ROMEO AND CURRICULUM BY DIRECTED BY GUIDE PETER DUBOIS TABLE OF CONTENTS

Common Core Standards 3

Massachusetts Standards in Theatre 4

Artists 5

Themes for Writing and Assessment 7

Mastery Assessment 10

Further Exploration 13

Suggested Activities 17

References and Resources 20

Notes 21

© Huntington Theatre Company Boston, MA 02115

February 2019

No portion of this curriculum guide may be reproduced without written permission from the Huntington Theatre Company’s Department of Education & Community Programs

Inquiries should be directed to: Alexandra Smith | Interim Co-Director of Education [email protected]

This curriculum guide was prepared for the Huntington Theatre Company by: Ivy Ryan | Teaching Artist Fellow Dylan C. Wack | Education Apprentice Alexandra Smith | Interim Co-Director of Education COMMON CORE STANDARDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

STANDARDS: Student Matinee performances and pre-show workshops provide unique opportunities for experiential learning and support various combinations of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. They may also support standards in other subject areas such as Social Studies and History, depending on the individual play’s subject matter. Activities are also included in this Curriculum Guide and in our pre-show workshops that support several of the Massachusetts state standards in Theatre. Other arts areas may also be addressed depending on the individual play’s subject matter.

Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 1 Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 5 • Grade 7: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support • Grade 7: Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning. drawn from the text. • Grades 9-10: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how • Grade 8: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks), create such effects as drawn from the text. mystery, tension, or surprise. • Grades 9-10: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to • Grades 11-12: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to inferences drawn from the text. begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well • Grades 11-12: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to as its aesthetic impact. support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the Reading Literature: Craft and Structure 6 text leaves matters uncertain. • Grade 7: Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 2 points of view of different characters or narrators in a text. • Grade 7: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze • Grade 8: Analyze how differences in the points of view of the its development over the course of the text; provide an objective characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through summary of the text. dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor. • Grade 8: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and • Grades 9-10: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural analyze its development over the course of the text, including experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide and United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. objective summary of the text. • Grades 11-12: Analyze a case in which grasping point of view • Grades 9-10: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and required distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement). including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text. Reading Literature: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7 • Grades 11-12: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of • Grade 7: Compare and contrast a written story, drama, or poem a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, to its audio, filmed, staged, or multimedia version, analyzing including how they interact and build on one another to produce the effects of techniques unique to each medium (e.g., lighting, a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text. sound, color, or camera focus and angles in a film). • Grade 8: Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production Reading Literature: Key Ideas and Details 3 of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or • Grade 7: Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors. interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot). • Grades 9-12: Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or • Grade 8: Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a poem (e.g. recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text provoke a decision. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist). • Grades 9-10: Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the themes. • Grades 11-12: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop related elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed). AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 3 MASSACHUSETTS STANDARDS IN THEATRE

ACTING • 1.7: Create and sustain a believable character throughout a scripted or AUDIENCE ETIQUETTE improvised scene (By the end of Grade 8). Attending live theatre is a unique experience with • 1.12: Describe and analyze, in written and oral form, characters’ wants, many valuable educational and social benefits. To needs, objectives, and personality characteristics (By the end of Grade 8). ensure that all audience members are able to enjoy the performance, please take a few minutes to discuss the • 1.13: In rehearsal and performance situations, perform as a productive following audience etiquette topics with your students and responsible member of an acting ensemble (i.e., demonstrate personal responsibility and commitment to a collaborative process) before you come to the Huntington Theatre Company. (By the end of Grade 8). • How is attending the theatre similar to and different • 1.14: Create complex and believable characters through the integration of from going to the movies? What behaviors are and physical, vocal, and emotional choices (Grades 9-12). are not appropriate when seeing a play? Why? • 1.15: Demonstrate an understanding of a dramatic work by developing a • Remind students that because the performance character analysis (Grades 9-12). is live, the audience’s behavior and reactions will • 1.17: Demonstrate increased ability to work effectively alone and affect the actors’ performances. No two audiences collaboratively with a partner or in an ensemble (Grades 9-12). are exactly the same, and therefore no two READING AND WRITING SCRIPTS performances are exactly the same—this is part of what makes theatre so special! Students’ behavior • 2.7: Read plays and stories from a variety of cultures and historical should reflect the level of performance they wish periods and identify the characters, setting, plot, theme, and conflict (By the end of Grade 8). to see. • 2.8: Improvise characters, dialogue, and actions that focus on the • Theatre should be an enjoyable experience for development and resolution of dramatic conflicts (By the end of the audience. It is absolutely all right to applaud Grade 8). when appropriate and laugh at the funny moments. • 2.11: Read plays from a variety of genres and styles; compare and Talking and calling out during the performance, contrast the structure of plays to the structures of other forms of however, are not allowed. Why might this be? literature (Grades 9-12). Be sure to mention that not only would the people seated around them be able to hear their TECHNICAL THEATRE conversation, but the actors on stage could hear • 4.6: Draw renderings, floor plans, and/or build models of sets for a them, too. Theatres are constructed to carry dramatic work and explain choices in using visual elements (line, shape/ sound efficiently! form, texture, color, space) and visual principals (unity, variety, harmony, balance, rhythm) (By the end of Grade 8). • Any noise or light can be a distraction, so please remind students to make sure their cell phones • 4.13: Conduct research to inform the design of sets, costumes, sound, and lighting for a dramatic production (Grades 9-12). are turned off (or better yet, left at home or at school!). Texting, photography, and video recording CONNECTIONS are prohibited. • Strand 6: Purposes and Meanings in the Arts — Students will describe • Food, gum, and drinks are not permitted in the the purposes for which works of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, and theatre or lobby. There is also no food, gum, or architecture were and are created, and, when appropriate, interpret their drinks permitted during intermission. meanings (Grades PreK-12). • Strand 10: Interdisciplinary Connections — Students will apply their • Students should sit with their group as seated by knowledge of the arts to the study of English language arts, foreign the Front of House staff and should not leave their languages, health, history and social science, mathematics, and science seats once the performance has begun. and technology/engineering (Grades PreK-12).

2. Who is the artistic director of the Huntington Theatre Company? FIND US ONLINE! Who is the managing director? How long have they each been Did you know the Huntington Theatre Company’s website provides in their respective positions? What are the primary responsibilities students and teachers opportunities to more deeply explore the season’s of each of these jobs? offerings and learn about upcoming events in the Education department? 3. Your friend broke her foot and needs to use a wheelchair. What accessibility services does the Huntington provide for patrons Utilizing the website at huntingtontheatre.org find the answers to the like her? following questions: 4. Did you know the Huntington Theatre Company is on Facebook? 1. Who will play the role of Lord Capulet in the Huntington’s Like us at facebook.com/HuntingtonTheatre and production of ? Who will play ? facebook.com/EducationAtHuntington. What other roles have these actors played at the Huntington?

