A New Found Confidence

      The literary analysis that this piece will cover is how Juliet outgrew the nurse. The script will show how Juliet is changing into a new and more grown up person. The nurse in this sense is used as a constant, she never changes, she remains the same. So, by showing Juliet reactions, emotions, and dialogue towards the nurse, you can see the difference of Juliet's personality. By seeing this analysis, it changes the way you look at the play. Juliet has gained a new found confidence, which allows her to make her own decisions, which is shown in these scenes. By understating this concept, it puts Juliet into a new perspective. The theme of the play is about fate and destiny, by the end of the play, Juliet is in control of her own destiny and fate, which is shown in her new attitude. By looking at all of this, you understand the play in a different light. Juliet is not seen as a a little, innocent girl anymore, but a grown up.
     The scenes that will show this transformation is Act 2 scene 5 and Act 3 scene 2.
These two scenes show how sweet and innocent Juliet was and the after affects when her and Romeo are separated. In Act 2 Scene 5, Juliet is calm, young and innocent. She is very kind to the nurse and talks to her with respect. In Act 3 Scene 2, she gets angry and upset with the nurse and talks of a ruder tone then before. She is more mature, and has more authority over the nurse, because she doesn't see her as a caretaker, like she does before. To stage this scene, the nurse and Juliet will be in her bedroom. The first scene you will be able to tell they are treated equally. Juliet will hold the nurses hand and be sitting with the nurse. You will be able to see Juliet is timid, by her hand movements and actions towards the nurse. She will talk softly and look more at her hands, and the nurse will comfort her, In the next scene, Juliet will be standing up tall and the nurse will have a hunched back. Juliet will look down upon the nurse, ans the nurse will no longer be able to comfort Juliet. This will show how the Juliet has formed into a different person.
     Only two people will be needed for this scene, the nurse and Juliet. I, Charlie, will play Juliet, and Grace Greene will be the nurse. As a group Grace and I decided to work on all the parts together and collaborate. This allows us to both come up with ideas and share them. This creates and better scene and a better understanding to see both perspectives on everything. It will be equal.

1. Nurse and Juliet and their evolution as characters which also shows Juliet growing up.
Act 2 scene 5 and Act 3 scene 2
This shows how sweet and innocent Juliet was and the after affects when her and Romeo are seperated. She gets angry and upset with the nurse and talks of a ruder tone then before.

2. Religion vs. science- how friar Lawrence made his decisions based on these factors
Act 2 scene 3 and Act 4 scene 1-2
These scenes show how friar lawereence combines church and science. By giving Juliet thr potion it is showing science but he does it to save his religious carrier. So, is shows the role it has in decision making in the play.

3. How Romeo and Juliets love has changed for each other. And how they have grown more mature and fallen more in love.
Act 1 scene 5 and act 3 scene 5 and act 5 scene 3.
This shows from when they first meet which was playful and lustful love to the scene where they spent the night with each other and have more connection to each other. Lastly, it shows how they loved each other so much they couldn't bear to be without one another.

Bad Circumstances

     Romeo and Juliet’s deaths was very tragic for both the Capulets and the Montagues. Throughout the play, many events took place, which could have been changed. However, poor decisions were made by many people. It was not fate, but bad decision making and the feud that ended the life of Romeo and Juliet. The feud was a circumstance that got in the way of Romeo and Juliet’s love and resulted in tragedy. Therefore, based on the events that occurred, I believe the deaths of Romeo and Juliet were based on circumstance and strong personalities.

     Strong personalities was one of the main causes of Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. There were several people’s personalities that caused the deaths of Romeo and Juliet including: Friar Lawrence, Romeo and Juliet and Juliet’s father,etc. To start off, Friar Lawrence was supposed to be a father figure, but instead he married the two of them saying, "Young men's love then lies / Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes" (2.3.67-68). Even with this being said, he selfishly marries Romeo and Juliet, to end the family feud. So, therefore by him marrying the two of them, he began the journey to Romeo and Juliet’s death. If he didn’t do this, he would have never tried to right his wrong by giving Juliet the potion. He only gave Juliet the potion, so he wouldn’t get in trouble for marrying two people. They would have never been in this situation of being married, and taking the potion if Friar Lawrence didn’t make his bad decision. Therefore, part of their death was due to his decisions, which could have been changed.

      Romeo and Juliet had very persistent personalities. They wanted to get married so badly, even if it means jeopardizing their lives, because people wouldn’t agree with it.  However, they didn’t things through and made a rash decision of marring each other on the spot. They made this decision, which they knew could threaten their lives. Even after this decision, they both made awful decisions which caused a chain of events that lead to their death. The major event that sparked their deaths was when Romeo killed Tybalt. Friar Lawrence delivered the news that, “not body’s death, but body’s banishment.” This is when Romeo was banished from the city. If he wasn’t so strong headed and looking for revenge, Romeo would have not killed Tybalt. However, Romeo was young and stubborn and was banished. This lead to other poor decisions including Juliet. She was so determined to be with Romeo that she took the poison from Friar Lawrence, even though she was uncertain it would kill her. This is the final event that lead to their deaths.

      The circumstance as mentioned above was the feud. This prevented Romeo and Juliet from loving each other. The feud was something that could have been stopped. It was not fate, it was put there by the Capulets and Montagues who could not get along with each other in peace and harmony. This was a circumstance that Romeo and Juliet since birth and ultimately was the reason they were put into the whole mess. If there was no feud then there would be no reason for Romeo and Juliet to hide their marriage and there would be no deaths, because everyone would get along. However, the feud would always persist on with Juliet’s father’s personality. He was hard man, and always got what she wanted. He would never let this feud end.

