Unit 4:social context























How do we make Shakespeare relevant in 2017?

Shakespeare's influence on the English language runs very deep. Shakespeare is often identified as a sole user or first user of a first user of a word or phrase. For example, When William Shakespeare wrote the play Romeo and Juliet in 1595, he used English language to paint an imagery of both figurative and sensory language in order the portray the characters feelings and beliefs. One good place that the audience need to understand  the use of language and imagery in the opening the scene when we first meet Romeo.

Theme:

The theme of Romeo and Juliet is: The forcefulness of love. Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story in the English literary tradition. The play focuses on Romantic love, specifically the intense passion the springs up at first sight between Romeo and Juliet.

Social context:

The most influencial writer in all of literature, william Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-glove maker in stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582, he married an older woman and had 3 kids with her. But in 1590, he chose to leave his family and proceed with his dream to become an actor and he took this chance o travel the world learning new things as he went along. After Shakespeare went on tour people could see the progress he was making with his play writes and got given the most popular play write in England and part owner of the globe theatre.

What makes Romeo and Juliet so special is how Shakespeare tells the story. It has perhaps become his best-known play. Romeo and Juliet has been filmed many times and has adapted in all different ways. For instance, there are cartoon versions for the children, older versions with the rude jokes taken out, and others set with gang fights in the US.
There are also countless references of him in books, songs and normal conversations. For instance, a young lad who goes out with a lot of girls is called a `romeo`.
The play also uses a lot of expressions that Shakespeare invented and are still in use today, such as "on a wild goose chase"  or "fools paradise". More recently builders, have started to use juliets balcony(although many of them now spell it `Juliette balcony). This is a very shallow balcony with a rail in front of a patio door.