in these lines is very important because he does not only tackles serious issues that undermine Christian values, but he also justifies his disproportionate revenge: a pound of Antonio’s flesh.

  If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his  sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge! The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction (Shakespeare, 1987).

Shylock twists interpretations of the Bible and makes use of his wit to his own benefit. Thus, he appeals to justice to take revenge. However, he is the only one who loses his fortune, daughter, and religion. Is he a victim or a villain?

               

References

            Anti-Defamation League. Anti-Semitism and The Merchant of Venice: A Discussion Guide for Educators. New York: Anti- Defamation League, 2006. Retrieved September 8, 2014, from http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/Merchant_Venice_Discussion_Guide.pdf

            Fuller, R. (2014, January 3). Dignity and Recognition Part 1. PsychologyToday. Retrieved September 8, 2014.

            Shakespeare, W., & Mahood, M. (1987). The merchant of Venice. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press.

           

Romeo and Juliet – Dire Straits: an alternate cut

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Juliet had dumped Romeo or if they had been different? Well, Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler did! I don’t know if all of you are fond of cool rock music, but in case you are, this song is a must. Besides being a classic, this piece of greatness tell us about the things that would have occurred if Juliet had been famous and had decided to kiss-her-Romeo-goodbye forever.

The song talks about how Juliet becomes famous and decides to leave Romeo, which constitutes some sort of alternate cut of Shakespeare’s novel. To me, this song tell us the way their love story would have been different if they hadn't killed themselves and had given “their dream”—as the song says—a chance. Nevertheless, it seems their dream is over and just Juliet’s dream is the one to worth living (at least that is this Juliet's opinion), so she decided they had to grow apart. After all it seems that their love wasn't meant to be, right? Well, maybe it wasn't meant to be on Earth because, in the novel, their love made them eternal—or eternally dead.

Additionally, I would like to point out one similarity that the song has with the actual novel, and that is the fact that they came from different sides, but similar in terms of "shame": in the novel, they came from families that were enemies (the Montagues and the Capulets) and in the song, they lived in streets that were different. 

Come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame
Both dirty, both mean, yes, and the dream was just the sameAnd I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is realHow can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?

What do you think, classmates? Did you like the song? What is your opinion about Mark’s version of this novel? And, finally, what do you think about the similarity I found? 

Kind regards!


Sources

Dire Straits. “Romeo and Juliet.” 27 Sept. 2009. Online Music Video. YouTube. 6 Sept. 2014.
"Romeo and Juliet". AZLyrics. Web. 6 Sept. 2014
"Romeo and Juliet (Dire Straits song)". Wikipedia. Web. 6 Sept. 2014. 

Addictive Love and Teen Suicide

Generally regarded as the greatest romance in the English language, Romeo and Juliet is actually Shakespeare's case study of what results when two youths meet at vulnerable points in their lives and are then forcibly separated: addiction, withdrawal, suicide.The play, of course, ends with the lovers killing themselves.

Romeo and Juliet is covered with death imagery and violence. But, contrary to the popular image that their warring families are the source of this violence, it stems from the lovers themselves, and is directed at themselves.

The play opens with Romeo Montague disconsolate over his lost lover, Rosaline. He and his friends decide to secretly attend a party thrown by his family's enemy, Capulet, in hopes of seeing Rosaline. Romeo is not in a good mood -- in a word, he is suicidal --and expects to "expire the term of a despised life." Instead, he spies Juliet at the party, with whom he falls in love on the spot.

Note that Romeo goes instantaneously from pathological lovesickness to total infatuation or crush. Juliet and Romeo exchange a few words and then kiss passionately. Juliet doesn't yet know if Romeo is married, and if he is, "My grave is like to be my wedding bed." Not a promising relationship at all.

Later that night, Romeo sneaks back into the Capulet building and hears Juliet profess her love for him on her balcony. The two decide then and there to be together forever. Romeo immediately rushes to Friar Laurence who is amazed by Romeo's volatility, but agrees to marry the couple. The marriage follows quickly

Trouble takes place: Romeo's friend Mercutio fights and is killed by Tybalt, a psychopathic Capulet cousin who is gunning for Romeo. Romeo kills Tybalt. The Prince of Verona banishes Romeo -this before Romeo and Juliet have consummated their marriage! When told there's bad news, Juliet asks: "Hath Romeo slain himself?"

Romeo, of course, expresses similar sentiments:

"There is no world without Verona walls,

But purgatory, torture, hell itself.

Hence-banished is banish'd from the world,

And world's exile is death: then banished,

Is death mis-term'd."

But then, the good Father resorts to pharmacology: he gives Juliet a potion to make her appear dead. She is taken to the Capulet crypt where Romeo sees her unconscious, lies beside her and poisons himself. Juliet awakens and stabs herself.

