Stage history of the play Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet - a love story - who were the real Romeo and Juliet. Historical figures or literary characters

Probably, in all world literature there is no such famous and great work that has not lost its relevance over the centuries, like the play "Romeo and Juliet". Who wrote this immortal creation is known today to all educated people. One of the tragedies that glorified William Shakespeare, - "Romeo and Juliet". Its author - the most famous and playwright - is recognized as the greatest of the brilliant personalities of the Renaissance. His story about Romeo and Juliet is permeated with a bright feeling of love, which conquers not only many years of human enmity, but also death.

History of creation

"Romeo and Juliet"... Who wrote the brilliant work? It is known that before the creation of this play, there were already several legends and short stories by other authors about the love of two representatives of the warring clans. Shakespeare's tragedy is based on three short stories. The earliest was written in 1562 by Arthur Brooke, a famous playwright. It was called The Tragic Story of Romeus and Juliet. This poem is considered the direct source of the plot on which the work "Romeo and Juliet" is based.

Who wrote another prototype of Shakespeare's play is also known from the history of literature. They became the short story "Romeo and Juliet", created by one of the famous Italian writers of the XVI century, Matteo Bandello. Even later, the Italian writer and historiographer Luigi Da Porto wrote the short story "The Story of Two Noble Lovers", which almost completely repeated the plot of Shakespeare's play.

As you know, William Shakespeare only slightly changed the previous works, for example, in the early plays the action took place over a longer time - about nine months. In Shakespeare, according to the plot, five days are allocated for everything that happens.

"Romeo and Juliet". Summary

In the play, the author describes the events that take place in the Italian city of Verona. Two warring clans, two families - the Montagues and the Capulets, have been competing with each other for a long time. Their enmity then subsides, then resumes again. The last outbreak begins with a squabble of servants, then turns into a real carnage. Romeo Montecchi, heir to one of the families, does not participate in the bloodshed, he is busy thinking about the conquest of the noble beauty Rosalina, whose heart he wanted to win. His friends - Mercutio and Benvolio - are trying in every possible way to distract him from heavy thoughts, but Romeo continues to be sad.

At this time, a fun holiday is planned in the Capulet family. These people do not have aristocratic roots, but they are very wealthy, and with the help of organized balls, they seek to further demonstrate their wealth and luxury. A relative of the Duke himself, Count Paris, is invited to their holiday, who falls under the spell of the beautiful Juliet and asks the head of the family for her hand. Juliet's father gives his consent, despite the young age of his daughter. Juliet is only 13 years old.

At this time, Romeo's friends invite him to put on a mask and enter the Capulet's house for a ball to have fun. Romeo agrees. One of the relatives of the Capulet family - Tybalt - recognizes in Romeo the son of the Montagues, with whom there is a feud. But at this time, Romeo sees Juliet, falls in love with her at first sight and forgets about his former lady of the heart Rosalina. Juliet also falls in love with Romeo, they hide from everyone and take an oath of allegiance to each other.

Late in the evening after the ball, Juliet goes out onto the balcony and begins to talk aloud about her feelings for Romeo, he hears her words and confesses to her in return attraction. The lovers are planning to get married. Early in the morning, brother Lorenzo, a minister of the monastery of St. Francis, helps them in this.

At the same time, Mercutio and Tybalt meet by chance. A quarrel breaks out between them, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. Romeo is forced to avenge the death of his friend, he kills Tybalt. After that, the young man goes into hiding so as not to incur the wrath of the Duke. He is forced to flee the city. Before this, Romeo spends the night with Juliet, the approach of dawn means their separation. Listening to the morning chirping of the larks, they say goodbye.

The Capulet family is determined to marry Juliet to Count Paris, and the bride's parents begin preparations for the wedding. The girl, in desperation, seeks solace from her brother Lorenzo, and he offers her an insidious plan - to drink a drink that will plunge her into a deep sleep, similar to death. Juliet will sleep, meanwhile everyone will think that she is dead, and thus the fatal wedding will be avoided. Romeo is sent a letter warning him of the plan. Unfortunately, the messenger does not have time to warn Romeo because of the plague quarantine, and the news of Juliet's death arrives earlier. Romeo returns to Verona to say goodbye to his beloved.

At the sight of the deceased Juliet, not knowing that she is just sleeping, Romeo drinks poison, unable to imagine life without her. Juliet wakes up when Romeo is already dead. In desperation, she considers herself guilty of the death of her beloved, snatching his dagger, strikes herself in the very heart. When the rival families of the Montagues and Capulets learn of the tragedy, they negotiate peace - the death of their beloved children softens their hearts, the enmity ceases. The love of Romeo and Juliet becomes atonement for all the evil the clans have done to each other.

William Shakespeare. "Romeo and Juliet". Who wrote the masterpiece

There is very little information about the life of the most talented English playwright W. Shakespeare. He did not keep a diary, did not write down his memories and corresponded with practically no one. All documents that have his signature or at least some record made by his hand are of great historical value.

In the small English town of Stratford, which is located on the banks of the River Avon, in 1564.

His father, a wealthy merchant, went bankrupt when William was fifteen. From this age he himself was forced to earn his living. In 1585 William Shakespeare traveled to London. There he changed several professions. For example, he guarded the horses while the nobles watched the performances. Then he joined the theater, where he sometimes replaced the prompter, rewrote some of the roles and made sure that the actors got on stage on time. Such work in the future helped him to put on amazing plays, as he knew the behind the scenes very well.

Gradually, after serving for several years, he made sure that he was given small roles on stage. Then he himself began to write and stage plays. Shakespeare is known for his poems and sonnets. In addition to Romeo and Juliet, he has some other immortal creations - A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing other. In total, 37 plays by Shakespeare, 154 sonnets and 4 poems are known.

William did not invent many of his texts, but simply processed real events - it is thanks to this talent that his works are known for their truthfulness and vitality. Shakespeare's work conveys the breath of that time - the humanistic ideas of the Renaissance. His works are thoughtful, his characters are spiritual and strong people, they struggle with human passions and vices.