4 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE ARTISTS

first works were performed. The first reference to Shakespeare in London came in an essay written by Robert Greene, in which he implored his contemporaries to abandon their careers before they were eclipsed in popularity by Shakespeare, writing: “For there is an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that, with his Tigers heart wrapped in a Players hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you; and being an absolute Johannes Factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country.” — Groatsworth of Wit Bought With a Million of Repentance (1592) The consensus among most scholars is that “Shake-scene” is a direct reference to the young Shakespeare, who had been popular since 1594 when he joined the Chamberlain’s Men, a theatre company that would eventually enjoy the patronage of King James, transforming them into the King’s Men. They performed in “the Theatre,” the first theatre built in London. When the lease on that building ran out, the company struggled until The Globe Theatre was completed in 1599. The company would also perform in royal courts, including those of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. Shakespeare took much inspiration for his plays from the works of the Greeks, his contemporaries, and from the recently concluded War of Playwright William Shakespeare the Roses, upon which he based the history plays. Shakespeare’s only son, Hamnet, died at the age of 11 in 1596, possibly influencing many of PLAYWRIGHT WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE the playwright’s tragedies. By this time Shakespeare was well known in London. Many plays were attributed to him which only propelled his William Shakespeare was a British playwright and poet whose plays, popularity. He was a master of both verse and prose, creating characters sonnets, and poems are regarded as some of the best works in the that were hugely influential to Elizabethan theatre and to this day. English language. His works have been translated into every living Shakespeare was able to financially produce his large body of work by language, and he is the most produced playwright in the world, with courting patrons through his acting and producing roles. By the early major theatres around the globe devoted exclusively to his plays. Some 1600s, Shakespeare’s works were published in London, a significant of his best-known works are Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and marker of his popularity, given the high cost and difficulty to publish Romeo and Juliet — plays that have spawned countless adaptations. anything at the turn of the 17th century. He remained prolific in the Despite his incredible success and fame during the Elizabethan era London theatre through 1611, after which he spent more time in his large and in the 400 years since his death, little is concretely known about home in Stratford-upon-Avon. the details of his life. What we do know for certain is based on church William Shakespeare died in 1616. While no official cause of death is records from Stratford-upon-Avon. Everything else is based either on his recorded, there are several references to him dying unexpectedly. He contemporaries’ writings about him or conjecture from what is known was buried in the chancel of Trinity Church in Stratford along with his about his theatre and his plays. wife and his daughter Susanna. A funerary monument is affixed to William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare, a glove-maker and the wall in Trinity Church depicting Shakespeare, a statue believed to alderman, and Mary Arden in April of 1564. Baptized on April 26, he accurately represent the playwright as it was sculpted while his wife and would have been born several days prior. His birthday is marked on daughters were still alive. His grave has remained untouched since 1616, April 23, which coincides with the feast day of Saint George, the patron in no small part due to the curse engraved on it that reads “Friends, for saint of England. This deduction helps cement England’s greatest Jesus’ sake, forebear, to dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man dramatist to a birthdate. Raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was who that spares these stones, and curst be he that moves my bones.” educated at the King’s New School where he studied Greek and Latin In 1623, the First Folio was printed, a collection of Shakespeare’s works and would have been introduced to the playwrights that would influence edited by John Heminges and Henry Condell, two actors in the King’s his own work, including Plautus, Seneca, and Ovid. Men. While his works had been printed before this, the Folio edition is At the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway and shortly one of the most reliable editions of Shakespeare’s work, and is the basis thereafter the couple had their first child, Susanna. Two years later, his for hundreds of editions of his plays. Only 234 remain of the original twins Judith and Hamnet were born. The years between the birth of the printing of the Folio, with notable collections at the British Museum, twins in 1585 and 1592 are a mystery as far as Shakespeare is concerned; the New York Public Library, and the Folger Shakespeare Library in scholars have determined that at some point during those years he Washington DC, which has the largest collection at 82 copies. The moved to London and that his plays began being produced in the Boston Public Library also has a copy of the First Folio. interim, but there are no records of when he moved or when exactly his

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 5 QUESTIONS: Modern Terrorism, Becky Shaw, Trust with Sutton Foster, All New People, and Lips Together, Teeth Apart (Second Stage Theatre); Measure for 1. 400 years after his death, Shakespeare is still the most produced Pleasure, Richard III, Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles?, and Biro playwright in the world. Why do you think his works have remained (The Public Theater); and The View From 151st Street and Jack Goes so popular? What aspects of his work still feel relevant today? Boating with Philip Seymour Hoffman (LAByrinth Theater Company/The 2. Shakespeare, in his will, left his wife Anne his “second-best bed.” Public Theater). His productions have been on the annual top ten lists What does this mean? of The New York Times, Time Out, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Newsday, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, The Evening Standard, The 3. William Shakespeare wrote four categories of plays: histories, Boston Globe, and Improper Bostonian, and he received an Honorable comedies, romances, and tragedies. Research the difference Mention for 2013 Bostonian of the Year by The Boston Globe Magazine. between the four types of plays. What are characteristics of each? Mr. DuBois served for five years as associate producer and resident Romeo and Juliet is considered a tragedy, but does it contain director at The Public Theater in New York City, preceded by five years elements of the other categories? as artistic director of the Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska. Mr. DuBois has directed multiple episodes of the podcast “Modern Love,” including its debut with Broadway actress Lauren Molina, who has also appeared in productions at the Huntington. Prior to his work at Perseverance Theatre, Mr. DuBois lived and worked in the Czech Republic where he co-founded Asylum, a multi-national squat theatre in Prague. “Prague was this place I was just drawn to like a magnet,” DuBois recounted to The Boston Globe in December 2007. “The idea that there was a country being run by a playwright, Vaclav Havel. I saved up some money and got on a plane. That was my first experience really being in an artistic community, and that really made me feel like a thriving artist, alive and excited.” “Where I think institutions have real value is in the way that they can support artists,” he continues. “Artists who work in the performing arts have nothing if they don’t have an audience, and they have nothing if they don’t have institutions behind them. So I love having a home for me to do my work as an artist, but also providing a home for other artists to do their best work.” His past Shakespeare directing credits include productions of Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, The Winter’s Tale, All’s Well That End’s Well, and Much Ado About Nothing. QUESTIONS: 1. As a producer and artistic director, Peter DuBois has played an integral part in shaping theatre companies around the world. Research another theatre he has worked for (The Public Theater, Artistic Director Peter DuBois Perseverance Theatre, or Asylum). Compare and contrast their mission statements, current and previous seasons, and educational programs with those of the Huntington Theatre Company. PETER DUBOIS: DIRECTOR AND THE HUNTINGTON THEATRE COMPANY’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR 2. In an interview with The Boston Globe, Peter DuBois explained that after two and a half years he left Prague because he “really wanted The 2018-2019 season marks Peter DuBois’s eleventh season as artistic to explore what it meant to be an American artist.” What makes director at the Huntington Theatre Company where his directing someone an American artist? What kind of stories are unmistakably credits include many new works by some of the American theatre’s American? Based on these definitions, who is an American artist most exciting playwrights and classics by masters of the art form. His you admire and why? Huntington credits include the musicals Sunday in the Park with George (2016) and A Little Night Music (2015); new plays such as Fall (2018); 3. Peter Dubois has directed many genres of theatre from world Can You Forgive Her? (2016); after all the terrible things I do (2015); premiere new plays to beloved musicals to creative spins on Smart People (2014); The Power of Duff (2013); Rapture, Blister, Burn classics. He has directed plays in every space imaginable from (2013); Captors (2011); Sons of the Prophet (2011); Becky Shaw (2010); an abandoned Salvation Army building in the Czech Republic to Vengeance is the Lord’s (2010); The Miracle at Naples (2009); and the historic Broadway-style 890 seat Huntington Avenue Theatre. classics such as Tartuffe (2017). Looking at DuBois’s eclectic body of work, what can you learn His West/End London credits include Sex with Strangers and Rapture, about him as an artist? What patterns emerge in the playwrights or Blister, Burn (Hampstead Theatre); All New People (Duke of York’s plays he selects? What kind of stories interest you? If you could put Theatre); and Becky Shaw (Almeida Theatre). His New York credits any story on a stage tomorrow, what would it be and why? include Can You Forgive Her? (Vineyard Theatre); The Power of Duff with Greg Kinnear (New York Stage and Film/Powerhouse Theater); Rapture, Blister, Burn (Playwrights Horizons, 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Sons of the Prophet (Roundabout Theatre Company, 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist);

