Example research essay topic: Romeo And Juliet Theme Of Love - 889 words

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Romeo and Juliet: A comparison between the new and the old! By: Aaron Dickman The 1996 Luhrmann version of Romeo and Juliet is unusual because it takes place in modern times. This creates an interesting setting for a play written in the 15 th century. Luhrmann manages to create a movie that is remarkably faithful to the plays vision and sense of tragedy without drastically changing the play. The characters of Romeo and Juliet are a colorful group.

Their changes in the movie are subtle, but noticeable. The Nurse in the play is a blabbermouth, makes dirty jokes, and is more of a mother to Juliet than Lady Capulet. In the movie, she is more to the point, doesnt talk as much, and isnt as close to Juliet. She is really more of a servant than a close friend. Lady Capulet in the play is a young wife with a nasty temper that shows when she demands Romeos death. She also has a cold demeanor and virtually shuns Juliet until her death.

In the movie, shes a horrible flirt with Paris and has a more than platonic relationship with Tybalt. She is warm compared to the plays Lady Capulet and seems to be more of a victim of domestic violence than in the play. This is apparent when Lord Capulet enters Juliets room to ask her wife about Juliets reaction to her arranged marriage. She closes her eyes like she fears his presence. The main characters hardly change though.

Mercutio is still the satirist, dueling with words. The biggest change is that Mercutio is on acid in 1. 4 - 1. 5. This explains his craziness during his Queen Mab speech and in 1. 5, where he is dancing unusually. Juliet also remains the same. She still matures from a stranger to the world. (1. 2) to an independent, mature woman who defies her parents wishes to marry Paris.

The characters are still, for the most part, faithful to the play. Themes have a strong role in Romeo and Juliet. Most notable are the themes of love and fate. The play develops the theme of love through contrast. On one hand, there is Romeos infatuation with Rosaline and the arranged marriage of Paris and Juliet. On the other is the pure or true love of Romeo and Juliet.

The play shows this primarily through their actions and their romantic speeches to one another. The movie develops the theme of love the same way, but with the additional twist of incest (Tybalt and Lady Capulet) and homosexuality (Mercutio). The theme of fate almost disappears, however. The play shows many premonitions of tragedy to Romeo, Juliet, and the Friar.

There are also the events beyond their control, such as the feud between the families, the plague, and Lord Capulet consenting Paris marriage. In the movie, Romeo fails to notice the receipt for the Friars letter through sheer stupidity or ignorance. Near the end, when Romeo is grieving near Juliet, he fails to notice Juliet moving and that shes still warm. Therefore, its no longer events beyond their control, but sheer stupid luck.

Luhrmann ends up cutting almost a third of the original text for the movie. He cut out much of the text due to time constraints and to keep the movie going at a constant pace. The script ends up only having the essentials of the plot and sometimes killing whole scenes. This has the end result of changing the imagery and the emotion of some scenes. In the play, Romeo says, Thy drugs are quick (5. 3) when he drinks the apothecary's poison.

In the movie, its used to refer to the acid tablet Mercutio gave him. So the beginning of 1. 5 turns into one big acid trip instead of Romeos death. Also in 5. 3, Romeo kills Paris and the Friar arrives as Juliet awakes. In the movie, the Friar and Paris never come to the tomb. Romeo is alone with Juliet, and as he is about to drink the poison, Juliet wakes up too late to stop Romeo. As she holds Romeo, she kisses him to see if she can still get some poison.

Romeo says Thus with a kiss I die. ? Just by omitting a lot of the text and action, Luhrmann creates an even more tragic scene than the plays version. Another example is Tybalt's line to Lord Capulet in 1. 5. 106 - 107 I will withdraw: but this intrusion shall, / Now seeming sweet, convert to bitter gall. ? In the movie, Tybalt says it as the party guests leave. By putting it here, it increases the tension of the scene, and helps explain the events of 3. 1 to the audience. Luhrmann uses the text to improve the film, and he does it without violating the text.

At the end, Luhrmann genuinely does a great adaptation from play to film. Many of the changes help todays audiences understand the play more clearly, in a setting that is familiar to us. This shows Luhrmann knew the differences between theater and cinema. Rather than making a 4 -hour film with the complete text, he combined the great Shakesperian text with the possibilities of film: Dont tell them, show them.

Thats why Romeo and Juliet is above all a feast for the eye.

Research essay sample on Romeo And Juliet Theme Of Love