One of the main ideas of the brilliant Shakespeare: people should be evaluated not by status and titles, not by the level of wealth or position, but by thoughts, actions and human qualities. Shakespeare's contribution to world culture is difficult to overestimate, his works are still relevant today, they win the hearts of millions of fans around the world.

William Shakespeare died at the age of 52 in 1616. He is buried in his hometown, Stratford. Numerous fans and tourists still come to his grave. It is possible that life in the town would have completely stopped if the "Shakespearean" industry had not been organized in it - each sign of the city certainly points to the genius of William Shakespeare. Crowds of tourists come to Stratford every year to bow to the grave of the great writer and playwright.

Theatrical performances

The play "Romeo and Juliet" was staged thousands of times on many stages of the world. Perhaps this play can be called one of the most popular in the repertoires of many world theaters. In Russia, the play "Romeo and Juliet" was staged at the "Satyricon" theater. A. Raikin, in the theater. Pushkin and many others. The main characters are played by the most talented actors, great directors undertake to stage this play.

Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet" - this is the same eternally relevant timeless classic, the production of which can be considered an honor for any theater. Musicals on the theme of unfortunate lovers are constantly updated, sometimes the most unexpected details are introduced into the tragedy, the production is interpreted by the most talented people in the most unexpected way. West Side Story is an adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play that premiered worldwide in 1957. The play "Romeo and Juliet" (author - Shakespeare) is the property of world culture, it constantly attracts many admirers of the great master's talent.

Romeo and Juliet in the movies

Since 1900, almost since the advent of cinema, Shakespeare ("Romeo and Juliet" in particular) has been filmed a huge number of times. Almost every year in different countries films about the tragedy of lovers are being made around the world. In France and the USA, in the UK and Spain, in Mexico, Belgium, Italy, Argentina, Brazil and Portugal, Romeo and Juliet are played by the best actors of world cinema. In the USSR, the film-ballet "Romeo and Juliet" was filmed in 1983, the main roles were played by Alexander Mikhailov and Olga Sirina. The last film co-produced by the USA and Italy was released in 2013. It was a success in many countries of the world and was recognized as one of the best at the end of the year.

Music

Many academic works have been written based on Shakespeare's immortal play. In 1830, the opera "Romeo and Juliet" by V. Bellini appeared, in 1839 - a symphonic poem; in 1938, a ballet to music by Prokofiev was published.

In addition to operatic and classical versions, there are many compositions by rock bands and pop artists. Songs about Romeo and Juliet were performed by V. Kuzmin, A. Malinin, S. Penkin. The name of the play is used in the titles of the albums of various groups.

Translation in literature

The work "Romeo and Juliet" (translation in Russian and not only) was reprinted many hundreds of times. Based on the immortal play, short stories by G. Keller and a novel by Ann Fortier were published. The creation of "Romeo and Juliet" in Russian first appeared in the second half of the 19th century. One of the best is the translation of I. Raskovshenko. The translations of Grekov, Grigoriev, Mikhalovsky, Sokolovsky, Shchepkina-Kupernik, and Radlova were popular with readers. The work "Romeo and Juliet" (the original was in English) translated by B. Pasternak was especially warmly received. This option is far from the most accurate, but the most beautiful and poetic. It is Pasternak who owns the lines "But the story of Romeo and Juliet will remain the saddest in the world ...".

Curious facts

Until now, tourists in Verona are offered to visit the houses of Romeo and Juliet, and even their graves. In fact, these landmarks are known to have nothing to do with Shakespeare's literary characters. However, in the courtyard of the house where Juliet allegedly lived, there is a statue of her, cast in bronze. Local legend says that anyone who touches her breast will find happiness and love.

Another interesting fact you can name the one that in Italy, when they talk about Shakespeare's play and his heroes, it is customary to mention first the name of the girl, and then the guy - Juliet and Romeo. For the Russian language, it is more common to use names in the title the other way around.

Juliet's balcony is an important detail of any production or film about the legendary lovers. However, it is known that in the original version, Shakespeare is not talking about a balcony - Romeo listened to her speech just from the window. Nevertheless, Juliet's balcony eventually became one of the significant details of all productions about lovers. The guides of Verona even now demonstrate to numerous tourists exactly the balcony on which Juliet stood.

Historical figures or literary characters?

The story of Romeo and Juliet is beautiful and very tragic. Many researchers, historians and literary critics are concerned about the question of whether the characters in Shakespeare's play actually lived. It is known that some personalities did exist - for example, Escala, mentioned by Shakespeare, was in reality Duke Bartolomeo I della Scala. It is roughly established what year is described in the play - 1302.

Italy of that time was indeed characterized by various conflicts, when various clans competed for titles and nobility of the family. The American historian Olin Moore devoted several years to studying the legend of lovers, and thanks to his research, it was possible to find out that it was precisely in those years about which in question, in Verona there really were two clans with very similar surnames - Dal Capello and Monticoli. In fact, there was a confrontation between them, which was explained by different parties, whose adherents these families were. The history of the city indicates that in fact there lived a girl who did not reciprocate a high-ranking person and married a poor young man, despite pressure from relatives. took revenge on them, and the lovers died during the torture, without admitting any guilt and not parting even after death.

It is possible that the story of unfortunate lovers, described by Shakespeare in his tragedy, was based on real events, but slightly modified by the author and embellished with artistic details for greater expressiveness.

Symbol of eternal love

The tragedy of two unfortunate lovers, written by the great W. Shakespeare, has not lost its relevance for several centuries. The story took place more than four hundred years ago, but the theme still lives on in numerous theatrical productions, in sculpture and painting, in music and cinema. Perhaps all of humanity with its diverse culture would noticeably become impoverished if Shakespeare had not written his brilliant creation.