6 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE THEMES FOR WRITING AND ASSESSMENT NILE HAWVER

The cast of Romeo and Juliet

THE CONSEQUENCE OF FAILED COMMUNICATION own rapier for the express purpose of beating down theirs. Ultimately, Mercutio is slain because he refuses to listen to his level-headed Could much of the tragic plot of Romeo and Juliet been avoided if companions and dies at Romeo’s hands. When Romeo learns from stronger communication existed between the characters during the play’s the that Juliet is devastated by Tybalt’s death, Romeo desperately final three acts? A series of miscommunications enhanced by adrenaline, turns his dagger on himself, absorbed by his emotions, eclipsing his passion, and high stakes leads to a snowball effect of violence, totaling ability to communicate logically. It foreshadows his eventual death and is six untimely deaths before the play’s end. Of Shakespeare’s 37 plays, another instance of the character’s propensity for impulsiveness, resulting Romeo and Juliet finishes as the fifth bloodiest after in terrible consequences. (14 deaths), King Lear (ten deaths), Hamlet (nine deaths), and Macbeth (eight deaths). While many of Shakespeare’s plays feature the tragic In Act III, Scene 5, the relationship between Lord Capulet and his deaths of audiences’ and readers’ favorite characters, Romeo and Juliet daughter Juliet becomes strained when he reveals that he intends for is perhaps one of the Bard’s most enduring, specifically because these Juliet to marry Paris. Lord Capulet believes it is his paternal right to deaths seem avoidable, all the more heartbreaking given the iconic choose his daughter’s husband, disregarding Juliet’s opinion on Paris and couple’s youth and optimism. marriage. Instead, he assumes Juliet will be grateful and feel blessed for the match. Lord Capulet enters the scene with eagerness to share this The moment Romeo and Juliet shifts irreversibly into the world of supposedly happy news, but when Juliet politely expresses her lack of tragedy comes at the beginning of Act III when the conflict between the desire to be Paris’s bride, Lord Capulet is unable to contain his anger. is at its peak. When Mercutio (Romeo’s friend) Rather than continuing the conversation with his daughter, Lord Capulet encounters Tybalt (Juliet’s cousin) on the street, Mercutio elects to resorts to violent threats. He demands that Juliet marry Paris “or I will engage in combat rather than conversation. drag thee on a hurtle thither” from their family home and condemn her TYBALT (to his companions): to “hang, beg, starve, die in the streets” (III.5). He threatens to beat her, Follow me close, for I will speak to them. – warning that his “fingers itch” (III.4). Many productions of Romeo and Gentlemen, good e’en. A word with one of you. Juliet portray the immediate consequences of this argument by depicting Capulet physically harming Juliet. MERCUTIO: And but one word with one of us? Couple it with something. Make it a word and a blow. (III.1) Perhaps the most famous example of the consequences of failed communication in Romeo and Juliet comes when a letter from Friar Mercutio enters with the unwavering intention to duel with Tybalt, while Lawrence is not delivered in time to Romeo in Matua. This letter Romeo and his cousin attempt to deescalate the conflict. contained vital information about the sleeping potion Juliet took to Benvolio knows the public nature of Tybalt and Mercutio’s quarrel will appear dead in order to avoid marrying Paris. When Friar Lawrence only push them to intensify their posturing. He attempts to serve as a learns Friar John failed to deliver the letter, he instantly understands the voice of reason: “Either withdraw unto some private place,” he begs consequences. “Unhappy fortune!” he exclaims. “By my brotherhood / them. “Or reason coldly of your grievances / Or else depart. Here all The letter was not nice but full of charge / Of dear import, and the eyes gaze on us” (III.1). When Benvolio’s words fail, Romeo attempts to neglecting it / May do much danger” (V.3). stop this impending brawl between Mercutio and Tybalt by drawing his

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 7 QUESTIONS: QUESTIONS: 1. Identify another moment in Romeo and Juliet where 1. Compare and contrast the course of love in two of Shakespeare’s communication fails. Why does communication fail in this instance? play from two different genres (comedy, tragedy, history, romance). What are the consequences? How does this event impact the rest Use examples from the text to support your arguments. of the plot? What could the characters have done differently? 2. Write your own original short love story implementing at least two 2. Write an alternative ending to Romeo and Juliet where Romeo did of the same obstacles that Romeo and Juliet face (ex: family feuds, receive Friar Lawrence’s letter about Juliet and the sleeping potion. banishment, murder, arranged marriages).

3. Think of a time in your life when you failed to communicate 3. What are your beliefs about love? What does your definition of effectively. What were the consequences? If you were granted a “true love” look like? How does that compare with the depiction of chance to do it over, what would you do differently? love in Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare’s other plays?

4. What is your favorite love story and why? What are the story telling elements that help you invest in the narrative?

FATE Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays. It is also considered one of his most compelling tragedies since it deals with love, death, and fate. The play’s opening prologue reveals to the audience that fate plays a part in this story. It describes the titular characters as “star-crossed lovers,” which the Norton Shakespeare defines as “thwarted by the adverse influence of the stars appearing at the time of Claire Danes (Juliet) and Leonardo DiCaprio (Romeo) their birth, which controlled their destinies” (“The Norton Shakespeare,” first encounter in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film Romeo + Juliet Greenblatt et. al, 968). Before an audience even meets the two lovers, they are told that the cards are stacked against them. Even the inclusion THE COURSE OF LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH of a prologue is a sign to the audience that everything that is about to happen has already been decided by a higher power; no matter what William Shakespeare has arguably penned some of the most the characters do, the two shall die as the story progresses. complicated love stories in English literature. The lovers in his plays face many obstacles including love triangles, mistaken identity, social rank, jealousy, rivalries, meddling friends, sickness, death, and much more. Regardless of whether the play is a comedy, history, romance, or tragedy, the journey of searching for or keeping true love is deeply woven into all of Shakespeare’s plays. The playwright himself best summed up the way he approached love in his body of work with Lysander’s words in Act I, Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “Ay me, for aught that I could ever read, / Could ever hear by tale or history, / The course of true love never did run smooth.” Romeo and Juliet’s relationship begins as a pure spark, a love-at-first- sight connection, but it is not long before they encounter obstacles. The most immediate challenges to Romeo and Juliet’s relationship is Juliet’s betrothal to Paris, arranged by her father, and the longstanding feud between the Capulets and Montagues; forces seemingly out of their control. The tragic fate of the young couple in Romeo and Juliet is bluntly revealed in the prologue: “From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” More than 400 years later, audiences still love this story and hope that young love will somehow triumph over a harsh and hateful world. William Shakespeare takes his characters and audiences on epic journeys in pursuit of love. Whether the ending is a surprise or not, we are on the edge of our seats wondering what will be thrown at love next and whether this obstacle will be the one to break the delicate bond. As a society, we have endured great hardship, suffering, and heartbreak;yet we have not given up on our innate desire for love to triumph. The Death of Mercutio, Act III Scene I, Romeo and Juliet by Edwin Austin Abbey. Mercutio’s accidental death is a turning point in the play.

