WELCOME TO

ENGLISH 1A!
Romeo and Juliet
 Quick Questionnaire
1. Name Surname, student number
2. Did you enjoy English in High School? Why or why not?
3. Do you think your transition to university is going to be difficult?
4. What are your expectations for your degree?
5. Do you think lecturers should provide all the information or guide
you to finding it yourself?
6. Do you like to read? And what do you like to read?
7. Will you be able to keep up with required reading?
8. Do you intend to take English Literature to 3rd year?
9. Is English your home language?
10. Tell me about your hobbies, interests, friends, family, identification
This course has four learning units:
1. Romeo and Juliet: From
Shakespeare to Luhrmann
2. Renaissance Poetry
3. Romanticism and Poetry
4. Jane Eyre and Victorian
Literature
■ Each learning unit has outcomes which we will use to
structure learning and assessment.
■ Module outcomes are about the overall aims of the
course, and are developed throughout it:
1. Distinguish between the conventions of different
literary genres and types, including how different
genres create meaning through context.
2. Demonstrate the ability to read closely and
synthesise key arguments from primary and
secondary material.
3. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the
techniques of film analysis and adaptation theory.
 Please read your module outline, and
pay particular attention to:
■ Resources, prescribed and recommended
■ Assessment information
■ Module glossary
■ Breakdown and timing of each LU (You must read
resources before class)
■ Critical information and resources will be
posted on Learn – the platform is crucial to your
success; please seek help navigating it if you need it
As English students, why do we study
the works of William Shakespeare?
As English students, why do we study
the works of William Shakespeare?
■ His plays and poems are read, performed and analysed
all over the world, at many levels, and have been since
he wrote them. They are appealing at various levels and
act as vehicles for contemporary issues.
■ Shakespeare succeeded in winning the support of
royalty for his plays. He still has popular support.
■ Skillful writing with thrilling tension, emotion and
humour for high and low audiences.
 ■ William Shakespeare was baptised on 26
April 1564 at Holy Trinity in Stratford-
Upon-Avon.
■ He was the eldest son of John and Mary
Shakespeare, who were fairly well off, but
suffered severe financial difficulties
around 1576.
William ■ William probably left school at age 14 or
Shakespeare 15. His works evidence a strong
knowledge Latin classics.
■ He married Anne Hathaway in 1582, at
age 18. They had three children: Susanna,
Judith and Hamnet.
■ By 1592 he had become known as a
playwright in London.
■ He died on 23 April 1616, at age 52, as a
wealthy man. He was retired in Stratford.
■ https://www.rsc.org.uk/shakespeares-life-and-times/
What are your associations with Romeo
and Juliet by William Shakespeare?
What are common associations with Romeo
and Juliet by William Shakespeare?
■ Universal love story
■ It is a quintessential version of the story
■ It has inspired innumerable retellings and reimaginings
■ Story of war between enemies and generations
■ Political and economic analysis of society
■ Psychologically complex – interesting uses binaries,
myths and previous versions of the story.
A quick overview of the plot of Romeo and Juliet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z81wjUl3BvU
Themes Love
Fate

Light & Dark Adolescence

Time

War

Death
Family
Symbols and Money
Motifs Petrarchan
sonnets

Gender Generations

Sword fighting

Heavenly bodies

Myths & classical

stories
Summary of the love story plot
3. Romeo
banished, Juliet to
marry Paris

2. Romeo and 4. Juliet fakes

Juliet marry death

1. Romeo and Juliet 5. Romeo believes

meet Juliet is dead, then
both die for love
Activity: In groups of three, familiarise
yourselves with the definitions of “binary
oppositions”, “sonnet” and “theme” in your
module guide, and look up “word play”.

Read the prologue in Act I carefully to find

examples and illustrations of these concepts.

You will be asked to report on any one of these

things (so be sure to prepare all of them)

Please ask for help or bounce ideas off me.

Romeo and Juliet 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.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Reading pace guide
■ We have a very short time to go through this play.
It would be best if you have read the entire play
(recently), and reread critically to get the most out
of lectures.
■ Aim to read Act I before the next lecture, and the
readings and more Acts over the weekend
■ It will never be a bad thing to overshoot this; you
will run into trouble if you neglect this.
■ I will not confine myself to the parts of the play
you have read in lectures; we are studying this
play as a whole entity.