Romeo and Juliet Baz Luhrmann Essays

Romeo and Juliet Baz Luhrmann Essays Romeo and Juliet Baz Luhrmann Paper Romeo and Juliet Baz Luhrmann Paper Essay Topic: Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays. This is probably because at the time that it was written it had themes of forbidden love a theme that was never touched upon before Shakespeare. The story is about two young people who are from feuding families who at one families masquerade ball fall in love at first sight, and even when one parent tells Juliet to marry someone else she refuses and would rather be disowned than marry some one else. To be able to be with Romeo she takes a poison that would make her appear dead. When Romeo hears of her ‘death’ he is so distraught and depressed that he kills himself at the side of her death bed. When she realises what he has done he takes Romeo’s blade and impales herself on and they lie together until they are found by her father. Due to their death the two families end the feud. The reason that the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is so important to the plot of the play is because their love was forbidden yet destined to be. It is also very important because this is viewed as one of the first stories that uses the metaphor of opposites attracting to describe the love between the two central characters. Also the story through out uses a huge variety of dramatic irony to show what will happen. The central scene that I am looking at is Act 1: Scene 5 this in the film is ball scene. I will also use other scenes to show the way Romeo and Juliet react towards each other. Firstly, in the opening scene you see the coat of arms of the two families; the Montague’s and the Capulet’s, the colours of the coats are significant to the central scene. The Montague’s coat of arms has a yellow colour on it and the Capulet’s has a blue colour on it. Later on in the film when you see Romeo and Juliet first lay eyes on one another, they see each other through a fish tank; this tank is filled with fish that are luminous blue and yellow. The use of the fish have several connotations one of them is that fish are seen as very relaxing animals and the way they move is very gracious, since in the seen the fish seem to be the same species but different colours this could be seen that the two families are the same but because of their last names are forever going to be separated from each other. Also the fish show no signs of aggression to each other and I believe that this is a metaphor for Romeo and Juliet, this is because in the film version we see Romeo and Juliet have their heads submerged into water (separately), and then later on in Act 2: scene 2 you see them when they kiss start spinning around in the pool. This is exactly like the fish because they are both yellow and blue and they are at peace with each other in the water just like the fish. Secondly, in the literal version when Romeo and Juliet are leading up to the kiss, they use lots of religious metaphors and similes to show how much they feel for each other, and how much they long to be with each other. My first example is that Romeo calls himself the pilgrim and the palmer and he calls Juliet a saint and an angel. This shows that he only feels as though he is a loyal follower/ servant to her, this is also something that Romeo does when he thinks he has found love and this is shown by the quote ‘tis no less, I tell ye, for the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of the noon’ this is said by Mercutio to show that once Romeo falls in love too easily and gives away his control. Also in the film there are numerous shots of Verona and the key point in most of these scenes is the titanic statue of St. Mary. I believe this to be a link to Juliet. I believe this because Juliet is described as beautiful, pure and sinless these are the same things that you would associate with St. Mary because she was said to be a virgin when she gave birth, and Juliet says she wants Romeo to be the first man she lies with. Also in the scene before the ball when Juliet’s mother is telling her about the arranged marriage to Paris it is obvious that she is wearing no make up and still appears to be beautiful. Also throughout the text she is described as saintly and angelic. Finally in the Catholic religion which both Romeo and Juliet are; when they go on a pilgrimage to the holy lands, they would be blessed and then they would touch the palms of a saint, the main one is usually St. Mary. In many strong Catholics lives this is viewed as one of the most enlightening and pure moments of their life. So when Romeo touches the palm of Juliet after calling her a saint this can be interpreted to be the most pure and enlightening moments in his life showing his trust and unconditional love for Juliet. Moreover, in the film Romeo wears armour to represent his insecurities and true thoughts and feelings being hidden from sight and in the literal version he wears a mask because it is a way to hide who he really is. These two things support the idea that Romeo is truly insecure but puts forth a barrier to stop people getting in. In the film he lets his armour slip when he is with Mercutio and Benvolio, because these two people make him feel safe. Also in the film Juliet wears no makeup and is very open and does not have anything to hide. This is also shown by the way she dressed as an angel because angels are seen as beautiful and pure and open. This is in direct contrast because a knight is a person with connotations of wars and battles and angels have connotations of purity and beauty. Also you can see the difference between Juliet and her family by what they wear to the costume ball. I know this because Juliet wears a full length white dress with no eye catching detail but, Tybalt who we already know by Act 1: Scene 5 is quite hot headed and is willing to jump in head first without thinking of the consequences dresses as a devil this is the complete opposite to Juliet. Her mother dresses as Cleopatra the idea that Mrs. Capulet wears this costume shows that she is quite promiscuous this is also shown by the way that she intimately kisses Tybalt; her own nephew.. And mr. Capulet dresses as a roman emperor this shows he views himself as a very powerful man. However the style of the costume looks like Julius Caesar, who was a very power mad man and when he felt like he had been betrayed would do anything to get revenge this has an essence of dramatic irony because later on he threatens to disown Juliet because she does not want to marry Paris. Tybalt, Mrs. Capulet and Capulet were very glittery costumes that have colours that represent power (purple) that represent wealth (gold) and that represent danger (red).