8 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE NILE HAWVER The cast of Romeo and Juliet

Even though the play begins with a skirmish in the streets between not the case, the letter detailing Juliet’s plan to fake her death would the two warring families, the early scenes of the play are actually not not have been necessary, and its failed delivery would not have sealed traditionally tragic since they are laced with comedic elements. The early their fate. scenes also set the path of the ill-fated lovers. Romeo and his cousin, Shakespeare was heavily influenced by the Greeks, whose tragic plays Benvolio, receive an accidental invitation to the Capulet feast because often sought to teach their audience lessons. Shakespeare’s tragedy the Capulet servant is illiterate. He haphazardly states that “if you be not of Romeo and Juliet teaches an audience that mindless bickering o the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine” (I.2). and attachment to ancient grudges may result in unimaginable and Romeo’s friend Mercutio also has several comedic moments, including irreversible consequences. Romeo and Juliet themselves were not his speech in Act I, Scene 4 which he uses to mock Romeo’s directly responsible for Mercutio’s death, the event that triggers the talk of dreams, saying dreams “are the children of an idle brain, begot of downward spiral of the play, nor were they involved in the origins of the nothing but vain fantasy.” These barbs are followed by the scene at the feud between their families. Tybalt and Mercutio seemed destined to Capulets’ feast, where Romeo and Juliet meet and fall instantly in love. fight each other and it was fate that Mercutio was caught in the crossfire Their “pilgrim’s hands” dialogue exchange forms a sonnet, a common of war between two families of which he was not a member. The form of poetry that Shakespeare often used when writing about love. audience of Shakespeare’s time were recovering from nearly 100 years of Shakespeare even included comedy for the groundlings, the rowdy, civil war — The Wars of the Roses — and religious persecution from the lower class audience standing in the yard, with an extended scene of Protestant Queen Mary and later the Catholic Queen Elizabeth I. sexual puns and double entendres; Mercutio tells Benvolio that Romeo British people were well-accustomed to the idea of groups of people approaches “without his roe, like a dried herring” (II.4), a reference to unreasonably hating each other for several generations. Audiences of having spent the night having sex with, as Mercutio believes, a young Shakespeare’s time would have been primed to see conflict and tragedy woman named . All of this, were it not for the prologue, would as inevitable aspects of their time. While the deaths of Romeo, Juliet, lead audience members to believe that this play is a comedy with a and all the others who die in the play are heartbreaking, the feud makes marriage, reconciled differences, and a big celebration to close the show. them unsurprising. However, as is true with all tragedies, someone must have a hamartia, or fatal flaw. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, the fatal flaw lies with QUESTIONS: both families and their grudge against each other, which leads to their children’s downfall. 1. What is the definition of “star-crossed?” At the beginning of the third act, Mercutio and Benvolio are approached 2. Describe what cultural events in British society and government by Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, who accuses Mercutio of consorting with influenced Romeo and Juliet? What message was Shakespeare Romeo, whom he deems a villain. Romeo enters, having just married trying to communicate to audiences through this play? Juliet in secret and therefore now a kinsman to Tybalt, and has no interest in fighting with him. The insulted Mercutio, however, is ready to 3. Mercutio lays a “plague o’ both your houses” in Act III, Scene 1, even duel with Tybalt, and draws his sword. The two fight, and Romeo joins though he is close friends with Romeo. Why does he do this? the fray and attempts to break up the conflict. He steps between the two 4. Do you believe in destiny? How might Romeo and Juliet have fighters and Mercutio, unable to block the oncoming attack, is stabbed escaped their grim ends were it not for fate? by Tybalt, who thrusts under Romeo’s arm. Both houses are responsible for Mercutio’s death: Tybalt who delivered the blow and Romeo who intervened. Mercutio is not a member of either house and the ancient grudge that fueled the hatred between the Montagues and the Capulets has killed another citizen of Verona. This is where the reversal of fortune, a staple in tragedy, begins to befall both Romeo and Juliet. With his dying breaths, Mercutio prophetically proclaims: “A plague o’ both your houses!” (III.1), setting in the tragedy in motion that dominates the second half of the play. In retaliation for Mercutio’s murder, Romeo stabs Tybalt, and is promptly banished from Verona by the Prince. Were that

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 9 MASTERY ASSESSMENT PROLOGUE 12. Why does Romeo claim he cannot dance? 1. What is a prologue? What is its purpose in a play? 13. Who is Queen Mab? Why does Mercutio describe her in such detail? 2. What does “star-crossed lovers” mean? How does it apply to Romeo and Juliet? 14. What is Mercutio’s ultimate point about dreaming? 3. How long does the prologue tell us this play takes? SCENE 5 15. How does Tybalt recognize Romeo? What does Lord Capulet tell Tybalt to do when he discovers Romeo at the feast? 16. How does Romeo describe his lips to Juliet? 17. Who interrupts the Romeo and Juliet at the dance? Where does Juliet go? 18. What does Romeo discover about Juliet? How does Juliet discover who Romeo is at the end of the scene? ACT II SCENE 1 1. Where does Romeo go at the beginning of the scene? 2. What is the name of the woman Romeo used to love? 3. Which mythological character does Mercutio refer to in order to rouse Romeo? SCENE 2 4. Where is Juliet in relation to Romeo? 5. What is the central metaphor of Romeo’s speech at the A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975). beginning of the second scene? 6. What does “wherefore are thou Romeo” mean in Juliet’s speech? ACT I 7. What does Juliet compare Romeo to? What is her frustration SCENE 1 about being in love with Romeo? 1. Where is this scene’s setting? 8. What does Juliet say her family will do to Romeo if he is 2. How do the Capulets begin a fight with the Montagues? caught on her balcony? 3. Who enters and successfully quells the fighting? 9. What does Juliet ask Romeo not to do as a show of adoration? Why does Romeo say he is unsatisfied? 4. When Romeo enters, what reason does he give for his sadness? 5. How does Benvolio think Romeo can forget his troubles? SCENE 2 6. What does Paris want from the Capulets? Why does Lord Capulet say no? How long does he say Paris will have to wait? 7. Why is Capulet inviting people to his house that evening? 8. How do Romeo and Benvolio find out about the event at the Capulet’s mansion? SCENE 3 9. How old is Juliet, according to the Nurse and Lady Capulet? 10. How does Juliet feel about being married? What does Lady Capulet think about the idea of her daughter being married? SCENE 4 A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist 11. What are Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio doing at the painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975). beginning of the scene?

