Compaing Two Film Versioins of Romeo and Juliet

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Compaing Two Film Versioins of Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, written by William Shakespeare. The

play takes place in Verona, Italy, where two rivalry families are

constantly feuding and disturbing the city's peace. The two children

of the quarrelling families, fall in love and are married in secret.

Another brawl occurs and in revenge for his best friends death, Romeo

kills Tybalt, Juliet's cousin. Romeos punishment is not death because

Tybalt murdered Mercutio, but Romeo is banished from Verona.

Romeo and Juliet, even though they have known each other for just two

days, appear to be very much in love with each other. The poetic

language which they use reflects this.

They share their wedding night together, for what may be the last time

as Romeo must leave for Mantua the morning after.

At the beginning of Act 3, Scene 3, Juliet is desperate for Romeo to

stay. We can see this as she says,

'Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day,

It was the nightingale and not the lark that pierc'd the fearful

hollow of thine ear'

Here Juliet is trying to persuade Romeo to believe it is still night

time so that he will not leave her so early. Yet Romeo is very

sensible to Juliet's request, he replies to her,

'I must be gone and live, or stay and die.'

Juliet continues to persuade Romeo to stay,

'Yond light is not daylight, I know it'

'Thou needs't not be gone.'

Romeo eventually gives in to Juliet's pleading, he says to her,

'I have more care to stay than will to go,

Come death and welcome! Juliet w...

... middle of paper ...

...Zeferelli shows Juliet being thrown across the

room by her father.

Luhrmann's version of Romeo and Juliet, also plays music of a minor

key to emphasise Juliet's feeling of loss and hurt. Luhrmann expresses

Capulet more violently, as he throws Juliet onto the bed. As the

family try to hold him back, he hits his wife and once again pushes

Juliet over into the stairs. Juliet's feeling of being isolated is

shown, as Juliet is left sat alone after her parents have both

deserted her. Also Juliet is shown to be abandoned from the nurse

also, when the nurse is running Juliet a bath, she sits alone with the

camera on focus of Juliet and the nurse sat in the distance in the

background. I thought Luhrmann expressed the feeling of neglect more

than Zeferelli, I also liked the way he used Capulet to be aggressive

and violent.

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