Ah, those headstrong kids!

Let me know whether you agree or not! :)


REFERENCES:

Peele, S. Addiction in Society. PsychologyToday
Shakespeare, W. Romeo and Juliet 

Gnomeo and Juliet: arousing children’s curiosity about William Shakespeare

It is well known that the tragic story of the two star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet has been told in many different ways throughout the time (films, television or books). I’m pretty sure we have watched/read some of them, and I think we could agree on that most of them are made for a young audience, performing this love story passionately and full of romance and tragedy, as it is in the original version.

Then, I wondered myself, has the film industry tried to bring Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet closer to different audiences, for example, to kids?  Looking for interesting adaptations, I found one that immediately caught my attention: Gnomeo and Juliet!

This British 2011 3D computer-animated family film, directed by Kelly Asbury, is based on William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet; nevertheless, it addresses it in a very particular way. Of course the main features of the play are kept, so in this movie we also have the Capulets and the Montagues, and the feud between them. However, the fight here has nothing to do with who rules over Verona, but it is focused on which family has the better looking garden (they are gnomes, so I guess that is what they should do!).

Several other differences can be found between the original version, and this attempt to make this masterpiece understandable for kids. For instance, this movie changes the characterization of the two lovers. In the book, they just care about each other because they are madly in love with each other; so they are willing to abandon their families and traditions to follow their hearts and build this new pure love in freedom. Nonetheless, in Gnomeo and Juliet, the main characters are always trying to help their parents in promoting the value of family, friendship, heroism and love. This may be because of the target audience of the movie (families and kids), being this one the reason why the director tried to make the movie lighter (I don’t think parents would like to have their children rebelling because of this film).

Same happens with death. This is one of the crucial points in Romeo and Juliet, but in the movie this topic is almost not covered. That is mainly because kids tend to identify themselves with the heroes of the movies, and probably the dead of one of them may have certain impact on the way they are constructing their lives and identities. What the director did to include, in a lower intensity, the topic of death inside the movie was to present the “death” of Tybalt by crashing into a wall and destroying himself. But at the end, Tybalt shows up alive and having been glued back together (they are gnomes made of ceramic, so bringing them back to life is way easier than having to use potions: you just need glue!).

Even the end is different. In both versions, the lovers fight to defend their love. However, in the animated film they decided to do it in a singular way. Gnomeo and Juliet is not about breaking the rules and opening the doors to a new era, as Romeo and Juliet was at the time it was written, but about protecting the family and ending the feud of the two sides. A William Shakespeare statue appears in the movie, saying to Gnomeo that his life should be more like the tragic lovers Romeo and Juliet, but he and gnome Juliet did otherwise. At the end of the movie, Gnomeo and Juliet are believed to be dead crushed by a fountain. In that exact moment, their parents decide to stop the feud and live in peace. But the lovers get to emerge from the ruins and now, that there is nothing that can separated them (no more hatred between their families) they can marry, and everybody lives happily in this new union of both gnome clans (I wish Romeo and Juliet were as lucky as the gnomes, but the world as we know it would be completely different if that would have happened).

In my opinion, even though it seems to be no connection between the two stories (apart from the characters names), I think this movie is a good introduction for little kids into the Shakespearean world. Reading Shakespeare literature is a challenge and, even for us, future teachers, is hard to understand it sometimes. This movie represents a good way of arousing children’s curiosity about William Shakespeare and his plays. And maybe in the future, they will feel interested in finding out about the real story, which is absolutely deeper and more meaningful.

What do you think about it? Is this a good representation of Romeo and Juliet for kids? Do you think they would understand the value of Romeo and Juliet’s love story if it is presented as it was written? (Considering that nowadays kids are more mature than we think they are).

No more spoilers (I’m sorry about that), but if you have a little brother, sister, cousin, or student, and you want him/her to know that one day, five hundred years ago, a magnificent writer existed in England, this may be a good and funny option. I’m sure he/she will enjoy the movie (and you too).

For more information, visit the official website of the movie: Gnomeo and Juliet 

Sources:

"Gnomeo & Juliet." Wikipedia. 22 Aug. 2014. Web. 4 Sept. 2014.

Heritage, Stuart. "Gnomeo and Juliet: A Gnome by Any Other Name ..." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 29 Sept. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2014

Reyes, Andromeda M. "Of Gnomes and Letters: The Most Recent Adaptations of R&J." Transmedial Shakespeare. 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 4 Sept. 2014.