10 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE ACT III SCENE 1 1. What is the double meaning of the word “hot” as used in this scene? 2. What did Mercutio do to anger Tybalt? What does Mercutio do in response to Tybalt’s accusation? 3. What does Tybalt call Romeo? How does Romeo react? What is Romeo’s new relationship to Tybalt? 4. Who begins to fight? Who tries to intervene? Who dies at the end of the fight? 5. How does the subsequent fight between Romeo and Tybalt end? 6. Why does Lady Capulet think Benvolio is lying after he explains the order of events? 7. What is the Prince’s punishment for Romeo? SCENE 2 8. What does Juliet wish would come faster? 9. Who does Juliet believe is dead when the Nurse arrives with the news of the quarrel? A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist 10. Whose side, Romeo or Tybalt’s, does Juliet take? Why? painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975). 11. Where does the Nurse go at the end of the scene? 10. How many times to Juliet reenter the scene after she leaves SCENE 3 the first time? 12. What is Romeo’s response to learning he is banished? What 11. What does Juliet tell Romeo to return with in the morning? would he prefer his punishment to be? SCENE 3 13. What does Romeo claim are outside Verona’s walls? 12. What is Friar Lawrence doing when the scene begins? 14. What does Romeo begin to do? What does the Friar say to 13. What time of day is it? How do you know? stop him? 14. What change in Romeo shocks Friar Lawrence? 15. What does the Friar tell the Nurse to tell Juliet? What does the Nurse give to Romeo? 15. What does Romeo ask of Friar Lawrence? SCENE 4 16. Why does Friar Lawrence agree to help Romeo? What does he think will happen as a result of his actions? 16. To whom would Lord Capulet marry Juliet? How soon would he like the wedding to take place? SCENE 4 17. Where do Benvolio and Mercutio think Romeo has been? 18. How does Mercutio describe Tybalt? 19. Who from the House of Capulet enters to interrupt? 20. What news does Romeo have for Juliet? What does he give to the messenger for the trouble of going back and forth? 21. At this point, who knows about Romeo and Juliet’s plan? SCENE 5 22. How does Juliet feel at the beginning of this scene? What does she want from the Nurse when she arrives? 23. Why can’t the Nurse tell Juliet what news Romeo sent? 24. What does the Nurse instruct Juliet to do? SCENE 6 25. What is Friar Lawrence’s advice to Romeo about love? 26. How does this scene end? A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975).

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 11 SCENE 5 17. Where are the two lovers? 18. Which bird signifies to Juliet that it is not morning? Which bird signifies to Romeo that it is? 19. What makes Romeo leave? How does he exit? 20. What does Lady Capulet believe are the two causes of Juliet’s sadness? 21. Where and when is Juliet’s wedding supposed to take place? 22. What threat does Lord Capulet make to get Juliet to agree to the marriage? 23. What comfort does the Nurse provide Juliet after her parents leave? 24. Where does Juliet go at the end of this scene? What does she seek out there? ACT IV SCENE 1 1. How does Juliet feel about Paris? 2. What solution does Friar Lawrence propose for Juliet’s dilemma? SCENE 2 3. How does Lord Capulet respond to Juliet’s apology? SCENE 3 4. What is Juliet afraid of after she says goodnight to her nurse and her mother? A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist SCENE 4 painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975). 5. Who first attempts to wake Juliet? ACT V 6. What conclusion do the Capulets draw about Juliet based on their observations? SCENE 1 1. Why does Balthasar visit Romeo in Mantua? 7. Why does Lord Capulet say death is his son-in-law? 2. Why does Romeo seek out the Apothecary? How does Romeo get what he wants from the Apothecary? SCENE 2 3. What disrupted Friar John’s journey to Romeo? Why is this problematic? SCENE 3 4. Why is Paris in the Capulets’ tomb? 5. Why does Balthasar disobey Romeo’s orders? 6. Why does Paris and Romeo’s interaction escalate into a fight? 7. What does Juliet discover when she wakes? How does she react? 8. How do the Capulets and Montagues process these events and new information?

A painting in a series of illustrations by surrealist painter Salvador Dali titled Romeo e Giulietta (1975).

12 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE FURTHER EXPLORATION MARRIAGE IN ROMEO AND JULIET Aspects of the plot of Romeo and Juliet can become sticking points for readers, viewers, directors, and actors. Culturally, Romeo and Juliet is considered one of the world’s most famous love stories, though the plot is far from a successful romance; two teenagers fall in love after a brief meeting on a dance floor, and a short time later they have both died by suicide, along with three other characters meeting their untimely end. The overarching themes of love conquering all, and familial strife endure to this day, however our modern understanding of marriage, love, and courtship are at odds with the Elizabethan reality of these concepts. The play explicitly states that Juliet is 13 years old, her father telling her suitor Paris “…she hath not yet seen the change of fourteen years” (1.2.9). While it may seem off-putting to think of a 13-year-old getting married, particularly to a man who is guessed to be around 18 years old, we are given context into the social norms of Shakespeare’s Verona: Lady Capulet tells Juliet, in an effort to convince her to marry Paris, that “Younger than you here in Verona, ladies of esteem are made already mothers” (1.3.76-78). While Romeo and Juliet’s youth may make their romance perplexing to a modern audience, we can gather from Lady Capulet’s assertion that marriage and childbirth happened sooner compared to today’s society. The University of Victoria states that in the late 1500’s, the average age of marriage was 20 in Stratford-upon- Avon (for comparison, the US Census Bureau recorded the average age of marriage in America as 27 years old for women and 29 years old for men in 2018). This also adds pressure to Romeo to act quickly; if they do not get married as soon as possible, Juliet would have little chance of escaping her marriage to Paris — her father exclaiming to her as she tries to rebuke his insistence of her marriage, “I tell thee what: get thee to the church o’ Thursday or never after look me in the face” Anne of Denmark, Queen Consort to James I. (3.5.167-168). This pressure can be partially understood by observing She was 15 years old when she married the future King of England. both Romeo and Juliet’s statuses as only children. Romeo, as the only son of the Montagues, would have inherited all his family’s wealth and ownings after the death of his father. Juliet on the other hand, would QUESTIONS: not inherit the vast wealth of the Capulet family unless she were to be 1. What are pressures that Romeo and Juliet feel that push them married, with the inheritance being passed to her husband—while it to get married so young? Why were their statuses as only children was technically legal for women to inherit the estates of their family, it a variable? was practically unheard of. These reasons illustrate why Juliet’s parents are trying to marry her off to Paris — arranged marriages ensured that 2. Marriage is less a matter of family pride and sustainability as it a family’s wealth was protected, and that the generations to come was in the 16th Century. Do you believe there is a modern version? would be provided for. While arranged marriages in Europe had largely Are young people pressured by their families in similar ways that declined by the time Shakespeare was writing Romeo and Juliet, they Romeo and Juliet were? had been a staple of the medieval period, especially between European 3. Most modern productions do not honor the age gap that monarchies. It would not be for at least another decade after Romeo Shakespeare wrote, having Romeo and Juliet being played by and Juliet premiered in London that it was legal in England for people to actors of around the same age. How would having age appropriate get married without their parent’s consent, according to the Philadelphia actors change our modern understanding of the play? Would the Shakespeare Theatre. Shakespeare’s audience would have been familiar play be as popular? with the concept, what was at stake for the young lovers, and how the influence of their parents would have exacerbated the situation. With FEUDING FAMILIES all that in mind, Romeo approaches Friar Lawrence to conduct the marriage in secret; Elizabethan marriages needed to be witnessed by a The core conflict of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is the war-like member of the clergy, in a process that lasted several weeks, according opposition between two noble families. In an environment steeped in to the British Library. This process could be circumvented with what was this age-old feud, “two star-cross’d lovers” (I.1) attempt to fight ancestral known as a “Fleet marriage,” named after a prison in London where the hate with true love. These feuding families, the Capulets and Montagues, ceremony often occurred: with the witness of a neighbor, a couple could were not original characters created by William Shakespeare, but the get married almost immediately. Notably, William Shakespeare used retelling of an Italian story based on real people. this process to marry Anne Hathaway, likely due to her pregnancy with their first child.

