The Prologue: Shakespeare vs. Luhrmann

547 Words3 Pages
The prologue, as shown here, is used by Shakespeare to introduce his play and to create a suspenseful atmosphere to engage the audience. In the Elizabethan times, there were no fancy backdrops or stunning computer generated images to aid in the story telling of the piece, so words were given the major role in painting the picture to the audience. Shakespeare has chosen, in the case of Romeo and Juliet to present the prologue in the form of a sonnet which, although short can leave a deep and meaningful impact if correctly deployed. And it is one of the things that Shakespeare does perfectly. The prologue starts off with, ‘Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene’. These two lines introduce the major roles and the setting of the play and are followed by the lines, ‘From ancient grudge, break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.’ These four lines are known as the ‘first quadrant’ of the sonnet and play the purpose of ‘establishing the subject.’ Following this, the ‘second quadrant’ develops the sonnet’s theme, which in this case would be lines 5-8, ‘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.’ Here, the audience is informed of overlapping themes of death, romance, fate and feuding and is these themes are further established and rounded off by the four lines in the ‘third quadrant’. Finally the sonnet is concluded in the fourth quadrant with ‘The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend’ which provides a smooth link from the prologue to the beginning of the play. Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of the play was released in 1997. It utilises a modern setting despite the play being set in Elizabethan times. Motives for
Open Document