Romeo and Juliet Film Analysis

The ending to Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet caught me completely off guard. Unlike the beginning of the movie, Romeo and Juliet’s death scene started slow and had classical music playing in the background. Prior to this scene, I felt as thought the movie was constantly jumping, and had very modern music, so this struck me as very dramatic. In addition to the slow camera movements/spans and the classical music, the room where Juliet was been held was filled with modern neon-lit crosses. Personally, I felt this was in place to remind the audience the audience that the time was still modern, despite Juliet being surrounded by gold, candles, and being dressed in all white, which also showed her purity. 

During the build up to Romeo’s decision to kill himself, Juliet’s subtle movement helped create tension, angst, and drama to the scene. The scene is already dramatic enough, however this only added to emotions. Perhaps the most upsetting part was when Romeo drinks the poison just as Juliet’s hand reaches and touches his face. This made me think back upon Romeo’s lines, “O that I were glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!” (2.2.24-25) Right before his death, Juliet manages to touch his cheek, something that Romeo envisioned doing to her. In a way, this made Romeo’s death even more tragic for me, especially because Romeo now knew, right before he died, that his true love was actually alive and fine, making his death almost purposeless. 

Another intense moment was when Juliet slowly reaches for romeo’s “sword”, or in this case, his gun. Her slow placed movement and the camera’s close perspective on her face, added to the suspense in the scene. For a moment, I questioned whether or she would kill herself, and when the shot was finally fired, I jumped out of seat. That moment was so intense that her death had more impact. It is doubtful whether that scene would have had the same feeling if we did not see Juliet witness Romeo’s death and her inability to save him. Juliet being unable to stop and save Romeo is in the play as well, however in this adaptation, she saw him drink the poison and could not react fast enough, where in the play, she was asleep and unaware of his rash decision. Because of this, I believe the audience was left feeling empty and utterly socked. 

Besides this adaptation being very different, I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the key differences. They gave me a new perspective on the play and were interesting, as wall as intriguing. 

Main Features From Romeo and Juliet

Working on the posters this week really put into perspective how developed the world is in Romeo and Juliet. From character change, sound, symbolism, and time, every detail is carefully thought out. However, the two most important takeaways that I received from this project was on the analyzation of time and character development.

What stood out to me most from our class activity was the subject time. I think how Shakespeare utilizes and manipulates time’s speed is genius. Whenever someone is enjoying themselves, it seems that time flies by. In Romeo and Juliet, both of the two main characters fell victim to this. When they first saw each other and fell in love, it is clear that time goes by fast. In the following quote, Juliet is quick to point this out when Romeo has to leave after visiting her: “Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.” (3.5.1) When they are able to express their love for one another, Romeo and Juliet feel as though their time speeds by them. However, to the audience, it may feel longer. It is also important to note that Romeo and Juliet mostly express their love only during the night. However, once the night becomes day, reality sets into place. During the day Romeo and Juliet are separated, and many tragedies take place, for example, Tybalt and Mercutio’s death. That being said, we (the readers) can assume that night symbolizes love, while day represents tragedy.

Another pattern that I found interesting was the character development and change. While many characters had one catalytic moment that made them change, others did not. For example, once the Montagues and Capulets find out that each of their child has died because their love was forbidden, they decided to put their differences aside. However, for Juliet, She gradually changes and develops into a more mature character. Originally, Juliet was immature, however, once her love for Romeo becomes more complex and serious, as does Juliet herself. This is shown when she is willing to go to extremes and die for her love: “Be not long to speak, I long to die, If what thou speak’st speak not of remedy.” (4.1.66-67) Other characters do change, just more rapidly. For example, the nurse starts off as a character whose main purpose is to provide the audience with comedic relief, however, once Juliet dies, she is immediately changed into a more deep, serious person. Once the nurse develops from a comedic character into one that is more solemn, the true tragedy of the plot is emphasized. Suddenly, there is no longer any distraction from the sadness, and the audience is left to dwell on the situation that the plot presents.