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 13 According to the Shakespeare Resource Center, Shakespeare likely QUESTIONS: uncovered the heartbreaking story of Romeo and Juliet in a poem called 1. Read Brooke’s The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet and The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke, which Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Analyze the differences and was published in 1562. Shakespeare also could have known the popular similarities between these two works. Which recounting of the tale from a prose collection by William Painter, entitled The Palace story do you prefer and why? of Pleasure, written before 1580, which is cited by the Encyclopedia Britannica as a popular sourcebook for many Elizabethan dramatists. 2. What are other popular sources that Shakespeare drew inspiration Arthur Brooke and William Painter’s versions were inspired by a lineage from? If you were Shakespeare would you cite the sources you of works by Italian writers, including the 1554 novella Giulietta e Romeo borrowed from? Why or why not? by , a story in a collection titled Il Novellio by the widely popular fifteenth-century writer Masuccio Salernitano, and the Historia 3. By today’s standards, would Shakespeare’s habit of borrowing plots Novellamente Ritrovata di Due Nobili Amanti or A Story Newly Found of and characters be considered plagiarism? What are the potential Two Noble Lovers, written by Luigi Da Porto in 1530. The earlier Italian consequences? versions tell the story of Romeo and Giulietta and the deadly feud between the families Montecchi and Capelletti. These names are also THEATRE IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME mentioned in a verse of Dante’s Purgatorio, published in the mid-1300s, though his poem includes nothing about star-crossed lovers: While there is a contemporary stereotype of theatres as opulent, gilded buildings where the rich and powerful go to spend an evening, the “Come and behold Montecchi and Cappelletti, commoners of London encompassed a significant portion of Elizabethan Monaldi and Fillippeschi, careless man! theatre audiences. Going to see a show was not high culture in Those sad already, and these doubt-depressed! Shakespeare’s day. For example, two neighborhoods outside of London, (Purgatorio Canto VI, vv.106-108) Southwark and Shoreditch, had brothels, bearbaiting rings, and theatres. Theatre was attended by people of all classes. According to Globe Pietro Allighieri, Dante’s son, author of one of the first commentaries Education at London’s Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, one penny would on The Divine Comedy, wrote that his father was referring to two rival buy standing room in the yard, directly in front of the stage, and for two political parties, not families. Such political parties typically covered a pennies you could sit on a bench in the galleries. Those who stood in whole region and not simply one city, as factions in one region looked the yard were called “groundlings” and would interact with the actors for allies in others. There is a house in Verona, Italy, known as “Juliet’s onstage as the plot developed. The yard was noisy and it often smelled House” that tourists from around the world travel to visit. It was once bad because there were no bathrooms in the Globe Theatre. The most inhabited by the Cappello family and dates back to the 13th century, expensive seats in the house, often reserved for nobility, were above though the famous balcony wasn’t added until the 20th century. Visitors the stage in the tiring house, a structure that served both as backstage are permitted to touch a courtyard statue of Juliet as a good-luck ritual, for the actors as well as the support for the balcony. At the time, the in the hope of finding the love of their life. theatre was not just a place to enjoy the arts; it was also a place to be seen. Audiences would delight from watching the fabulously rich at the theatre. Royals also enjoyed Shakespeare’s plays, however it was deemed improper for them to attend. To counteract that, Shakespeare’s company, the Chamberlain’s Men, would perform privately in the courts of Queen Elizabeth and King James. The Globe Theatre, built on the south bank of the River Thames, was technically located outside the city of London. Theatres were not allowed within the city limits, as they were considered immoral, and not fit to be in the same location with respectable businesses. Based on anecdotal evidence, sketches, and archeological digs, we know that Elizabethan theatres were circular buildings constructed of wood, with thatched or tile roofs and were open air. Theatrical lighting had not yet been invented, therefore shows were performed in the middle of the day, while the sun could illuminate the stage. The audience areas were the yard, where the groundlings stood, and the galleries, which were covered The bronze statute of Juliet below her fabled benches that were priced more expensively the higher up in the theatre balcony at Juliet’s House in Verona, Italy. they were. Theatres generally had thrust-style stages, which jut out into the audience, who watch from three out of four sides. Behind the stage In the entire canon of William Shakespeare’s works, there are very was the tiring house, from which actors entered onstage, could access few original plots; Shakespeare was as gifted a borrower as he was a the trap doors below the stage, or could enter to the balcony above playwright. Drawing from classical works, histories, and other literary the stage. The Globe’s tiring house also housed, at various points in its sources, Shakespeare liberally adapted stories (sometimes even lifting history, church bells, a wind machine, and a cannon, the latter of which words and phrasing) in creating his plays. Shakespeare’s version accidentally burned the Globe to the ground during a production of of Romeo and Juliet was part of a larger trend among writers and Henry VIII in 1613. playwrights of the time to publish works based on Italian novellas. A total of ten of Shakespeare’s plays are set in Italy. Notably absent from the Elizabethan theaters were women. Due to the theatre’s reputation as havens for vice and sin, women largely did not attend public shows. They also did not perform in them — it would have been immoral for women to appear onstage. According to the British

14 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE The interior of Shakespeare’s Globe in London, the recreation of the original Globe Theatre. Photo from Shakespeare’s Globe.

Library, the first actresses did not appear in London until 1660, after the Roughly 100 years before Shakespeare was born, the Wars of the Roses Restoration of King Charles II (King Charles II’s mistress was one such raged throughout England, as the Royal Houses of the Tudors and the actress, Nell Gwyn). Therefore, during Shakespeare’s life, all his most Yorks fought for control of Great Britain. The fighting would not cease famous roles for women such as Lady Macbeth, Ophelia, Desdemona, for 30 years and in the interim, England would have four kings, two and even Juliet, were played by young men. Boys from around 13 to 21 each from the Tudors and the Yorks. Not long after the fighting ceased, would play Shakespeare’s leading ladies, as their voices had not entirely Britain was once again thrust into political turmoil with the reign of changed yet. The youngest women in Shakespeare, Juliet included, Henry VIII, who split the Church of England from Roman Catholicism in would likely be played by the youngest men in the company. order to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. This left the country with two major religious groups: Catholics, who were faithful to the QUESTIONS: pope, and Anglicans, who followed King Henry, largely out of fear of 1. Why did Elizabethan theatres eventually do away with thatched persecution. His son, Henry, died in infancy, leading to the coronation of roofs? What materials were used instead? his daughter, Queen Mary, who was staunchly Catholic. She tried to undo the changes her father made to the religious system in England, and 2. Do some research on the names of the theatres in Elizabethan burned hundreds of Protestants at the stake, earning her the nickname London. Who named the theatres and how? How did theatres “Bloody Mary.” She did not have an heir, and so the crown went to her advertise what type of play was to be performed that day? sister, Queen Elizabeth I, who was Protestant; suddenly the tables had turned and Catholics could no longer worship openly. In the short one 3. Where was the most expensive seat in the house? Why was it so hundred years before Romeo and Juliet made its London premiere, expensive? Explain why a person might want to sit there. England had seen intense tribalism on both sides of the Wars of the Roses, and from whichever religious group was held in the favor of the 4. Consider modern theatre in comparison to Elizabethan theatre. Queen. Shakespeare’s audiences would have a clear understanding of Why do you think attitudes toward the theatre, including who can the strength of hatred that was keeping these two families in Verona participate, changed? Why is it no longer a “sinful” profession? apart — they had experienced it themselves, with a kingdom torn apart by political and religious violence in recent generations. Shakespeare’s AMERICAN TRIBALISM play sent a message of hope to these groups: through the pain they The plot of Romeo and Juliet is propelled by the mutual hatred between experience over their children’s deaths, the Capulets and the Montagues the Capulets and the Montagues. Shakespeare’s play does not go into manage to come to a peaceful understanding. So too, then, could detail as to where the animosity comes from beyond the prologue’s British society. report of an “ancient grudge,” a hatred based solely on the fact that the other family has always been hated. This can also be described as Modern tribalism, while in many ways more subtle, is still damaging to “tribalism,” a cultural phenomenon in which people of a similar group society. American society has always been made up of groups of “us” isolate from a dissimilar group, often demonizing other groups to fire and “them,” whether it be the Loyalists and the Revolutionaries during up the support of members of the tribe. Tribalism can be based on race, the American Revolution, the abolitionists and slaveholders during political ideas, gender, religion, even sports team affiliation — anything the Civil War, or fissions between Republicans, Democrats, and other that can divide people into the groups of “us” and “them.” While political parties throughout our nation’s history. However, in the past tribalism was a compelling plot device to audiences in Shakespeare’s day several years, partisan rhetoric has intensified and increased on both based on their own recent history of war and religious oppression, it also sides of the political aisle and between communities. Since the 2016 rings true to modern audiences. Election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, partisanship has been the modus operandi of the US Federal Government; since

