Romeo and Juliet-- Act 1 Scene 5

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Explain the ways in which Romeo and Juliet are presented in Act 1 Scene 5 of the original play and in performed versions? Romeo and Juliet is an Shakespearean tragedy about two young lovers who are a part of two feuding families in which results in the two star crossed lovers deaths. The play has been given many different adaptations in recent plays and films, most notably Baz Luhrmanns interpretation in the 1996 film release of the tragedy. The scene I am going to analyse is Act 1 Scene 5, which is when these two lovers first meet. I will also use Baz Luhrmanns interpretation of the story as well as the original script to see how their love is distinguished towards the audience. Romeo is amazed at the beauty he sees in Juliet, this can be seen with the way he describes how pretty she is. He says ‘she doth teach the torches to burn bright! it seems she hangs on the cheek of night.’. With this, he is describing her as the only source of light in the room, or like a star in the night sky showing how he feels. This image is again reinforced with the simile ‘like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear’. An Ethiope (now considered Ethiopian) is obviously someone from Ethiopia and they are generally dark-skinned so the jewel in an Ethiope ear would shine bright and stand out due to its shininess in contrast with the dark skin tone of the Ethiopian. Juliet beauty is described as a bright, shining light here and the way Romeo describes her attractiveness distinguishes how love-struck Romeo is as she is all he can focus on. He also says that ‘Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight’ For I ne’er saw a true beauty like this’, here Romeo is perceived as love-struck. This is because we know that Romeo had only come to the party as a chance to meet Rosaline who was his previous lover and who he claimed he was love-sick for. Now at the slight glance of Juliet he has forgotten
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