Of Shakespeare's 37 dramatic works, Romeo and Juliet is the first mature tragedy that became the focus of the early period of creativity, which researchers call humanistic or optimistic. The work of the Renaissance is rightfully considered a masterpiece of world classical literature.
The play, which leaves no one indifferent, tells about the high sincere love of a young man and a girl from two warring clans, has been firmly established in the repertoires of academic and experimental theaters around the world for several centuries. The relevance and depth of its problems, as well as the skill of creating characters, the work awakens to creative accomplishments not only theatrical creators, but also film directors who gave the world several dozen adaptations of the famous tragedy.
The work is written on the basis of a wandering plot, literary adaptations of which are known in the works of ancient, Italian, French and English authors. However, Shakespeare's variation of the well-known plot received world recognition. Blatant problems, a multifaceted plot, rich images - all this makes the play of the English classic a great achievement of world drama.
William Shakespeare. "Romeo and Juliet": a summary
Already from the first lines of the work, it becomes clear that between the noble families of Verona Montecchi and the Capulets, an irreconcilable enmity has long been going on, which not only engulfed all relatives of the clans, but also their servants. A conflict ensues between the latter, witnessed by the public and the duke (in some translations, the prince). He commands to stop this endless war, otherwise the guilty will be punished. Benvolio was also a participant in the conflict. He tells about what happened to his friend and relative Romeo - the son of Montecchi. However, all this does not disturb him, since his mind is occupied with heavy thoughts about unrequited love for Rosaline, without which he does not see the meaning of life. The young people are joined by their third friend - Mercutio, a relative of the duke.
Having accidentally met the servant of the Capulets, the young men learn that a masquerade ball will take place in their house. To dispel a friend, the guys decide, dressed in masks, will go there. Before the masquerade, a relative of the duke, Paris, asks the Capulet for the hand of his daughter. Father, referring to her young age - 14 years old, still does not refuse a noble and rich young man.
Before entering the Capulet house, Romeo felt a premonition that something irreparable would happen that would shorten his life, and it would be born at this ball. At the masquerade, Romeo and Juliet see each other, and love pierces their hearts like an arrow. Romeo tells her of his admiration. Capulet's nephew Tybalt recognizes him by his voice and grabs his sword. The hosts stop him, not seeing anything wrong with the fact that Romeo attended their celebration, but Tybalt still harbors a grudge.
Acquaintance and wedding
From the nurse Juliet, the lovers in turn learn that they are the children of sworn enemies, but this does not affect their ardent feelings. Romeo spent the whole night under Juliet's balcony. In the morning they already swore to each other in eternal love and thought about how to secretly get married. Father Lorenzo and the nanny became the lovers' assistants. On the same evening, the young people got married.
Meanwhile, Tybalt wants to get even with Romeo, but meets his friends, with whom he enters into a heated skirmish. Romeo arrives and tries to prevent the conflict, considering Tybalt already his brother. Trying to protect the honor of a friend, Mercutio enters into battle with Tybalt, in which he dies. Before his death, one of the most important phrases of the work sounds from the lips of Mercutio: "A plague on both your houses." Tybalt appears again, and an enraged Romeo kills him, after which he hides in the cell of Father Lorenzo. The duke appears on the square, who sentences Romeo to exile in the city of Mantua.
This news was tantamount to death for Romeo, because he will be forced to part with his beloved, who probably already hates him for killing his brother. He is comforted by the nurse, saying that Juliet's love for him is stronger than the pain due to the death of Tybalt. Lovers say goodbye and languish in suffering before a close separation.
Paris reappears and Capulet sets the date for the wedding. Juliet refuses, causing her parents to disown her. She goes for advice to Father Lorenzo, who has figured out how to save her from remarriage and help loving hearts. On the night before the wedding, she must drink a potion that will put her to sleep for two days. Everyone will assume that she is dead, and they will take her to the family crypt. Juliet did everything as the holy father ordered. The Capulet family and Paris sadly see her off on her last journey. Meanwhile, Lorenzo sends a messenger to Romeo to be there when Juliet wakes up.
