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Context & Introduction
Context & Introduction
Understanding the context of Romeo and Juliet is essential for achieving top marks at GCSE. This lesson covers Shakespeare's life, Elizabethan society, and the cultural background that shaped the play.
Shakespeare: The Basics
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon |
| Died | 1616 |
| Theatre | The Globe Theatre, London |
| Company | The Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men) |
| Romeo and Juliet written | c. 1594–1596 |
| Genre | Tragedy |
Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet during the Elizabethan era, early in his career. It is one of his best-known tragedies and has been performed continuously for over four centuries.
The Elizabethan Era
The Elizabethan era (1558–1603) was the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Understanding this period is crucial for contextual marks (AO3).
Key features of Elizabethan society
- Patriarchal — fathers held absolute authority over their households, including the right to choose their children's marriage partners.
- Honour-based — family reputation and honour were paramount. Insults demanded violent responses.
- Strictly hierarchical — social class was rigid. The nobility, merchants, and common people occupied fixed positions.
- Deeply religious — the Protestant Church of England dominated. Marriage was a sacrament, and defying parental authority was considered sinful.
Elizabethan Marriage
Marriage in Elizabethan England was primarily a financial and social arrangement, not a matter of personal choice:
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Age of marriage | Girls could legally marry at 12, boys at 14 |
| Parental consent | Required — fathers chose husbands for their daughters |
| Purpose | Alliance between families, transfer of wealth (dowry) |
| Romantic love | Not expected; a bonus if it occurred, not a requirement |
Examiner's tip: Juliet's defiance of her father's choice of Paris is not just teenage rebellion — it challenges the entire patriarchal system. An Elizabethan audience would have found this simultaneously thrilling and deeply transgressive.
The Italian Setting
Shakespeare set the play in Verona, Italy. Elizabethan audiences associated Italy with:
- Passion and romance — Italy was seen as more emotionally expressive than England.
- Violence and vendetta — Italian feuds were legendary.
- Catholicism — Friar Laurence reflects the Catholic setting (England was Protestant).
Sources
Shakespeare's main source was Arthur Brooke's poem The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562), which was itself based on Italian sources. Shakespeare made significant changes:
| Brooke's version | Shakespeare's changes |
|---|---|
| Story spans 9 months | Compressed to just 4–5 days |
| Juliet is 16 | Juliet is 13 ("not yet fourteen") |
| Nurse is a minor character | Nurse becomes a major comic and dramatic role |
| Mercutio barely appears | Mercutio becomes a vivid, scene-stealing character |
| Moralising tone throughout | Sympathetic treatment — audience pities the lovers |
Genre: Tragedy
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy — a play that ends with the downfall and destruction of the central characters. But it is also unusual:
Features of Classical Tragedy
| Feature | How Romeo and Juliet Uses It |
|---|---|
| Noble protagonists | Both come from wealthy, powerful families |
| Fatal flaw (hamartia) | Impulsiveness, haste — everything happens too fast |
| Reversal of fortune | From secret joy to public catastrophe |
| Catastrophe | Both protagonists perish |
| Catharsis | The audience feels pity and fear; the feud ends |
Unusual Features
- The play begins like a comedy (witty dialogue, lovers meeting, plans for marriage) before turning dark after Act 3, Scene 1.
- Fate plays a larger role than hamartia — the Prologue tells us the outcome before the play begins.
- The tragedy is caused as much by society (the feud, patriarchal control) as by individual flaws.
The Prologue
"Two households, both alike in dignity, / In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, / From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, / Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."
The Prologue is a sonnet — 14 lines of iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme. It tells the audience the entire story before it happens.
| Function | Effect |
|---|---|
| Dramatic irony | The audience knows the outcome; the characters do not |
| Fate | The lovers are "star-crossed" — doomed from the start |
| Sonnet form | Associates the play with love poetry |
| "Star-crossed" | Suggests destiny controls their lives |
Examiner's tip: The Prologue establishes the play's central tension: we watch hoping the lovers will succeed, knowing they will not. This creates a sense of tragic inevitability throughout.
Key Contextual Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Patriarchal | A society ruled by men/fathers |
| Vendetta | A prolonged blood feud between families |
| Honour culture | A society where reputation must be defended, often violently |
| Star-crossed | Destined by the stars to fail; fated |
| Catharsis | Emotional release experienced by the audience through tragedy |
| Hamartia | The tragic hero's fatal flaw |
Summary
- Romeo and Juliet was written c. 1594–1596 during the Elizabethan era.
- Elizabethan society was patriarchal, honour-based, and hierarchical.
- Marriage was a family arrangement — Juliet's defiance challenges this system.
- The play draws on Italian settings and Arthur Brooke's earlier poem.
- It is a tragedy that begins like a comedy, with fate and society as driving forces.
- The Prologue establishes dramatic irony and the theme of destiny.