Romeo and Juliet is a play about star-crossed lovers. Romeo is apart of a high class Montague family; their rival is the Capulet family. Romeo falls in love with the daughter of Lord Capulet. They want to get married but they know that this will not be approved between their family feud. This is why they secretly ask Friar Laurence to marry them in secret.
During the Elizabethan era, knights were claimed to be the very best and served the Queen. The knights were a particular class during the era. They were known for their valor and courage during battles. Sometimes even the second sons of earls and lords result to becoming celebrated knights, as seen in some of Shakespeare’ plays, such as “Henry IV”. Knights were used to accomplish conspiracies and schemes traveling to distant countries and foreign lands for battles.
The Montagues and Capulets don’t relate at all to the Sharks and Jets being less fortunate, they were extremely wealthy for their time. The Montagues and Capulets expressed there wealth in the prologue ( Act 1) of Romeo and Juliet where it stated “two houses both alike in dignity.” This meant that since they were both alike in dignity they had a great amount of wealth and power equally. The Capulets for example, were also able to throw a huge party which meant they had a good amount of money to be hosting it. The Jets displayed their poverty and struggle in the song “Gee, Officer Krupke” where they sing,”It’s just our bringin’ upke that gets us out of hand, our mothers are junkies, our fathers are drunks, golly Moses natcherly we’re punks.”
Lord and Lady Capulet affected Juliet's decisions drastically in the play. If they weren't the way they are, there could've been a better outcome and they wouldn’t have taken their own life in the end. They were way too strict on Juliet, she is just a stressed teenage girl torn between making her parents happy and her lover. It’s a hard decision for a teenager, you want to keep your parents happy and make them proud but you also need to make sure you keep yourself happy and do what's best for you. One way Juliet's parents affected her decisions is by trying to make her marry Paris when she wanted to marry Romeo.
Lord Capulet is responsible for the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, five dead and his own family in pieces. He is selfish throughout the play and only does what he thinks is best for his family instead of what would actually benefit those around him. Lord Capulet is egotistical and doesn’t think much of others and the way he treats them. In act 3, scene 5, after Juliet told her mother she doesn’t want to marry Paris, Lord Capulet comes in and says to her, “Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!
The Act for the Relief of the Poor, primarily known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, was passed in 1601. It was required in order to establish a law system for the poor in England and Wales. In the earlier years, several laws were passed to deal with the increasing poverty. There was an official record maintained for those who fell into the category for ‘poor’ (Bloy, 2002).
The textbook definition of noble is described as, “having or showing fine personal qualities or high moral principles and ideals”. In the writings and movie; Beowulf written by anonymous, The Inferno written by Dante Alighieri and Troy written by Homer nobility is a common theme stretched throughout.
THESIS STATEMENT: During the Elizabethan era various types of foods were eaten and extensive details were added to these foods. Social classes also played a big role in what the rich or poor ate. I. Elizabethan meals were eaten at a specific time during the day. Depending on the job, civilians ate at different a time or place.
Not much to your surprise, life as a child in the Elizabethan Era is much different than childhood today. For starters, children in the Elizabethan Era did not have phones to play games, not everyone was allowed to go to school, and we have access to almost anything we want. But just like today, some children had it easier than others. Today in my presentation, I am going to compare the children of the wealthy to the children of the poor during the Elizabethan Era, including examples from Romeo and Juliet. Children of the Poor: Children of the poor had it tougher than the children of the wealthy.
“My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.” ― William Shakespeare from Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet, which are two rivaling high class families. This story is a great example of how the social class system works with the Montagues and Capulets being high class and having servants while those servants have nothing but their jobs. This was written in European literature which was later brought to America.
This source explains what life was like for families during the Elizabethan period. It says that the woman of the household were submissive to their husbands, marry to make the family wealthier, and produce children. The man of the household was in charge. The men made the decisions and made sure that their family socialized with families that had more money than they did. The children were cherished because many infants died.
Romeo is also respected in Verona because of the Montagues being rich. It was said by Lord Capulet in Act 1, Scene 5, Lines 65-66: “Verona brags of him…. a bears him like a party gentleman,” This quote tells us that Romeo is a well known, and well respected. Usually when a noble character like Romeo is introduced as being noble, the audience is made aware that at the end the character will have a tragic fall.
There were two different classes during Elizabethan Era. The upper class was called Nobility and the poor was called the Commoners. The Nobility, being accused of a serious crime could well result in torture. People in the upper class are sometimes accused of spying, murder, and rebellion. The Commoners, being accused of a small crime could be a death sentence.
Nobility was considered to be in the class by being born into the hierarchy or becoming
The Capulets and Montague are similar in a number of different ways but the two families are also different in some ways as well. A couple of the differences between the two are, the Capulets seem to be more violent and evil, an example of this is: “Tybalt 's reaction to Romeo at the masque, and Capulet when Juliet refuses to marry Paris” . Capulets are also a lot more strict and innocent compared to the Montagues. Montagues come across more laid back and emotional and caring in their family. An Example of this is: “His father is constantly worried about romeo, as his wife, and lady Montague dies of grief of Romeo 's banishment”.
