Presentation of the First Meeting of Romeo and Juliet in William Shakespeare's Play

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Presentation of the First Meeting of Romeo and Juliet in William Shakespeare's Play

When Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet times were very different.

Religion was viewed with a lot more importance than it is today. At

the time England was a Christian country. Attending the divine service

was compulsory and absences could be punished by fines. Religion was

taught better than ever before due to The Book of Common Prayer now

being used in every church and English translations of the Bible being

read in public. This means that no one alive around the time of

Shakespeare would be able to escape religion. Therefore Shakespeare

used religious language and in particular when Romeo and Juliet meet

there is much reference to it. This is because that is what the people

of the time would have understood. At the time education was no where

near as good as it is today so Shakespeare would have had to write his

plays using concepts and language that all people of the time were

able to understand. School education reinforced the church’s

teachings. The social context to the play is very different to today.

When Shakespeare wrote the play marriage occurred at an age a lot

younger than it does today. Quite often it was the parents of the

daughters who chose who they married. Marriages were not chosen

because of love they were chosen according to power and wealth. Many

young people opposed their marriages but were forced into them.

Shakespeare structures the scene using the isolation of Romeo and

Juliet as a main feature. The other characters in the scene carry on

moving round while Romeo and Juliet are completely focused on one

another. The impact that this has on the audience is that they can see

straightaway that there is a connection between the two characters. At

this point the audience will be aware that the two young lovers are of

opposing families. This leads to a feeling of sympathy as the audience

knows that a relationship would be almost impossible. Shakespeare

emphasises’ the sympathy the audience feels for Romeo and Juliet by

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