The Transformation of Romeo and Juliet

The Transformation of Romeo and Juliet

  • Submitted By: jonowong
  • Date Submitted: 11/25/2008 12:10 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1548
  • Page: 7
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Yr 9 English Assignment - Romeo and Juliet ESSAY

“Explain how composers have transformed Romeo and Juliet for different audiences. Refer to sections of the original text by Shakespeare and sections of one or two transformations.”

From the olden plays of Shakespeare to the modern fantasy texts like Harry Potter, transformations are being made to all sorts of different genres and texts. Texts are transformed primarily to entertain the intended audience, but some texts transcend ideas that are still relevant to the audience today. Baz Luhrmann’s film Romeo + Juliet effectively renews the original play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, and portrays it in a new perspective. The storyline and main concepts of love, death, violence and religion from the original play are still the central ideas in the film, but the style of communicating them are totally different. The use of modern techniques of camera and sound effects plus the addition of symbolism helps create a text which is easier to understand and relate to for the modern audiences that the film is intended for.

William Shakespeare’s version of Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona Italy, where aristocratic society rule. In this society, grudges between different families and houses are common, and these often end in bloodshed. The play is written with in Elizabethan context where the values and attitudes are associated with a patriarchal family. In this world men are the superior race, they rule over the women and control everything they do. Marriages are arranged by the parents, and family honour, respect and obedience are important. From the beginning of the play, the ideas of fate, destiny, religion, love, and hate already presented itself to its audience. Those elements will be repeated until the end of the play, when the tragic death of two lovers finally ended the feud between Capulet and Montague households.

Baz Luhrmann’s film Romeo + Juliet is set in a relatively modern environment, in a...

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