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"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's quiz
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ELIZABETHAN CULTURE:
LOVE AND MARRIAGE FOUR CENTURIES AGO
Romeo and Juliet shows English life in the late 16th century, especially love and marriage. Obedience,
hierarchy (knowing your place in life), and order were prized and expected of all good citizens.
Elizabethan culture was patriarchal, and loyalty to your relatives was very important. Men controlled their
wives and daughters. Chastity was a womans most important virtue. A father could disown, starve, or lock
up a woman who had violated the family honor.
Queen Elizabeth defied all expectations of the age. She never married because she realized that marriage
meant loss of power. The general opinion of the time was that womens minds were weak and that a female
head of state was an offense against nature, but she ruled with great political skill.
The decision to marry was in the hands of the woman's parents. A father chose a daughters husband
and it was considered dishonorable and disrespectful to communicate her desires in the process. When a
woman married, all of her personal property became the property of her husband
and she could not decide how it was spent.
Women were regarded as property to be married to improve the family fortune or political alliances.
Elizabethans thought women needed a male caretaker. However, Shakespeare lived during the time of the
Renaissance, which was a turbulent and exciting period of history in which many old and accepted ideas
were being questioned. In this time the idea of romantic, personal love flourished. Romeo and Juliet is all
about the struggle between personal love and correct matchmaking.
Follow up questions:
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Characters
HOUSE OF CAPULET
Juliet: she is the daughter of Capulet. She is supposed to marry Paris. She loves Romeo. She is naive, but
matures quickly into a strong, determined woman.
Tybalt: Juliets cousin, passionate, prideful, easily provoked, high-spirited, hot-blooded, fiery nature,
inflexible, single set of absolutes.
Nurse: Juliets nurse, stereotypical, arrogant, garrulous, ignorant. She wants the best for Juliet
(translated: wants Juliet married to anyone).
Capulet: Juliets father, impatient, loves Juliet but is misguided in his love, inflexible, old.
Lady Capulet: Juliets mother.
HOUSE OF MONTAGUE
Romeo: he is the son of Montague, isolated, passionate, idealistic, naive.
Mercutio: kinsman to Prince and Romeo's best friend, witty, honorable, intelligent.
Benvolio: Montague nephew, friend of Romeo, peacemaker
Montague: The head of the Montague family and Romeos father.
Other important characters
Paris: a young relative of the Prince who is supposed to marry Juliet.
Friar Laurence: Romeos counselor, loved and respected, attempts to do what is right. He wants peace
between the families. He is also expert in the art of herbal medicine and potions.
Apothecary: Similar to a modern-day pharmacist, although not at all regulated, an apothecary was a person
who specialized in preparing and selling drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes.
Prince: The Prince of Verona wants to establish peace in the city, and punishes those who break his law
against fighting in the streets.