     Therefore, I think Romeo and Juliet’s deaths could have been prevented. If the characters would have not been stubborn and made more rational decisions, then they would all be still alive. However, they all made bad decisions, that ultimately killed Romeo and Juliet, who were just teenagers. They were put into this world of bad circumstances, and angry adults. This could have all changed, but nobody was willing to change. 

Questions for Large Quiz

Fact Based Questions:
Who delivered the news to Romeo of Juliets death?
Who killed Tybalt?
Why did Juliet take the Poison?
How did Juliets dad react when she didn't want to get married? (General feelings)
Who married Romeo and Juliet?

Thinking Questions:
Why do you think Romeo didn't go to the Friar before he decided to kill himself?

How did Romeo and Juliets love change at the end of the play, why did it change?

How can you tell it was true love between Romeo and Juliet?

Do you believe Paris really loved Juliet? Explain.

Do you think the Friar felt guilty for what happened to Romeo and Juliet?

Essay Questions:
 Throughout the play the Nurse is depicted as self absorbed and always talking about herself. How did she show that she cared about Juliet and that she was a "mother figure"?

If you were to stage the last scene of the play, how would you do it? How would you show the deaths, and what would the scenery look like? Make sure to include the characters.

Growing Up and Letting Go

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=69sTNEThRi4

Team Work

I have learned many important details, since working on the scenes for Romeo and Juliet. For this particular scene, I have been working with Grace. Working on this scene has had both its easy and difficult aspects. Collaborating with Grace on ideas has been easy, because it easy to pass ideas back and forward. Which allow different artistic views, making the scene come to life with different aspects. This makes it easy to perform with her, because we get along so well. The chemistry and the lines are easier, because we are able to communicate. Communication is very important for the development in characters. When characters are able to communicate, the audience can’t sense it. We are comfortable with each other, so it allows to really have the ability to have the same relationships as the nurse and Juliet, and not complete strangers. 

    A few difficult things that have occurred is staging the scheme, because there is not a lot of movement in the script. There a few lines for big motions, and movement that makes sense. However, with a few ideas, Grace and I added movement and gestures that make sense in the certain places. This allows the scene to look realistic and not so stiff. By stiff I mean stilland fake, without movement, the scene would look like acting. We had to pick out small details to move. For example, one line I say “No, no.” we decided this was a good place to start moving, because it was a loud line and needed emphasis. We tried to find lines like these to move so it would clearly emphasis the words.

  The other groups I have watched have seemed to be able to apply movement and look realistic. They have been doing a great job with that, and have helped other groups and mine come up with ideas based on theirs. Watching other people’s scripts allowed me to see what kind of movement they used and where they used it. They seemed to have a lot of movement, which pulled the whole script together, so we tried to find places to do like they did. In order to improve next time, I think more props will be needed. This will require a reason to move. 

     All of this is important to make a good scene. The scene has to be believable and real. That is what makes the audience intrigued and wanting to watch more. From staging to connection all of this plays a major role. Without this, the scenewould be boring, it would have no real story. Not only do you need these connections and staging, but you also need emotions and reactions. That partially comes along with connection,because it’s easier to act off your partner when you get along with them. You need to show these emotions through facial expressions, these facial expressions portray to the audience what you are feeling. They help move along the story line. Without facial expression, no one would know the tone of the play and therefore the plot would be very confusing. 

You Should Have Been Expelled

Act 3 Scene 3
Background: Romeo and Mrs.Guarino are in her classroom discussing Romeos punishment for cheating on tests. Mrs.Guarino is Romeo's advisor.

Mrs.Guarino sees Romeo walk by her classroom
Mrs.Guarino: come here Romeo, we have to talk
Romeo: Did Mr. Dykman tell you what's going to happen to me? What do you think will happen?
Mrs. Guarino: yes, I know what he said he told me what is going to happen.
Romeo: well… That that is it terrible?
Mrs. Guarino: considering you cheated on more than 12 test, he was pretty good about it. Instead of getting expelled, you have detention for the rest the school year, and lights out will be right after study hall.
Romeo: you think that is better than being expelled? That is torture, that is child abuse.
Mrs. Guarino: from now on Romeo, you're going to have to start working hard, you're actually going to have to study and not cheat off other people's tests
Romeo: work hard? You think I haven't been working hard? It's not that I'm cheating on purpose, the teachers are not teaching me what I'm supposed to know. I would rather be expelled then have this punishment....
Mrs. Guarino: that is so disrespectful Romeo, I fought to keep you at the school and you don't realize the opportunities that would be taken away from you if you got expelled. Seriously Romeo get yourself together.
Romeo: you think this is going to be easy? Romeo can't hang out with his friends anymore. Romeo can't see his girlfriend. Romeo has to be stuck in the office with Mr. Dykman for hours. Romeo's life is over. Romeo used to be so popular, this is going to ruin Romeo.It would be easier to be expelled. This is going to be too much work and this is awful. I think I would rather be expelled in fact I want to be expelled.
Mrs.Guarino: Will you stop for a second, and listen to me?
Romeo: you're just going talk about the dumb detention again
Mrs. Guarino: it will be OK I will give you my word, you just have to listen.
Romeo: are you serious, all you can talk about is this detention.
Mrs. Guarino: stop it Romeo I'm serious
Romeo: you don't even understand. You think you know it all. But you're not me you don't know how it feels like to be young and have so many detentions. I'm deprived from my friends and a life.
Mrs. Guarino:  call him down somebody's coming up the steps Romeo
Romeo: what do I care, they could know I mad
Mrs.Guarino: Pull yourself together
Romeos friend walks in
James: where is Romeo?
Mrs. Guarino: he is in the back of the classroom
James: Romeo pull yourself together, show you can work hard, we have to go to next class.... We can come back and talk and see if anything can be changed if you prove yourself
MRs.Guarino- thank you James