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 15 GUN VIOLENCE Like many productions of Shakespeare’s plays, the Huntington’s production of Romeo and Juliet removes the story from its original Elizabethan context and reframes it in a new setting. This impacts everything in the production such as scenery, costumes, props, and music. Although the weapons of choice during Shakespeare’s time were swords and daggers, in the Huntington’s contemporary production the violence will include firearms. Every day, according to research conducted by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, approximately “100 Americans are killed with guns and hundreds more are shot and injured. The Modern politics have become increasingly tribal. effects of gun violence extend far beyond these casualties — gun violence shapes the lives of millions of Americans who January of 2017, the government has shutdown three times due to witness it, know someone who was shot, or live in fear of the gridlock between Congress and the White House, and according to next shooting.” GovTrack, the 115th Congress passed 443 pieces of legislation into law. By comparison, the 80th Congress, nicknamed by President Truman the “Do In the United States, Nothing Congress,” passed 906 bills according to Senate records. While • The gun homicide rate is 25 times that of other disagreement and even stalemates are to be expected on Capitol Hill, the high-income countries. rhetoric surrounding modern politics has become divisive to the point of destruction. Look no further than the names thrown back and forth • Firearms are the second leading cause of death for between presidential candidates in 2016. Then candidate Trump came American children and teens, and the first leading cause up with nicknames for his opponents, regardless of party. Most famously of death for Black children and teens. he dubbed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary.” • Approximately three million American children witness gun Meanwhile from the left, pundits claimed that Trump suffers from mental violence every year. illnesses that should prevent him from being President. Messages that are • At an all-time high, the number of mass shootings in the designed to scare a population into agreement are traded with regularity, United States in 2018 rose to above 340. intensified by 24-hour news cycles that sensationalize reality in order to boost ratings. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were 56,751 reported incidents with guns in 2018, with a total of 14,594 While political tribalism is not a new phenomenon, its intensity in the deaths. In the past ten years, there have been shootings early 21st century seems to be a newer development. In the 1980s, in schools, synagogues, churches, bars, concerts, bowling President Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill disagreed on alleys, restaurants, movie theatres, college campuses, offices, many issues but would still have an occasional drink together to show nightclubs, music festivals, homes, and many other places. Americans that they were still civil. In contrast, at the state funeral of President George H. W. Bush in 2018, the Clintons and the Trumps barely acknowledged each other; critics on both the left and the right may have interpreted a cordial exchange between them as evidence of weakness. Average Americans find it more difficult to find common ground and compromise. And while tribalism certainly exists in terms of government and politics, other aspects of American life are also tribalistic. Arenas and stadiums sell higher priced tickets to games between two rival teams. For example, playoff games to the see the Boston Red Sox become more expensive if their long-time rival, the New York Yankees are going to be playing, according to The Boston Globe. QUESTIONS: 1. In what other ways does tribalism manifest in contemporary society? Consider rivalries or opposing factions that exist within your local community and state in addition to the national discourse.

2. Think of historical examples of tribalism. Are there aspects of modern society with parallels to those eras? What elements of tribalism in Romeo and Juliet reflect these other times?

3. Do you believe tribalism is a threat to society? Is possible to live without it?

4. Do you belong to a tribe of some kind? Describe it. How do you Infographic from everytownresearch.org know you are a part of it? How do you know other people are not?

16 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES ACTING: IAMBIC PENTAMETER is an important part of the visual storytelling. Costume designers work closely with directors, as well as scenic and lighting designers, to ensure Write the definitions below on the board: that the way the actors are dressed onstage does not distract from the Iambic = iamb - a metrical foot consisting of one unstressed (or short) plot and provides a cohesive representation of the world of the play. syllable, followed by a stressed (or long syllable). The same rhythm as Shakespearean productions often rely on costumes to convey in what a heartbeat. time period the production has been set, including Huntington Theatre ex. unite, provide, delay, belong, away, with me, my love, Company’s production of Romeo and Juliet, which has been set in the I know, and dance, But soft. modern era. = five Penta In this exercise, you will be the costume designer of a modern version = line Meter of Romeo and Juliet and will design costumes for seven key characters: 1 line is made up of five 2-syllable iambs! Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio, Paris, Lord Capulet, and Friar Lawrence. An example of a full line in perfect iambic pentameter from Materials: Paper, glue sticks, markers/colored pencils, tape. Romeo and Juliet is: “But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?” 1. First, identify the setting for your interpretation of the play. Be as With rhythmic emphasis, this line reads: specific as possible regarding time and place. It can be anywhere; “But, SOFT! What LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS?” your school, Boston of today, Boston of 1890, a fictional place, etc. Use your body to further explore this core style in Shakespeare’s plays. 2. Next, determine whether the character is aligned with one of the warring families in the play or if they are neutral. 1. Everyone stands in a circle where they can see everyone else in the class. 3. Starting with the characters Romeo and Juliet, create a visual representation of how they are dressed by either sketching or 2. Establish the basic foundational step for the group (toe heel, toe creating a collage using magazine cutouts. heel, toe heel, toe heel, toe heel). This the group heart beat, that everyone must stomp out. 4. Next, describe each piece they are wearing and why. What do you intend for the audience to understand about the characters and 3. Have all of the students in unison say “dee dum dee dum dee dum the play through these costume pieces? Include details about any dee dum dee dum” in call and repeat form until they seem to logos, hairstyles, and color palettes they may be wearing. have it. 5. Move on to Mercutio, Paris, Lord Capulet, and Friar Lawrence. 4. Go around the circle with each student contributing an original line Go through the same process. in iambic pentameter with the rest of the group stomping out the heartbeat. Students can take a moment to think if need be at the 6. Create a display of your designs and descriptions, and share with top of their turn, say “Come back to me”, or just say “dee dum dee the rest of the class. dum dee dum dee dum dee dum” in the rhythm if they prefer. 7. Look over your classmates’ designs. Can you see the connection 5. If someone’s rhythm alters, point out the poetic device or jewel between the characters? Can you tell where this production is set they helped to discover. Shakespeare often broke his own literary based on the costumes? Compare and contrast their choices with structure in order to draw attention to specific ideas and words your own. • If someone offers a metrical foot of one stressed 8. Finally, make a designer presentation. Describe your central design (long syllable), followed by an unstressed syllable concepts, what articles of clothing each character would wear, how that is a TROCHEE. the clothing sets them apart from each other. How will the clothing Example: poet (PO-et) communicate the world of the play to the audience? • If someone offers a metrical foot of two stressed syllables (long syllables) that is a SPONDEE. Example: earthquake (EARTH-QUAKE) • If someone offers a metrical foot of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable, that is an ANAPEST. Example: understand (un-der-STAND) • If someone offers a metrical foot of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables, that is a DACTYL. Example: typical (TY-pi-cal)

