Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Romeo and Juliet Act 3, Scenes 1 & 2

211.

we are going to have another great California day today! i am finishing my work so we can head out to Venice Beach for a few hours. afterward, we will hop on over to the Hollywood Bowl to watch part of the rehearsal for the opening night on Friday. i believe we will be watching Cirque du Soleil rehearsing their new show Iris, which opens in July. they will be previewing 8 minutes of it on Friday, but WE get to see it tonight. SWEET! afterward, we will head out to Edison for a little nightcap. fun fun fun! so let's do this Shakespeare thang!


act 3, scene 1
Mercutio and Benvolio are hanging out on the streets of Verona. Benvolio tries to convince Mercutio to call it a day (he's scared they might run into some Capulets), but Mercutio uses his considerable wit to con him into staying out. of course, they DO run into some Capulets. Tybalt and Mercutio get into a little spat until Romeo arrives, the person Tybalt has been looking for. he's still mad that Romeo crashed their party. Romeo tries to get Mercutio and Tybalt to stop quarreling, and refuses to fight too. he hints and hints that there is something Tybalt does not know, and that he has a reason for loving Tybalt, but nobody is picking up the (very obvious) clues. Mercutio and Tybalt draw their swords. Romeo gets between them to stop them, but Tybalt slips his sword under Romeo's arm, stabbing Mercutio. Tybalt runs off with his men. Romeo and Benvolio don't realize how hurt Mercutio is, and Mercutio lays the smack down on them. (see quote below.) Benvolio takes Mercutio out, but soon returns to announce that he is dead. Tybalt returns, but this time Romeo doesn't want to talk about peace. he draws his sword and fights with Tybalt, slaying him. Romeo runs off just as the Prince, Capulets, and Montagues arrive. Benvolio gives them a true account of what transpired, but Lady Capulet thinks he's lying. she wants Romeo dead. the Prince, however, banishes Romeo from Verona instead. if he is found within the city, he will be killed.

act 3, scene 2
Juliet anxiously awaits the night so that she can see her husband, her Romeo. she's married to a man she hasn't even been able to enjoy yet! Nurse enters, and it is obvious to Juliet that she bears bad news. the Nurse, always cryptic in her communications with Juliet, first leads Juliet to believe that Romeo is dead. then Juliet thinks Romeo and Tybalt are BOTH dead. then she realizes what truly happened, and that Romeo is banished. Nurse is incredulous that Juliet should still care about Romeo after what he did, but Juliet points out that he IS her husband after all. Juliet claims that she has died with Romeo's banishment and will die a maiden. Nurse finally admits that she knows where Romeo is and will go get him and bring him to her later that evening.


at the top of act 3, scene 1, what is Mercutio getting at? is he just trying to distract Benvolio?

i love the mirroring moment the nurse has in scene two. she says: 'O Romeo, Romeo/ who ever would have thought it? Romeo!' Juliet says in act 2, scene 2: 'O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?' see what he did there? nice work Mr. Shakespeare.

how old is Romeo? i know Juliet is 13, soon to be 14. how old is Romeo? can he be that much older? he is still a teenager, right? rough town that you can be banished when you're what... sixteen or so?

this is SO making me want to watch the Danes/DiCaprio version STAT. Harold Perrineau and John Leguizamo are SO GOOD. especially my Harold. if you've never seen any R & J movies, check out the Zeffirelli and Luhrmann movies and make a night of it. both are awesome in completely different ways. Claire Danes is SO not 13, but it's totally romantic and crazy and California!

quote of the day:
'no, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man. i am peppered, i warrant, for this world. a plague o' both your houses! zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of arithmetic! why the devil came you between us? i was hurt under your arm.'
   -Mercutio; act 3, scene 1

for tomorrow: the rest of act 3!

-rebecca may

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