For this essay I decided to select one the most famous writers in the world, Shakespeare, and two of his best-known plays, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. Around 1590 he started to work as a play-wright in London. Shakespeare then become one of the most famous writers in England and in part of the world. During his career he lived to reigns the one of Elizabeth I and James I (Enotes, 2011. Shakespeares biography.[online] Available at: http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/shakespeare-biography [Access on 18 may 2011] ).
The two plays were written practically at the same period of time Romeo and Juliet was said to be written in 1954 the year in which King Henry the IV was crowned in France. While Macbeth was written and played for the first time in 1606 the year in which England, country in which Shakespeare lived in, agreed in adopting the Union Jack as its flag (Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/romeoandjuliet/ [Access on 18 May 2011]).
Macbeth as I said wrote before was written in 1606, practically at the start of James I reign. James I was a supporter of Shakespeares acting company and the story of Macbeth reflects the relationship the two had. He reflects the good kingship of James and the way he was bust developing England (Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/macbeth/ [Access on 18 May 2011]).
Romeo and Juliet was not invented by Shakespeare but from a poet who wrote a poem called Romeus and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is just an adaptation of other works (Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/romeoandjuliet/ [Access on 18 May 2011]).).
- The two plays I have select have in common that they are both tragedies. A tragedy is a narrative that usually describes the defeat and ruin of the main characters of it (Cambridge school, 2005. Macbeth. Cambridge: Cambrdge university press).
In the plays there are lots of different similarities and differences and especially they have very different themes.
Most of the differences between the two plays are obviously the events that occur in the play and the relationship between the couples, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Fate is one of the themes that can be seen in both plays, For example in Romeo and Juliet when Romeo goes to the ball the audience already knows they are going to fall in love with Juliet. The tragedy of the play doesnt actually start until the point in which Mercutio is killed by Tybalt; this is when the first character dies. This death brings up to a series of deaths because Romeo wants to take revenge on his best friend and kills Tybalt. In Macbeth we can see fate when the three witches gave the prophecy and the audience understands that the main character of the story will die.
The conflict although begins to build up when Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to kill King Duncan so that he can become King.
Shakespeare decides to include fate also through the weaknesses of the characters for example in Romeo and Juliet when Rosaline tells Romeo that shed going to stay in convent and Romeo look for Juliet which he thinks is the right women for him. In Macbeth, his weakness is authority and greed and achieves what he wants not only by killing King Duncan but the heir of Macduff and also his friend Banquo.
The two plays are set in two different periods of time Rome and Juliet in the 14th century. In the 14th century Europe was expanding very rapidly, there were lots of wars and contrast between countries and probably Shakespeare wanted to demonstrate this by using the two families the Capulets and the Motagues after the 14th century there is a certain period of peace and this can be also demonstrated at the end of the play where the two families decide not to fight anymore. The period in which Shakespeare wrote the plays, people all though about fate and love and passion this is why I believe Shakespeare decided to use these themes in his plays.
When Shakespeare starting writing his plays, a strong influence was the popularity of the plays of the Roman play-wright Seneca. Senecas tragedies included soliloquies, ghosts, witches and magic, violent events and moral statements. All these features are present in Macbeth. It is said that Shakespeares miracle plays, such as Macbeth, are dramatised Bible stories (Grade saver, 2010.http://www.gradesaver.com/macbeth/ [Access on 18 May 2011]).
Another comparison that can be done between the two plays is that the conclusion is similar. In Romeo and Juliet when the parents find out about the deaths they decide to stop the arguments. In Macbeth, when Macbeth was finally killed, the kingdom came back at peace and it came out that the witches prophecies were true. Both deaths indicate that the realms went back to order.
It is common in Shakespeares plays to bring everything back o order because at that time the audience would have expected to have death and violence but at the same time a happy ending.
However, in the play itself, there are also many differences. One of the differences in the relationships between , Romeo and Juliet and the one between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Romeo and Juliet have a sort of love connection. They are together because they love each other. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are unnaturally connected. The only thing that lady Macbeth wants is to be in power so she asks he husband to do things she would never do for her to have a better social status. She calls him weak when he hesitates and even assists him in the murders of the king. The love between the two cant be called love because Lady Macbeth not only wants to control Macbeth but she is with him just for power.
Another difference of the two plays is that Romeo and Juliet seems a true story why you can clearly see that Macbeth is completely fictional.
Shakespeare works a lot on relationships in his plays between couples and I have noticed that in Romeo and Juliet there is not a strong one in the couple while in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is stronger as a character and manages to control her husband and manipulate him.
Shakespeare bases his plays a lot on how the audience expects a play to be and gives them all they want to see, he always takes in count the time period he sets the play in adding features from that period of time (Enotes, 2011. Shakespeares biography.[online] Available at: http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/shakespeare-biography [Access on 18 may 2011]).
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