Violence In Romeo And Juliet

The contemporary composer, Baz Luhrmann, has altered the theme of violence in the original play Romeo and Juliet (1597) by Shakespeare in his adaptation of his film Romeo+Juliet (1996) by addressing the concerns of their audiences. Luhrrman recreates the original Shakespeare play by reimagining it in a modern society where heavy gang and drug violence was prominent as well as emphasising the immediate nature of violence. In contrast, Shakespeare's Elizabethan setting focuses on the consequences of familial feuds.

Shakespeare's original play Romeo and Juliet, portrays violence as a catalyst for a series of tragic consequences, which is reflected within. The foreshadowing in “These violent delights have violent ends" condemns Romeo and Juliet’s

The opening scene of the heated brawl between the two gangs utilises frantic camera movements and intense non diegetic music captures the intensity of the violence, demonstrating its immediate nature. The use of guns instead of swords reflects the urban street culture beginning during the 20th century, which draws parallels to real gun violence events such as the Colombian Palace of Justice siege 1985, making the audience resonate with the film. In contrast, Shakespeare depicts this scene with swords and more banter as the corresponding audience revered the power of words. In addition, the action sequence of the aftermath of Tybalt’s death heightens the tension of the chase for Romeo and elucidates the immediate response to the violence. This scene utilised cars and helicopters to chase after Romeo as a reflection of the development of technology in that period exhibiting the peak of technology invention unlike Shakespeare who illustrates a scene using horses and carriages in the chase. Towards the end of the film where Romeo finds Juliet seemingly dead, the film applies dramatic irony by switching between shots of Romeo preparing to drink the poison and Juliet waking up, contrasting between what the audience and characters know, Luhrmann creates anticipation leading to both Romeo and Juliet’s death instead of fear due to the desensitisation to violence of the audience because of the internet and glorification of suicide whereas the heavily religious audience of Shakespearean audience saw death as a curse hence the heightening of tragedy within the dialogue of this