This project was extremely beneficial. It allowed me to pull key concepts from the play and to analyze them and their full impact. Yes, many important features of the play were discussed, yet I found that time and character development was of the most importance.

Romeo and Juliet: Act 4 and Five Notes

Romeo and Juliet Questions

Fact Questions:

1. What does Mercutio say while he is dying? How does Romeo react?

2. What does Friar Lawrence tell Romeo to do when he is distraught in his cell?

3. What ultimatum does Lord Capulet give Juliet? How does Juliet and her Nurse respond?


Discussion Questions:

1. Why is it significant that Juliet's Nurse sided with her father? Why did the Nurse do this and how did it make Juliet feel?

2. Why do you think Shakespeare chose to have Mercutio curse both of the families before his death? What was Shakespeare's aim in including this and how did it affect Romeo?

Romeo and Juliet's Journal Entries

Imagine that after the balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet go somewhere and write in their diaries. Explain how you would stage this scene and write a 100 word diary entry for each of these two characters. Be sure that the entries are both creative and believable.

In this scene, I would set up Juliet's bedroom on one side of the stage and have Romeo sitting on a stone bench in the town square while journaling their entries. Both characters would be unable to see the other, and they would speak the sections they out loud while writing them. Further, I would have them alternate between who is speaking when. For example, after Juliet’s first sentence, I would have Romeo say his first two. This random order would allow a natural flowing feeling in the scene. It would illustrate to the audience that what they were writing was coming to them spontaneously.

Juliet:

“I never imagined that our family’s feud with the Montagues would have as big as an affect on me as it now does. Before tonight, I was contempt, however, now I am filled with conflicting emotions, for I believe I have fallen in love with the one who I am expected to hate. Why must Romeo be a Montague? It is only a name, but a name that my family has taught me to despise and look down upon. If I told my parents about my love for Romeo- or that we are planning to be married, I know they would forbid it. They could shun me if they find out! Yet, I know my love for Romeo is more important than what my family expects of me. They could never fathom that our love is something I would die for.”

Romeo:

“I was so foolish before tonight. I thought I knew what I wanted, but now I know I am meant to be with Juliet, not Rosaline. If only our love could be accepted, we would be able to be with one another, not having to worry about family rules. It cannot stop me from loving her. Once I saw her on her balcony tonight, I knew her love for me was true. After our exchange, I began to question how our families are capable of loathing one another when a love like ours is so prominent. Hopefully, Friar Lawrence will feel the same way and agree to marry us, for I feel I might die without her love.”

Some of the Many Romeo and Juliet Balcony Scenes

The first version I watched was from the 1968 movie; which I believe did the best job in portraying the scene to it’s full potential. In this adaptation, the young actors were dressed in clothing from the play’s original time period and stuck to the script; there was not any modern language used. In the background, flute, and then some string instruments, set the scene with dim lighting outside of Juliet’s balcony. The lighting, music, and the use of all earth tones gave the scene a natural and calm, soft feeling. That being said, there was light which poured out of Juliet's bedroom created a natural spotlight on her. Because of this, Juliet became a center for attention in the scene and Romeo could easily find her.

In the second version I watched, Gnomeo and Juliet, the entirety of the scene was different from the 1968 adaptation. Personally, I think that Gnomeo and Juliet would be an ideal version of Romeo and Juliet to show to children or a younger group of people who may be struggling with understanding the original shakespearean work. It would be perfect to show them this version because while it uses modern language, it incorporates humor (and not just by having the characters be gnomes) and demonstrates clearly the  feud between the two families by dividing them up into teams of red and blue. During the scene, vibrant colors are used to represent which side the gnomes belong to, and there is even light-hearted music (that is very Disney-esc) to set the scene. After Gnomeo begins to interact with Juliet, there is a tremendous amount of innocent comedy when he sets off her towers display, which prompts loud music and colorful banner to pop up- which in reality, acts as comedic relief in a dramatic, romantic scene by changing the mood of scene.