The story of Romeo and Juliet is the most touching and beautiful story known to the world. Young people are recognized as a symbol of high feelings, devotion and fidelity, eternal love and its power over death and time. This play has many fans - there is a Museum of Love, which presents all the exhibits that testify to the veracity of the story of Romeo and Juliet. There are clubs of admirers of legendary lovers. You can even write a letter to Juliet - in one of her clubs there are special secretaries who receive messages in different languages, read them and respond on behalf of Juliet.

On February 14, this club chooses the most touching and romantic story, and the author of the letter receives a gift from Juliet. The thirteen-year-old girl, who suffered from deep feelings, is revered by fans as the one who can bless lovers, give them confidence and bring true happiness.

In Verona, the legend of lovers is very popular to this day - there is a travel agency and a hotel named after Juliet, pastry shops sell cakes of the same name, guides conduct tours of the mansions that allegedly belonged to the Montecchi and Capulet families. The name "Romeo and Juliet" is given to champagne, confectionery, furniture, flowers and fragrances - everything that one wants to consider romantic and beautiful. In general, it can be seen that the industry also supports the brand of Romeo and Juliet with pleasure and profit - their story sells well, and manufacturers cannot but use it.

It doesn't really matter whether Shakespeare's characters actually existed, anyway, people want to believe in a fairy tale, not lose hope and dream of the same strong and pure feeling as Romeo and Juliet. As long as we are able to love, the story of Romeo and Juliet will remain one of the most popular and most romantic in world culture.

The first of Shakespeare's "great tragedies" is one of those plays whose date is difficult to determine. Nevertheless, many stylistic features allow us to attribute the play to early works Shakespeare. The comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, undoubtedly dated 1595, helps, where comically, performed by amateur actors, the legend of Pyramus and Thisbe, very close to the story of Romeo and Juliet, is depicted. This comical and archaic-looking plot represents Shakespeare's farewell to antiquity, which is now used only in the mention of famous images. The time will come when Shakespeare will again turn to ancient subjects, but his approach will be completely different. In the meantime, he laughs and even allows himself through Pyramus and Thisbe to slightly parody Romeo and Juliet, which is still quite close to antiquity.

Since a number of circumstances allow us to assert that The Two Veronians were written immediately before A Midsummer Night's Dream, since in the 1590s Shakespeare always wrote two plays a year, and it is obvious that Titus Andronicus, staged on January 24, 1594, was created in the previous year, it is logical to assume that Romeo and Juliet was written in the first half of 1594.

The play was clearly a great success, and even before the First Folio it was printed four times (1597, 1599, 1609, and once more in an unknown year). The first edition is much shorter than the second (2232 lines instead of 3007), which has led to speculation that Shakespeare reworked the original version. Then, as in many similar cases, it was proved that the first quarto was pirated, with distorted and abbreviated text. So, Shakespeare created "Romeo and Juliet" immediately after "Titus Andronicus", obviously trying not to repeat himself and write a completely different tragedy. However, the plot, although it may seem paradoxical, was ancient. The love story of two representatives of warring families has been repeatedly used in ancient literature; the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, mentioned above, is best known.

The revival of interest in antiquity and the vital relevance of the topic led to the fact that this plot became very popular in Renaissance Italy. The first to address him was Masuccio the Salernitan (novella 36 in the book Novellino, 1476). The action took place in Siena, and the characters had other names. However, already in Luigi da Porto (“The Story of Two Noble Lovers”, about 1524), Siena changed to Verona, the names Romeo and Juliet were used, as well as the names of Montecchi and Capulet, borrowed from Dante’s Divine Comedy. I liked the plot; it was processed by Bolderi ("Unhappy Love", 1553), Bandello ("Novels", 1554), Luigi Groto (the tragedy "Adrian", published in 1578). Finally, Girolamo della Corta, in his History of Verona (1594-1596), portrayed the invented story as a true incident. Soon a fake grave of Romeo and Juliet was erected, which in our time is shown to tourists and which brings a lot of income to the city.

It is little known, but another great playwright, Lope de Vega, used this theme in the play "Castelvins and Montes" (circa 1600). However, his tragedy can in no way be compared in its popularity and significance with Shakespeare's tragedy.

In 1562, the English poet Arthur Brooke wrote the poem "Romeo and Juliet" freely with the plot. Brooke mentions that he saw a play based on this story. If this is not his invention (no evidence has ever been found), the play was most likely written in Latin, quite typical of this time; in addition, Brook calls the protagonist in the Latin form Romeus. The statements of some Shakespeare scholars (for example, A. Smirnov) that Brook's poem, which Smirnov himself called viscous and unartistic, served as Shakespeare's source, do not look convincing.

Shakespeare's source was certainly the most famous of the Italian short stories, the short story by Matteo Bandello. Shakespeare could have used Painter's translation in The Pleasure Palace (1565-1567); however, he most likely read the novella himself.

Acquaintance with Bandello's short story makes a strong impression - it seems that you are reading brief retelling Shakespeare's tragedy. Exactly following someone else's plot, Shakespeare supplemented it with bright, colorful lyrics, made the images of the characters much deeper. Several comic scenes with the participation of servants were added, the image of the nurse was made colorful.

Thanks to Brooke's poem and Painter's translation, the story of Romeo and Juliet was well known in England, and Shakespeare took the liberty of opening the play with the words of the Chorus, played by one actor. In these words, expressed in the form of a sonnet, the main storylines are outlined. For the only time in his dramaturgy, Shakespeare indicates the time of the performance - two hours (the plot itself lasts only five days!). The chorus appears again at the beginning of the second act, but Shakespeare does not use this device again.

The massacre arranged by two warring families has already been said, and in the very first scene, viewers can watch the start of another fight. Servants start it, but very quickly noble representatives of both families join them. The behavior of the bailiff and the townspeople speaks volumes; the bailiff calls to beat both the Montagues and the Capulets. It can be seen that the inhabitants of Verona are fed up with the protracted conflict. Their view is shared by the duke, forcing the fighters to disperse under pain of death and striving to stop the unrest. He takes the elder Capulet with him, and orders the elder Montague to come to him in the afternoon. Romeo separated from both the family and the bloody brawl. He is consumed by love for a certain Rosaline. His cousin and friend Benvolio persuades him to go to the Capulet's ball, where Rosaline should also be. Romeo agrees.

Mercutio, another friend of Romeo who does not belong to the ill-fated birth (he is a relative of the duke), comes to the ball along with Romeo and Benvolio. Tybalt, Signora Capulet's nephew, recognizes Romeo and reports this to the head of the clan. But Capulet pacifies Tybalt - he does not want to offend Romeo, who, according to him, behaves like a true nobleman. Most importantly, he considers it inappropriate to display anger during the holiday. Tybalt is forced to come to terms with his decision, although Tybalt's aggressiveness does not weaken at all.

Meanwhile, without seeing Rosaline, Romeo turns his attention to Juliet. He manages to talk to her, he even kisses her. And only after her departure does he find out that it was the daughter of Capulet. Juliet also learns (from her nurse) who Romeo is.

It has become a typical statement that Romeo's love for Rosaline was insincere, far-fetched, and only after meeting Juliet did he truly love. In fact, such a sharp transition shows that Romeo's love is the love of a young man incapable of deep feelings. It exists as if by itself; the personality of the beloved is secondary. Brother Lorenzo very accurately defines him and many like him: “In your eyes there is not passion in your heart” (hereinafter, the translation of T. Shchepkina-Kupernik).

The action of the play takes place in July for a reason: the summer heat of Verona inflames both love and hatred. Romeo dared; the sense of prohibition only intensifies his love for Juliet.

Juliet behaves differently. As is often the case with girls, she matured earlier. She is younger than Romeo, she will soon be fourteen years old, but in fact she is older. She loves because she feels sincere and deep love. Juliet is smart and educated; arguing that the name of Montague cannot affect her love, she utters the famous philosophical words about the "name of the rose":

What's in a name? What we call a rose
And under a different name kept b
Your sweet scent!

She thinks philosophically, and for Romeo, “Juliet is dearer to all philosophy.” Their conversations are reminiscent of the conversations of a teenager and an adult woman. She, who expresses her thoughts beautifully and deeply, is forced to interrupt his euphistic clichés, debunked by Shakespeare in Love's Labour's Lost:

I swear to you by the holy moon
What silvers flowering trees ..;

How much deeper is Juliet's answer:

Oh don't swear by the fickle moon
The moon that changes its appearance so often...

It is no coincidence that the tragedy ends with the words not about "the story of Romeo and Juliet", as happened in Russian translations, but "about the story of Juliet and her Romeo."

Lorenzo's brother plays a big role in the play. He is a Franciscan friar, but there is no religious feeling in him. Rather, it is a scientist. Already in the first monologue, he talks about flowers, herbs, stones, reflects on the contradictions of nature:

There is no most vile thing in the world,
So that we could not find any use in it,
But we will take the best substance,
And if we turn him away
From his true destiny, -
There will only be deceit and seduction in it ...

There is nothing surprising. Until the 17th century, science was under the strong control of the church. Many became monks not because of faith in God, but because of the desire to quietly engage in science. Brother Lorenzo was clearly like that too. Romeo is surprised that Lorenzo condemns the changes that have taken place in his feelings: after all, the same one condemned him for his love for Rosaline. Lorenzo explains that he condemned not for love, but for stupid ardor. He considers Romeo's new love to be the same stupid ardor. At the same time, Lorenzo hopes that this turn will end the feud between the two families. He secretly marries Romeo and Juliet. Meanwhile, in the Piazza Mercutio and Benvolio meet Tybalt; Romeo appears. Mercutio and Tybalt begin to fight. Romeo tries to stop them, but nothing works. Romeo even turns out to be guilty, from under his hand Tybalt mortally wounds Mercutio and runs away. Mercutio dies, saying twice the famous phrase: "A plague on both your houses!". That Mercutio, who in the first act uttered a brilliant monologue about Tsaritsa Meb (Queen Mab), about whom Pushkin wrote that after Juliet and Romeo (Pushkin also calls Juliet before Romeo) he "is the most wonderful face of all tragedy." Shocked, Romeo enters into battle with the returned Tybalt and avenges his friend. Then, at the behest of Benvolio, he flees. The duke who appears, given the circumstances, does not sentence Romeo to death, but announces his exile. Juliet, listening to the incoherent speeches of the nurse (“He died, died, died!”), At first she thinks that Romeo died, then that both Romeo and Tybalt died. Finally, she realizes that Romeo killed Tybalt and survived. She forgives her husband for killing her cousin. (I must say that the archaic theme of blood feud continued to remain relevant many years after the writing of Romeo and Juliet. In 1636-1637, well-known plays were written on this topic. Tirso de Molina created Pious Martha, where the main character , having shown great dexterity and cunning, she manages to save her beloved, who, defending himself, killed her own brother, and marry him.Pierre Corneille in the famous tragedy "Sid", relying on Spanish romances, showed how Jimena married Sid, who avenging the honor of his father, killed her father in a duel). Romeo spends his wedding night with Juliet and leaves for Mantua. Lorenzo promises to inform him about what is happening. Juliet's parents plan her marriage to Paris, another relative of the duke. Paris is handsome, noble, loves Juliet. However, as the nurse says, he is "as if poured out of wax." His name, apparently, is not accidental, because the ancient Paris was the culprit Trojan War . Thus, the name of Paris symbolizes that after his illegal marriage with Juliet, the enmity of the families will become even worse. Lorenzo advises Juliet to agree, and then drink the liquid he prepared, after which she will look dead, but then, buried in the crypt, will come to her senses. He intends to write about this to Romeo: he will come for her and take her to Mantua. Juliet has no choice. And here begins the ancient tragedy of rock. Juliet is mistaken for dead and buried in a crypt. Brother Giovanni, who was asked by Lorenzo to take a letter for Romeo, was not allowed into Mantua. Romeo's servant Balthasar, who came to Romeo, informed him of Juliet's death. Romeo goes to Verona. This is not the same boy we saw at the beginning. Considering his beloved wife dead, having survived the death of a friend, he became different. Back in Mantua, he bought poison from a pharmacist, and now he is heading to the crypt. Paris, who allegedly brought flowers to the dead Juliet, sees how Romeo is going to open the crypt. He perceives this as an outrage and wants to arrest Romeo. But he resists and kills Paris. Dying, Paris asks to be placed in the crypt next to Juliet. Romeo complies with his request. He himself drinks poison. Lorenzo enters the crypt and finds Romeo dead. Juliet wakes up. There is noise. Lorenzo wants to leave and invites Juliet to do it with him. However, she wants to stay. Lorenzo leaves without expecting that she will commit suicide (and it would seem that there is nothing to do this with). However, Juliet finds Romeo's dagger and stabs herself to death. The situation is strikingly reminiscent of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe. Here occurs the only significant dissimilarity with Bandello's short story, which Shakespeare allowed himself. In the short story, after the death of Romeo and Juliet, the families reconciled, buried them in the same grave, but then the enmity flared up again (apparently, this is what inspired Grigory Gorin to create the play “A Plague on Both Your Houses!” - a continuation of Romeo and Juliet, where the Montagues and The Capulets are at war again). But Shakespeare followed the canons of the Elizabethan tragedy and had to end the play with the restoration of the destroyed harmony. Therefore, the enmity of the two families ends forever. It is worth noting that both Romeo and Juliet committed suicide, that is, they committed the most terrible Christian sin (the most terrible, because it can no longer be atoned for). But Shakespeare didn't seem to care. That is how his tragedy differs from Brooke's poem. In addition, despite certain sympathies, the love of Romeo and Juliet is shown, if not as a sin, then as an excessive passion and delusion that caused punishment. Shakespeare created tragedy great love where the heroes, having died, reconciled their families.

"The curtain went up, and the performance began. Romeo was played by a corpulent elderly man with eyebrows pierced by a burnt cork and a hoarse, tragic voice. He resembled a beer keg in figure. Mercutio was little better - But Juliet! For the first time in my life I saw such wondrous beauty!"

Oscar Wilde "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

For several centuries, Shakespeare's play has not left the stage. Already the first productions of it, starting in 1595, were extremely popular in England. Plays ran continuously until they were banned by the Puritan Parliament in 1642. In 1660, performances resumed with great success, causing a large number of imitations and reworkings of the play (for example, Thomas Otway's drama "Caius Marius" in 1680, where the action was transferred to ancient Rome). differently in different times directors presented to the viewer famous story. It happened that in Romeo and Juliet they sought to find an ideal essence that was not created for our world. And it happened that they were seen as just victims of their own sensual passions as a warning to those who went against the will of their elders. These are, of course, two extreme positions in explaining the images of Shakespeare's lovers, but they have existed for a long time. Another stumbling block for many stage directors was, according to Shakespeare scholars, the determination of the correct ratio of comedic and lyrical elements in the play, as well as the achievement of a synthesis of the line of enmity and the line of love.

In the 20th century, the realistic view of Romeo and Juliet becomes more and more insistent. Productions that do not oppose the characters to the people sitting in the audience are a success with the public, but not always with the critics. Alisa Koonen, who in 1921 played the role of Juliet in Alexander Tairov's performance at the Moscow Chamber Theater, says this about her role: "We were in Verona and saw Juliet's house, small, all overgrown with greenery. This visit to Italy convinced me even more that that Romeo and Juliet are alive, full-blooded, real people."

In Verona itself, a 1948 production by Renato Simoni at the ancient Roman theater opens a series of regular Shakespeare festivals. The play is played even in the city square of Dante, in a natural setting. It is also interesting to note an earlier performance, remembered by the Verona residents thanks to the participation in it of the then very young, and in the future great, Italian actress Eleonora Duse. In 1873, at the age of 14, with a bouquet of white roses she bought before a performance on the street, Eleanor played Juliet on the stage of the ancient Verona Arena. She was so imbued with the image of the heroine and the atmosphere of the city that she truly felt like Juliet. That evening, the audience enthusiastically said: today Juliet has risen in Verona! This significant episode is described in the novel Fire by Gabriel D'Annunzio (1900).

In England, in 1882, on the stage of the London Lyceum Theater, the play was staged on a grand scale by Henry Irving (he also played the role of Romeo): luxurious scenery, the facade of the Capulet house was copied from a real Verona palazzo, the image of Juliet (Ellen Terry) in the spirit of the Pre-Raphaelite Madonna, Choir in the form of Dante. Two years later, the role of Juliet in this performance was played by Stella Campbell.

In the twentieth century, A. Moissi in the 1907 production by M. Reinhardt became an outstanding performer of the role of Romeo. In 1929, John Gielgud and Adele Dixon took part in the productions of the tragedy on the English stage. In 1935, at the Old Vic Theater, famous actors of the Shakespearean repertoire Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, alternating, played the roles of Romeo and Mercutio in Gielgud's production (with Peggy Ashcroft - Juliet).

Gielgud later wrote about their duplication of the role of Romeo: “Lorry’s great advantage over me was his powerful vitality and passion. As Romeo, his love scenes turned out to be truthful and tender, his tragic talent deeply touched him. ability to handle verse and in the fact that the production was mine.

In 1940, in America, Laurence Olivier performed in Romeo and Juliet with his future wife Vivien Leigh. Olivier, moreover, was the director of these performances and invested all his savings in the production. Criticism was unfavorable, and the performances were almost not successful, although they were visually beautiful, and Vivien Leigh's appearance, as noted, corresponded to the image of the heroine.

A well-known performer of the role of Juliet on the Western stage in the 60s was Dorothy Tutin. The directors of the second half of the 20th century tried more and more boldly to find a lively, fresh look at the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedy and to enable the viewer to guess the thoughts and feelings of today behind the historical costumes and scenery.

Example: A Shakespeare Memorial Theater production directed by Glen Byam-Shaw, shown in Moscow in 1958. Also Franco Zeffirelli with his landmark production in 1960 at the London Old Vic (John Stride - Romeo, Judi Dench - Juliet), which had a sensational success. In 1964, the same performance was staged by Zeffirelli in Italy (in Verona, then in Rome), and in 1966 it was shown on the Moscow stage. In this production, the features of the future famous film adaptation, made by the director in 1968, are already visible.

Now let's move to our country...

There are several Russian translations of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The first - I. Raskovshenko 1839; then - N. Grekova 1862; A. Radlova 1865; B. Pasternak 1943; T. Shchepkina-Kupernik in 1957 and, of course, there are more (for example, the recent one - E. Savich).

Recently, theatrical productions and films have increasingly begun to use the translation of Boris Pasternak. It is believed that this text is closest to today's speech, and the big name of the translator apparently matters.

Already in the 19th century, Shakespeare's play was staged in many cities of Russia. The roles of Verona lovers were once played by: Mochalov (Maly Theatre, 1824), Fedotova, Yermolova, Lensky (1881) and Ostuzhev (1900) - artists who became the pride of the Russian theater. Of the many performances of the Soviet period, we note the most famous.

Stage performance of the Theater of the Revolution (now the Mayakovsky Theater), staged by Alexei Popov in 1935 with Mikhail Astangov and Maria Babanova in the lead roles. The play was translated by Radlova. Sweeping away "romantic clichés", A. D. Popov wrote: "Romeo and Juliet are dying, as if they do not have their own historical future." The performance was conceived by him as a social tragedy. To reveal its essence, Popov tried to exacerbate the conflicts in the play as much as possible, and this at times obscured the theme of love. It was noted that Astangov in his performance brought Romeo closer to Hamlet, playing a spiritualized intellectual under the yoke of hopelessness. Babanova did not seek to modernize the image of Juliet. Her heroine is a poetic, captivating and intelligent child with a stubborn character. It is noted that the scenery of I. Yu. Shlepyanov for the performance was impressive.

In the performance of the Lensoviet Theater in 1937 (staged by S. E. Radlov), the image of Romeo, embodied by B. Smirnov, in contrast to the Astangov one, was full of joy, youth, life and devoid of a sense of doom.

In 1955, the tragedy was staged in Riga #, at the Latvian Art Theater. I. Rainis. Directed by Eduard Smilgis. Performance in the style of a romantic drama: a lot of music, singing, dancing, comic scenes. Romeo was played by Eduard Pavul. Juliet was Via Artmane - the one famous for the movie "Theater". Her fragile and graceful Juliet, conquering the charm of a playful teenager at first, then grew into a heroine.

In 1956 at the theater. Vakhtangov's play "Romeo and Juliet" was directed by I. Rapoport. The role of Juliet was played by Galina Pashkova and Lyudmila Tselikovskaya. Romeo was played by Yuri Lyubimov and Vyacheslav Dugin. The performance featured the music of D. Kabalevsky. Artist - V. Ryndin.

1964 - staged by Igor Vladimirov at the Lensoviet Theatre. Translation by Radlova. Romeo - Barkov, Lorenzo v Zhzhenov, Benvolio - Ravikovich, Juliet - Alisa Freindlich. The authors of the performance refuse traditional scenery. Instead, symbolic details are used: metal stained-glass windows, lancet lamps, bowls with fire, reminiscent of the era. Andrey Petrov's music complements the atmosphere of the performance. In order to achieve naturalness, the characters act in an emphatically simple and relaxed manner. Alisa Freindlich's game is peculiar. Her Juliet is resolute, mocking and deep in thought. In moments of spiritual tension, she does not exclaim, but, as it were, becomes numb from the feeling that has seized her. The performance in its own way met the requirements of the time, the persistent search for something new in the classics.

Here is what director Efros writes in his book of memoirs: “I rehearsed Romeo and Juliet for a total of more than 10 years. Several performances came out during this time, and an Italian film appeared (Zeffirelli - approx.aut. site) - I wanted something more serious - This is not a romantic poem, but a protest against hatred and violence - The love of Romeo and Juliet, so to speak, is conscious - They did not hover in the clouds, they stood on the ground, they knew how to fight and hate, but they were the color of the nation, and therefore it was difficult for them in that Verona."

This is how Anatoly Efros conceived the characters in his performance. In 1970, Olga Yakovleva embodied his Juliet in the theater on Malaya Bronnaya. Until now, we have written about productions that we could not see ourselves; information about them was gleaned by us from Shakespearean collections of different years. The performance staged by Efros in 1982 on television, we carefully watched. Cast: Romeo - Alexander Mikhailov (Alyosha from the "Formula of Love"), Lorenzo - Alexander Trofimov (Richelieu from "The Three Musketeers"), Juliet - Olga Sirina, who we remember as Gretchen in M. Kazakov's TV show "Scenes from Faust".

When you watch "Romeo and Juliet" by Zeffirelli, you become, as it were, an accomplice in the action, and this activates you as a viewer. The impression is that everything that you see is happening here and now - in your presence, and it can end this way, or it can end differently. Another sensation was caused by the performance of Efros. Here we are clearly separated from what is happening, and we feel as if confronted with a fact. It seems that not the story of Romeo and Juliet is unfolding before our eyes, but someone's story about it as a tragic event that has already happened. Everything goes as if through a haze, thoughtfully and predetermined. And from the very beginning, the heroes do not have real joy and delight. Juliet, who has just met Romeo, is already shedding the first drops of tears: "What will I reap when I sow so terribly?" In any case, this is a very author's production, and it is felt that the director thought a lot about the fate of the characters. However, you can also somehow see this performance on a TV screen and draw your own conclusion.

The story is about a tragic end love of a boy and a girl due to hostile confrontation between two noble Italian families Montagues and Capulets. the work is included in the compulsory school curriculum.

For decades, the young couple has symbolized beautiful love that can overcome any enmity. What preceded this tragic history who is the author who wrote the play "Romeo and Juliet", a summary and meaning - we will talk about all this in more detail.

In contact with

The author and his intention

First, let's focus on who wrote this wonderful work. The author is a famous English writer, playwright, poet William Shakespeare who composed the best sonnets and plays.

The history of creation is traditional. The staged death of a girl, which led to the suicide of her loved one, and then to her real death - this plot has been used more than once in many works long before the play was written. An example of this is the poem Metamorphoses» Ovid, whose main characters are Pyramus and Thisbe, residents of the city of Babylon.

Beloved, in spite of the opposition of father and mother, decided meet secretly under cover of night. Thisbe appeared first, but, seeing the bloody lion, she rushed to run.

When Pyramus came, he saw the handkerchief of his beloved in the blood (during the flight, Thisbe dropped it, and the lion tore it) and realized that the girl is dead so he stabbed himself with a sword. Returning, Thisbe found the dying Pyramus and also threw herself on the sword.

Shakespeare inserted this plot into the comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, so it is logical to conclude that he was well acquainted with it.

This poem became the basis for many works of similar meaning by other authors. Luigi da Porto, a writer who lived in Italy, wrote the famous novel " The story of two noble lovers". The plot is very similar to Shakespeare's play, only with some differences.

Attention! The girl in the short story by the Italian writer managed to wake up even when her beloved was alive, but Shakespeare's Juliet was not.

In addition, there is an assumption that Shakespeare took the plot from the poem " The tragic story of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brook. He, in turn, took some elements from the Italian novellas by Matteo Bandello and the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer. It is this version of the history of creation that is considered reliable.

This topic has been developed by many writers, but it is generally accepted that a masterpiece of the highest level came out of the pen William Shakespeare that no one will dispute.

Reliability of the stated facts

The authenticity of history, unfortunately, not proven. But the historical background of the narrative, the vital basis, traditions can say that there is a possibility of existence once such a love story in the city of Verona.

The existence of vital sources can be served by the short story by da Porto, which William could take partly as a basis. The tales of the unhappy love of couples of that time in Italy serve basis for the story, the use of real surnames of clans that were really at enmity with each other (even mentioned this).

Genre of the work

For those who do not know this masterpiece well (or know only by hearsay), it will be difficult to determine its form of writing. This is a play written in tragedy genre.

True, such a statement causes heated debate among critics: although everything ends sadly, the narrative is saturated with joy, love, and most of all light sadness no major tragedy.

There is no darkness or strong drama in the play (this is exactly what is present in other works).

A purely theoretically described history cannot be novel or short story. The novel, as a rule, is of a large form, describes a significant period of time and describes the fate of many characters.

Here the action takes place over five days, the center of the play is the life of the two main characters. The story should also be more complex and longer in volume. But the main difference of the work is sonnet form.

What did the author want to tell the reader?

What are the characters in the play? Some of the characters belong to the Capulet family, in which Juliet was brought up, the second part - Montecchi (surname Romeo).

The Capulet family is represented by:

• Signor Capulet - the head of the family;
• Senora Capulet - the wife of the signor;
• Juliet is their daughter;
• Tybalt - Juliet's cousin, nephew;
• The Nurse is the kind nanny of the main character.

Members of the Montecchi family:

• Signor Montecchi - the head of the family;
• Senora Montecchi - the wife of the signor;
• Romeo is their son;
• Abram is a servant;
• Benvolio is a friend of the protagonist, a servant of his father;
• Balthazar is the main character's servant.

Residents of Verona, noble people:

• Escalus - Duke of Verona;
• Count Paris - Juliet's future husband;
• Mercutio is a relative of the duke, a friend of the protagonist.

exposition

The play begins with a fight between the servants, who belong to the two families of Montagues and Capulets, who are at enmity with each other. The supreme ruler separates the fighters. Against this background, the dreams of the protagonist are shown: his thoughts are filled with Rosaline with whom he is in love. His friend Benvolio offers to take a break and find another girl. At the same time in Juliet's house getting ready for the ball in honor of the fact that she is already the bride of Count Paris, a wealthy young man from a noble family.

tie

Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio, thirsty for thrills, secretly come to the ball hosted by the Capulet family. Romeo and Juliet meet eyes, and between them love is born. Juliet's cousin Tybalt recognizes Romeo, who was not killed only because of the desire not to completely spoil the feast. After that the protagonist hiding under the sweetheart's balcony and discovers her presence. A dialogue begins between them, at the end of which they swear to each other in love. Hoping for future world between warring clans, brother Lorenzo crowning the lovers.

Friends Benvolio and Mercutio, not without disastrous consequences, meet Tybalt in the square, who intends to kill their friend. Who did Tybalt kill? Mercutio, which Romeo could not put up with, so took the life of his friend's killer. He is forced to leave Verona to avoid execution, but manages to get to Juliet to spend the whole night talking with her.

climax

In alarm, the girl turns to her brother Lorenzo, who advises her have a drink which makes her fall asleep. The family will think that she is no longer alive and will leave her alone.

Juliet takes advice. Meanwhile, Romeo acquires a poisonous drink and then returns to Verona. Near the crypt of his beloved, a battle breaks out between him and the girl's fiancé, whom Romeo kills. Thinking that Juliet is dead he takes poison and dies.

Juliet wakes up and, seeing the dead Romeo, with commits suicide with a dagger. Thus, they died together on the same day.

denouement

Capulet and Montague, weeping bitterly for their children, renew peaceful relations. The death of children helped them admit their mistake and go to reconciliation. How old were Romeo and Juliet? A very curious question. Juliet's age was about 13 years old(two weeks to fourteen), which is mentioned several times in the text itself. But how old Romeo was and her lover is not exactly indicated, but there are suggestions that somewhere 15-16 .

Essence of the play

Tragedy is a dramatic work where the hero is faced with a hostile world, it is shown how he dies because his ideals are crumbling. The basis is laid acute experiences, suffering, death, collapse.

In our play, first of all, the tragedy lies in the fact that the lovers belong to warring families. This is prevents them from being together, openly talk about their own and get married. After all, in fact, they are obliged to hate each other.

The confrontation of the families leads to a fight, and a few moments later, to murders: first a friend of Romeo, then a relative of his beloved. The author showed all the cruelty of this world. Romeo's escape from execution completely deprives the beloved of the opportunity to connect their lives and be together.

The girl's act may have saved her from an unwanted wedding, as she wanted, but in the end brought her even more grief: The young man committed suicide not knowing that the beloved is alive. This is the biggest tragedy. None of the heroes could have imagined such a turn of events. Time and chance played their tragic role, because if the girl woke up earlier, everything could have ended very differently.

Important! Not everything is so sad, because the death of the heroes served as a pretext for a truce between two huge families. Who knows how many people they saved or made happy in the end.

Excerpt from Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet

Conclusion

In this masterpiece, lovers find a reflection of their feelings and circumstances not everything is as smooth in our life as we would like. The play is still very popular today. literary works — dramatic, classical. Many have seen the theatrical production. The problems to which the tragedy is devoted remain relevant to this day. To fully experience the atmosphere and depth of what happened, it is recommended read the entire play.

William Shakespeare occupies, perhaps, the most important place in world literature, this brilliant playwright and poet has no equal to this day. In the 8th grade, when preparing for literature lessons, it will be useful to familiarize yourself with the analysis of Shakespeare's work, which is presented in our article. In Romeo and Juliet, the analysis has a number of features that distinguish it from ordinary plays by other authors.

Brief analysis

Year of writing – 1594-1595.

History of creation- "Romeo and Juliet" is a creative interpretation of a plot already existing in literature.

Subject- fight loving people for his feeling with society and circumstances, love and death.

Composition- a ring composition built on parallel confrontations in all 5 acts.

Genre Tragedy in 5 acts.

Direction- romanticism.

History of creation

In literary criticism, there is quite a bit of information that can be considered reliable about the history of Shakespeare's creation of his immortal masterpiece. It is known that the plot and even the names of the characters have already appeared in literature, but they received a brilliant embodiment only in the tragedy of W. Shakespeare.

The writing of the tragedy is attributed to the years 1594-95. In 1597 the play was first published. A similar plot, which tells about the love of two young people from warring families, was written by the Roman poet Ovid. The basis for Shakespeare's work was obviously the poem "The Tragic History of Romeus and Juliet" by Arthur Brooke.

Interestingly, a similar plot existed in world literature not only before, but also after Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet. Many variations of this plot appear in art to this day. A deep and thorough analysis of the origins of the plot of the work gives the right to believe that the story that happened to the lovers was really a reality and was preserved, like a legend, in oral form.

William Shakespeare took only the plot of the work as the basis for the narrative, his play describes 5 days in the life of lovers. A. Brook's action lasts about 9 months. The English poet and playwright changed the season, added a few bright scenes, revised many essential details. His work is neither a parody nor a copy of any other, it is an original and original play, the glory of which has passed through the centuries.

Subject

The meaning of the work opens up to the reader swiftly already in the first act: a person's life can be full only when he has a choice. Love Theme, which permeates the entire work (the characters love, talk about the essence of this feeling, philosophize about the types of love) is revealed in many ways: mother's love, love of life, love and marriage, passion, unrequited love, family love. The nurse loves Juliet sincerely, motherly, the main characters are faced with the first most reverent feeling in their lives, even the priest, respecting the love of young hearts, breaks the rules and crowns lovers without the consent of their parents.

Problems of anger, revenge and unforgiveness are also strong in the overall outline of the play, they keep pace with love and death. The problems of the play as versatile as the lives of the characters themselves. The idea of ​​the play- assertion of the human right to free choice in love. It is easy to define what the play teaches the reader: you need to fight for your feelings, that's the point. human life. The lovers made the only possible conclusion: in earthly life they were not destined to be together. No matter how scary it is to talk about such things at such a young age, however, the morals and mores of Shakespeare's contemporary society rested precisely on such values.

Tragedy has theme of theomachism, which critics consider quite weighty: a secret wedding, murders and revenge, attempts to deceive fate on the part of the priest, Romeo's participation in a masquerade dressed as a monk. The dialogues and monologues of the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedy have become the most quoted and recognizable in all world literature. The reasoning of young hearts about the essence of love turned out to be so vital that their life went far beyond fiction and music.

Composition

The entire structural composition rests on symmetrical confrontation. In the first act, servants of the masters meet, in the second - the nephews of the Montagues and the Capulets, then - the heads of the warring clans: duels, quarrels, feuds, murders - there are no trifles here, they play life big.

In the last act, the Montagues and the Capulets appear on the scene, and the feud ends. Children gain new life in golden sculptures. The play has an exposition (the meeting of the servants of opposing families), a plot (the meeting of Romeo and Juliet at the ball), a culmination (the scene in the crypt) and a denouement - the scene of the reconciliation of families and the story of the monk Lorenzo.

The composition of the play takes on ring structure precisely because of the parallel conflicts. The monologues of the main characters about conscience, passion, love and honor constitute a special layer in the composition of the play: they are the inner essence of the work.

main characters

Genre

Tragedy was popular during the Renaissance, a genre that involved unresolvable conflict and a very deplorable ending. However, from the standpoint of the semantic component, the lovers still won, they managed to reunite. In terms of content, love wins, it triumphs over revenge and anger, because the warring families reconcile at the lifeless bodies of their children.

Shakespeare's tragedies are special for their sensuality, tension and acute tragedy. A feature of the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet", which belongs to the early period of the writer's work, is its satirical richness. The author puts subtle humor and mild irony into the mouths of many characters. Several centuries later, Shakespeare's tragedies became the model and standard of this genre. During the 20th century, the play was filmed in many countries about 50 times.

Artwork test

Analysis Rating

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