William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Although William Shakespeare wrote the story of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in

the 1500s, the themes depicted in the play had been around for

centuries. It was a classic tragic love story.

William Shakespeare needed his story to appeal and be accessible to as

many people as possible. The main problem was that many people at the

time could not read, therefore producing a book was pointless. So he

decided to write the story of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as a play that people

could go and see at the theatre. The play was very successful and was

shown at important theatres such as the Globe in London. Thousands

saw it.

In 1996 the film producer Baz Luhrman decided to make a film of ‘Romeo

and Juliet’. He too needed to make the story appealing to the modern,

mass cinema-going population.

William Shakespeare thought that Romeo and Juliet could be a

successful play because it related to everyday life and issues of the

16th century. However, Shakespeare included more humour and action in

his play than Luhrman did in his film. He thought that including

scenes such as the ones that dealt with Juliet’s resentment to her

arranged marriage, would appeal to audiences’ imagination and bring

more people to watch the play being performed. Scenes of men being

involved in street fights and a feud between two families was not only

exciting to watch, but it reflected life of the times.

Baz Luhrman’s first change to ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was to set the story

in the 20th century. He also altered some of the issues addressed in

Shakespeare’s play, including for example troublesome parents and

teenagers having secret r...

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...ipt as written by Shakespeare includes far more

soliloquies, in which the reader is shown character true deepest

thoughts. This was very typical of Shakespeare as he included these in

many of his plays such as Macbeth. The play on the other hand used

more one-on-one convocations as this is far easier for a modern

audience to relate to.

Shakespeare and Luhrman were both successful with their adaptations of

Romeo and Juliet. I believe that this was achieved by linking every

part of the play and film to ordinary people of the times in which

they were set. This was anything down to the clothes worn on set, the

special effects used and the music being played in the background.

These aspects helped the two men to become world famous and millions

worldwide had access to one of the most famous love stories even

written.