act 1 Introduction to Act 1


WHO ARE SAMPSON AND GREGORY?


They’re servants of the wealthy Capulet family. They meet the


Montague servants in the street and immediately start a fight.


WHY DO THEY START THE STORY?


Conflict and family are two major themes in the play. The first characters we see on stage are Capulet servants carrying weapons in the street,


talking about how much they hate the Montagues and making jokes about women. The Montague servants they meet also carry weapons. A fight starts within minutes.


SETTING


The setting for Romeo and Juliet is the Italian city of Verona. Shakespeare’s audience were living in an exciting time of exploration and discovery. In fact, Shakespeare set very few of his plays in England. His audience liked stories set in exotic locations, across Europe or beyond – in Syria, Turkey and across North Africa. Out of Shakespeare’s 37 plays, eight are set in Italian cities. His audiences loved the idea of Italy, even though most of them had likely never been there. Travellers who had made the long journey overland came back to London with stories of enormous wealth, style, romance, fashion, music, dancing, sophistication, beautiful buildings, art and swordfi ghting.


Shakespeare's audience loved a play that started with a fencing match. This would be like starting a fi lm


or a stage show today with a deadly martial arts fi ght. His actors were trained swordsmen. They used real weapons, and showed off their latest fencing techniques.


6


JUNIOR CYCLE ENGLISH


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