Directing Act Three Scene Five of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Directing Act Three Scene Five of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

In this unit, I will be looking at Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. I

will examine act 3 scene 5 to analyse attitudes to arranged marriages

in different generations. I will also explore how the actors would

perform their roles, and how I would direct this scene.

In the fifteenth century the attitudes to arranged marriages were very

different to today. Girls had little or no say in their chosen grooms

or when the got married. The main person of authority was the bride's

father. He would choose the man for his daughter and would provide him

with gifts to take his daughter off of his hands. The girls were

usually thirteen/fourteen years in age when the father decided to

marry them off, however the men were usually much older. The bride's

family would throw lavish parties to show social status. Juliet's

family originally threw a party for her to meet the noble gentleman

County Paris. However, this is where she met and fell in love with

Romeo. Nowadays, arranged marriages are very rare, and it is illegal

to marry under the age of 16 with, or 18 without parental consent.

The modern audience would probably react very differently to the view

of arranged marriages in the play, to the one it would have been

intended for, almost 500 years ago. A modern audience may not

understand why Juliet's father is so angry, and reacts the way he

does. However, they are probably more likely to understand Juliet's

pain and see what an impossible situation she is in.

In act 3 scene 5, I will have to leave out some of the lengthy

dialogue. I will make my decisions considering the...

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...clusion, I believe that although a modern audience will have

different views to a Shakespearean one, they will not be so different

that the play will not be as effective. Also, with my direction, I was

intending to show the pain and sheer desperation that both Juliet and

Capulet felt, and how in this scene there are many different parts

that make the whole thing so intense and emotional. I think with my

direction, a Shakespearean audience will react slightly differently to

the way they would to the originally directed version. I believe this

is because I don't share the same views on arranged marriages as

Shakespeare did. Therefore, a modern audience may react better to my

directions, than to the original Shakespearean version, because

although arranged marriages do still happen, they are more likely to

share my views.