Next, I watched the Royal Shakespeare Company’s version. While I thought it did a good job of portraying the emotions between the two characters, it was my least favorite adaptation. I believe that this scene was too informal; at one moment Juliet was sitting while hanging her barefeet over the balcony and Romeo was fussing with his hoodie. Unfortunately, these minor details distracted me from the scene. Further, I felt that Juliet was dressed more properly than Romeo, which  made me think that they belonged in different social classes. Additionally, the director decided to not have any background music and to limit the lighting. On the stage, there was limited illumination, however on Juliet, there was a bright stream of light.  

Finally, I watched the version with Dicaprio and Danes. I liked this version, specifically for the repeated use of water. To me, water resembles rebirth. This was very symbolic because once Romeo and Juliet exchange vows, it is as if they become a new person. I think the director specifically had this scene be in water for that reason. When Juliet runs into Romeo and then falls back into the water, this shows her innocence and youth. At the same time, it shows that Juliet may not be able to completely control her emotions with Romeo either.

While each version had many similarities, their differences is what make them stand apart from one another. Overall, each adaptation was well executed in portraying emotion and Romeo’s and Juliet’s goals in the scene.  

Hamlet's Goals

In the scene where Hamlet spoke to his mother alone as a way to try to convince her that her hasty marriage was a mistake, his specific goal is to make her realize what an oversight she had made by marrying his uncle. This goal is crucial to the play for many reasons. The first was that it made Hamlet confront his mother, which lead him to murder Polonius and the second, most important reason was that by the end of this scene, Hamlet was no longer able to tell who is being genuine with him and who is lying to him. When Hamlet arrived at his mother’s room to try to make her aware that her marriage was a mistake, Hamlet’s stakes are very high. It is clear that because Hamlet was trying to make his mother understand how corrupt his uncle was, he had mass amounts of pressure put upon himself. With that much stress on him, it is no surprise that this scene very quickly went awry. Additionally, it is obvious that another goal Hamlet had set for himself was that he wanted an explanation for her actions. Despite his father informing Hamlet that his mother was unaware of what she was doing, Hamlet still decided to create the goal that he would make her explain to him why she did what she did. In more of a wide scale view, I believe this relates to Hamlet’s overarching goal of avenging his father’s death. I think that Hamlet needed to have an explanation for her actions so that he could determine for himself whether or not he could have forgiven her. Because of how much he respects and cares for his father, it is evident that Hamlet has an extreme amount of pressure on himself. However, it is important to note that this may be one of Hamlet’s vulnerabilities, as well as one of his strengths.

Originally, Hamlet’s father tells him to pardon his mother. He explains that she was unaware of the mistake she had made by marrying Hamlet’s uncle. In addition to wanting to decide whether or not her could forgive her, I think Hamlet also believed that if he had his mother to realize how awful her choices had been, he would have been one step closer to achieving his main goal of the play: to exact revenge for his father’s death, and to restore the old order of his life. However, it does not go in the direction he had hoped. This scene only hurt Hamlet further because once he killed Ophelia’s father, something he had no intention of doing, his mother truly views him as insane. Before Hamlet killed him, he was able to confront his mother to some degree, but once he mistakenly stabbed Polonius, his mother was in complete distress and could not comprehend Hamlet’s rash actions.

Hamlet approached this scene longing for honesty from his mother, but once he became aware that he was being watched Polonius, he became paranoid and broke down.  At this very moment in the play, Hamlet came to the conclusion that everyone surrounding him wasn’t treating him normally. Because of this, Hamlet then created a new goal for himself: to only trust himself, and to not confide in anyone surrounding him. In a sense, this new goal was able to help Hamlet revenge his father’s death and to complete his main goal. If Polonius had not been hiding, there is a strong chance that Hamlet would not have been able to form this new goal and to murder his uncle.