DESIGN: COSTUME DESIGN While frilled collars may come to mind when thinking about Elizabethan theatre, Shakespeare’s works have been adapted across cultures for hundreds of years. Costume design is integral to telling a story onstage. Whether it be status, location, profession, or age, a character’s costume Costume rendering of Juliet Costume rendering of Romeo

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 17 ELA: MAD LIB — SHAKESPEARE’S PROLOGUE This is an opportunity to be a playwright, to re-imagine a well-known Shakespearean text, and to explore the process of writing within a given form. On the board, a handout, or on a big piece of paper, write out the Mad Lib version of the Romeo and Juliet prologue below. Anytime a world is underlined, do not write it. Instead draw a line and use the guidelines beneath the line to choose a new word. Once the class has filled in all the blanks, students will volunteer to read couplets of their new opening to Romeo and Juliet. For added fun, compare and contrast the class’s prologue with Shakespeare’s original prologue.

Two households, both alike in dignity, (plural noun) (noun) 2 syllables 3 syllables In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, (adjective) (verb) 1 syllable 1 syllable From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, (noun) (noun) 1 syllable 3 syllables, rhymes last word 1st line Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. (noun) 1 syllable, body part From forth the fatal loins of these two foes (plural noun) 1 syllable A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; (plural noun) 2 syllables Whose misadventured piteous overthrows (adjective) 3 syllables Do with their death bury their parents’ strife. (noun) (noun) 1 syllable 1 syllable, rhymes with “life” The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love, (noun) 1 syllable, rhymes with “remove” And the continuance of their parents’ rage, (noun) 1 syllable, rhymes with “stage” Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove, (noun) 1 syllable Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage; (noun) 2 syllables The which if you with patient ears attend, (noun) 1 syllable, body part What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. (verb) 1 syllable, rhymes with “attend”

18 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE ELA: LOVE LETTERS ELA: TEXT ANALYSIS In his lifetime, Shakespeare wrote approximately 154 sonnets, not One of Shakespeare’s most quoted phrases is spoken by Romeo and counting the sonnets he included within his plays. Write your own sonnet Act II, Scene 2, during the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo or love letter to someTHING you love (pizza, a favorite book, your dog, begins the scene by saying: a vacation spot you visited with friends or family, etc.). Perhaps provide But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? a grab bag of topics, which are available if anyone is struggling to come It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. up with something they feel passionately about. Below read Sonnet 18, Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, one of Shakespeare’s most famous love sonnets, to get your creativity Who is already sick and pale with grief, brewing. That thou her maid art far more fair than she: 18 Be not her maid, since she is envious; Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Her vestal livery is but sick and green Thou art more lovely and more temperate. And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, It is my lady, O, it is my love! And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. O, that she knew she were! Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that? And often is his gold complexion dimmed; Her eye discourses; I will answer it. And every fair from fair sometime declines, I am too bold, ‘tis not to me she speaks: By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed. Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, But thy eternal summer shall not fade Having some business, do entreat her eyes Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, To twinkle in their spheres till they return. Nor shall Death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, What if her eyes were there, they in her head? When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven So long lives this, and this gives life to thee Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night. GUIDELINES: See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! • 10 lines O, that I were a glove upon that hand, • One simile That I might touch that cheek! • One rhyming couplet • One line in perfect iambic pentameter Analyze the many rhetorical devices Shakespeare uses in this speech. • If you finish early, draw a picture to accompany it. First, identify words or phrases you do not recognize. Look them up, • Optional sharing at the end (or can have a friend or either in a dictionary or online. Then answer the following questions: myself read it on your behalf) 1. What is the central metaphor in this monologue? What language does Shakespeare use to invoke this metaphor? What is its effect on the audience? 2. What parts of Juliet’s body does Romeo talk about? How does he describe them?

3. Romeo asks several questions throughout the monologue. Who is he speaking to and why does he ask these questions?

4. There are several exclamations in this speech. What do they signify? How is Romeo feeling in these moments? Next, rewrite the monologue in your own words. Do not skip any of the information in the original monologue. Share your monologue with a classmate or with a small group. Are your monologues similar? Discuss the similarities and differences with your classmate(s).

ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE 19 REFERENCES AND RESOURCES Comprehensive Resources • Open Source Shakespeare Concordance View all the uses of a word or word form in all of Shakespeare’s • Absolute Shakespeare works or in one play. opensourceshakespeare.com/concordance/ A comprehensive collection of Shakespeare’s work, including full findform.php texts, summaries, a timeline and lists of film adaptations. absoluteshakespeare.com • Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary Part of Tufts University’s Perseus Digital Library and created by • Shakespeare Resource Center Alexander Schmidt. perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3A Links and articles on teaching Shakespeare’s plays. text%3A1999.03.0079 bardweb.net/index.html • Shakespeare’s Words Glossary and Language Companion • Shakespeare and Elizabethan England Created by David Crystal and Ben Crystal, this site is a free online The Elizabethan Costuming Page companion to the best-selling glossary and language companion, Articles on what Elizabethan clothing with drawings. Shakespeare’s Words. shakespeareswords.com elizabethancostume.net/

• The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Movies (may contain mature content, prescreen before sharing) Learn more about Shakespeare’s life with extensive online collection. • Romeo and Juliet (1968) Dir: Franco Zeffirelli shakespeare.org.uk/home.html • Romeo + Juliet (1996) Dir: Baz Luhrmann • Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre The Encyclopedia Britannica’s entry with a detailed biography, • Romeo and Juliet (2013) Dir: Carlo Carlei contextual articles on Elizabethan literature, art, theaters and culture, and entries on famous Shakespearean actors, directors and scholars. • (1961) britannica.com/topic/Globe-Theatre • (1998) • Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection Images include production photos, books, manuscripts and art. • Romeo and Juliet: Broadway HD (2013) – Broadway Revival luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/view/all • Gnomeo and Juliet (2011) • Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet An engaging introduction to the play, written in the format of exclusive breaking news. bbc.co.uk/drama/ shakespeare/60secondshakespeare/themes_romeojuliet.shtml

Teacher Resources

• The Folger Shakespeare Library This website features lesson plans, primary sources and study guides for the most frequently taught plays and sonnets. folger.edu/education

• Teaching Romeo and Juliet BBC and RSC’s Shakespeare Unlocked: Romeo and Juliet bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/484GwDBByzcGTGCy5bvmhLF/ romeo-and-juliet

Language Resources

• Interactive Folio: Romeo and Juliet An interactive online folio that you can use while reading the script to select a word, read a lexicon definition, click on links for more information, or watch video clips. Created and maintained by Canadian Shakespeare. canadianshakespeares.ca/folio/folio.html

20 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE NOTES

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2018-2019 STUDENT MATINEES THE NICETIES OCT. 3 SHERLOCK’S LAST CASE OCT. 25 MAN IN THE RING NOV. 30 A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2 JAN. 24 SPAMILTON FEB. 28 22 ROMEO AND JULIET CURRICULUM GUIDE ROMEO AND JULIET MAR. 8 & 14