The role of females in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare masterpiece Romeo and Juliet is based on the story of the two star-crossed lovers whose families hate each other because of problems that are never mentioned in the play. Even though that is the main idea in the play, it mentions different topics that can be helpful to understand some of the context of the Elizabethan era in England. One of these is how women are portrayed in the play. In the play, we have four female characters that are portrayed in a different way, each of this characters represents a vision at that specific time.

The character that old the medieval vision of women are represented by Lady Capulet and Lady Montague. The presence of both characters is almost non-existence. Lady Montague has some lines at the beginning of the play when she tries to stop Old Montague in the fight that took place in act I, while Lady Capulet has a few more lines than the other when Tybalt dies. The role of both women hold the old vision of women as weaker and inferior in comparison to man, women were considered more as an object that belongs to men rather than a person.

In this old vision "women ere governed by the rules of the society and their roles were subservient to the make member of their families"(Famous Elizabethan Women). That's why when Old Capulet arranges the marriage between his daughter and Paris, she must accept it, because of the rules of the society said so. Women were meaningless for society; they onely have to follow men orders. In act I, we can appreciate the vision that Mercutio and his friends have of women, which is as an object to satisfy men's sexual desires.

The representation of the transition between the old and the new world is represented by the Nurse, At the beginning of the play, the Nurse try hard to please Jueliet by helping her to keep in contact with Romeo, this makes us believe that this character is in the middle between Lady Capulet and Juliet; she seems to be someone who's able to adapt to the new order, However, by the middle of the play, when Romeo kills Tybalt, we notice that she is a representation of the old vision, who believes that Juliet must accept her father's will, marrying Paris and fulfilling her role as an Elizabethan women.

Finally, Juliet is the representation of the "new world". She is, perhaps, the most complex character of the play, not only because she's the leading role of women, but also because at the beginning of the play she was just a girl, then she became an adolescent when she met Romeo, and when she dies, she dies as a woman. In addition, she follows her own rules, she falls in love with someone who supposed to be her enemy, she goes against her father's will, and she takes her own decisions. Even thoug her motifs were highly related with the love that she felt for Romeo and the fate or destiny that implies being Juliet Capulet, she is the one that decides what to do with her life by drinking the poison and then committing suicide, it was not imposed by her father, nor Romeo; it was Juliet's decision.

Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I.

As far as I know, most of the female characters of William Shakespeare's play are strong enough to oppose to the society, or male character's will, also they ae abley to take their own decisions. I believe this important characteristic is the one that reflects the attitude of the most important women in England at that time, the Queen Elizabeth I. This have been extremely important in the empowerment of Shakespeare female characters; I won't doubt that the Queen was a sort of inspiration source for Shakespeare althoug his plays were not hundred per cent original, he contributed to create a vision of women as a stronger and intelligent than people at that time believe it. Juliet's death in the play doesn't represent the end of this new world vision; on the contrary, it is the first step that generates a change in the way of thinking. 

If you want to know a little bit more about women in Elizabethan times, you can read this one page handout that makes references about women in Elizabethan era.

Sources

Famous Elizabethan Women. 2012. Famous Elizabethan Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/famous-elizabethan-women.htm.

Romeo and Juliet: An Exploration of Gender Roles | Under the Fallen Leaves. 2013. Romeo and Juliet: An Exploration of Gender Roles | Under the Fallen Leaves. [ONLINE] Available at: http://underthefallenleaves.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/romeo-and-juliet-an-exploration-of-gender-roles/.

Mad love

"When love is not madness, it is not love."

― Pedro Calderón de la Barca

I have always thought that being in love is a feeling very similar to being mad or crazy; it is like being deeply attracted to something that makes us feel an inexplicable passion, but sometimes it happens that people tend to confuse being in love with being madly obsessed with something or someone.

To be honest, while I was reading Romeo and Juliet, I never felt or even believed that Romeo was in love with Juliet. I think that Romeo is obsessed with love and its mysteries, but he never really falls in love with anybody but LOVE itself. 

When I found the quote I posted above, I immediately thought about Romeo and his love, Juliet. I have to admit that Romeo is an iconic figure for lovers around the world but from my point of view he is a representation of what being in love can do to people instead of what love really is.
Yes, love is madness but sometimes the limit is blurry and we cannot tell the difference between these two strong feelings.

Romeo loved to love and being loved by Juliet. He was in love with love itself more than with Juliet, but this is my point of view, your opinion depends on your own interpretation of the play.
I think they were just two adolescents trying to be together in a place where the people around them don’t understand how they feel, they share the same feeling of belonging for each other and both of them seem to understand love in the same way.

For me, it is a mix of love and madness, I don’t know how to describe it but, in the end, it was either madness or their love that drove them to end up together in death.



“Benvolio: What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?
Romeo: Not having that, which, having, makes them short.” 
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet