Teach Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare doesn't wait to introduce this play as a tragic love story. In the opening prologue, we learn that the two "star-cross'd lovers" will "take their life".

Shakespeare presents love as an incredibly powerful, passionate, and overwhelming feeling. It makes the characters behave unpredictably and encourages them to break rules they are expected to follow.

At times, love is described using biblical imagery. When Romeo and Juliet first meet, Romeo compares Juliet to a place of worship and her hand to a "holy shrine".

Extract from Unlocked Study Guide: Romeo and Juliet.

Obedience was very important in Elizabethan England. The audience would have been shocked by Juliet's disobedience of her father, and would expect the tale to end in disaster.

However, remembering that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, we're also encouraged to feel bad for the lovers. Even though we know how the play ends, we want them to succeed all the same.

It's possible that Shakespeare was using this play to challenge the expectations of the time. After all, by obeying her father, Juliet would have lost the opportunity to fall deeply and passionately in love.

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Light and dark aren't always referred to as a theme: sometimes they're symbols or motifs, because they often represent specific ideas.

The meaning of light begins to change as the play progresses. After Romeo is banished from Verona, he returns to spend one last night with Juliet. He has to leave the city walls before sunrise. In this way, light becomes his enemy. The lighter it becomes, the closer he gets to leaving Juliet.

At this moment, he says, "More light and light, more dark and dark our woes!" (Romeo, Act 3 Scene 5).

Extract from Unlocked Study Guide: Romeo and Juliet.

"With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls, / For stony limits cannot hold love out." (Romeo, Act 2 Scene 2)

The play's protagonist and titular character, Romeo is the only child of Lord and Lady Montague.

He is a passionate, impulsive, and loyal man in his mid-teens, and does not seem interested in the violence around him - he is far more interested in matters of the heart.

When the play begins, Romeo is convinced that he is in love with a girl called Rosaline, who has decided to enter a convent. Upon meeting Juliet though, his feelings quickly change...

Extract from Unlocked Study Guide: Romeo and Juliet.

"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" (Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2)

The play's protagonist and titular character, Juliet is the only child of Lord and Lady Capulet. She is young, intelligent, and brave.

Juliet is portrayed as innocent to the world - and marriage. She is very obedient, and willing to follow her parents' instruction at all times (which was expected for the daughter of nobility).

When she meets Romeo, she falls quickly in love with him, and from this point, she becomes increasingly determined and independent. She is even the one to mention marriage to Romeo.

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"If love be rough with you, be rough with love: / Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down." (Mercutio, Act 1 Scene 4)

Romeo's fun-loving best friend, Mercutio is quick-witted and intelligent. He is incredibly loyal to Romeo, and steps in when Tybalt comes to dual him.

Mercutio can be seen as a foil character for Romeo - he has a direct approach to love, and sees it mostly as physical attraction.

Mercutio is also, unlike Romeo, very keen to fight with the Capulets, and when Romeo tries to step in on a fight with Tybalt, he makes things worse, causing Mercutio's injury and death. This devastates Romeo, and is the reason he kills Tybalt.

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"What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word / As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee." (Tybalt, Act 1 Scene 1)

Juliet's fiery cousin, Tybalt brings conflict every time he is on stage. He truly hates the Montagues, and will seize upon any opportunity to fight with them.

Tybalt hates the idea of peace as much as he hates Hell and the Montague family. he does not want the families to make amends, and is very keen to continue their hatred for one another.

He is one of the few truly static characters of the play: most characters will develop and change as they are influenced by the events of the play, but this isn't the case for Tybalt.

Extract from Unlocked Study Guide: Romeo and Juliet.