Due to the cholera epidemic, the messenger was not released from the city, and he could not convey the message to Romeo, to whom his servant Balthazar had already arrived and reported on the death of Juliet. The newly-made husband does not want to live without his beloved anymore, and having bought poison, he goes to Verona to share his last refuge with his wife.
Paris comes to the Capulet crypt to say goodbye to the bride, where Romeo also appears. A duel ensues between them, as a result of which Paris dies. In front of the coffin, Romeo admires the chosen one, who is beautiful and fresh, as in life. Saying goodbye to his beloved, he drinks poison and dies. Lorenzo doesn't have time to stop him. The noise outside distracted the holy father from the coffin in which Juliet woke up. Seeing Romeo dead, she kisses him to taste the poison and, piercing herself with a dagger, falls near her husband.
The Capulet family, Father Montague, the duke and the city society gathered at the tomb, to whom Lorenzo told a tragic love story. As a result, the fathers of the warring families, united by grief, shook hands, promising to erect golden monuments to their children. And the duke summed up: despite the reconciliation of families, the story of Romeo and Juliet will remain the saddest in the world.
Character characteristics
The system of characters in the tragedy is quite developed. In addition to the main acting characters, there are many secondary characters in the work: messengers, servants, cooks, musicians, townspeople and others. Shakespeare conditionally attributed all the characters to the two warring camps of Montague and Capulet.
But there are characters who do not belong to clans and carry, perhaps, the most important semantic load - Father Lorenzo and the Duke. They are fair and honest towards everyone. Each, for his part, is trying to reconcile the families, but only the main characters succeed - Romeo and Juliet at the cost of their lives. The images of the main characters have long become common nouns as symbols of eternal, sincere and selfless love. They are ready to put everything on the altar of their love: wealth, honor, name and even life.
The main ideas of the work
"Romeo and Juliet" is the personification of the author's humanistic ideas about the freedom of choice of a person, his ability to independently build his life. The author does not share the mercantile views of his father in the desire to marry his daughter to a rich and promising groom. Hence, a social problem arises in the work. Juliet's defiance reflects withdrawal family relations and the principles of education of the Renaissance, the pursuit of the right to personal happiness. Father Lorenzo, violating certain principles, helps the young, which confirms another moral idea of the work - it is love that is the basis of marriage.
The very popular comedy by William Shakespeare has several storylines, which intersect throughout the work.
One of the masterpieces of world literature is tragedy, full of socio-philosophical reflections and rich in intricate plot intrigues.
The death of heroes suggests that the main idea of Shakespeare's dramatic work is the unwillingness and unworthiness of society to understand and appreciate ideal love, it has no place among people who value principles, wealth, status. Dying, the heroes made their love immortal.
1. Traditional understanding of tragedy.
2. Ideas of humanism in Shakespeare's work.
3. Love as a punishment for enmity and hatred.
"Romeo and Juliet" is one of the most famous tragedies of W. Shakespeare along with "Hamlet" and "Macbeth". The close attention of literary critics to this work led to the fact that there was a certain understanding of the meaning of the tragedy. It is generally accepted that the main idea of the tragedy is the victory of the love of heroes over the enmity of their relatives. However, how true is this view? Doesn't this victory, if we take it as an axiom, look like the notorious Pyrrhic victory, the price of which far exceeds the result? Let's try to figure it out. As in many of his other tragedies, in "Romeo and Juliet" the author shows the bizarre worldview of a medieval man who considers himself a Christian, but stubbornly defends the values of paganism. After all, strictly speaking, the family feud between the two noble families of Verona is a relic of ancient times, when blood feud was considered a sacred duty. But if in a pagan society such enmity was a phenomenon legitimized by the authority of the gods, then in a Christian society the situation is completely different. With reckless fanaticism, continuing to quarrel with each other, the Montagues and the Capulets violate the laws of their native Verona, which is a Christian state:
Traitors, killers of silence,
Dirty iron with brotherly blood!
Non-humans, but the likeness of animals,
Extinguishing the fire of deadly strife
Jets of red liquid from the veins! —
with these words the prince of Verona addresses them, whose duty is to take care of the observance of laws.
It is significant that the tragedy does not mention anywhere about what, in fact, because of what, in fact, two influential clans are at enmity. It doesn't seem like it matters to them either. Thus, the original meaning of this enmity is lost: for its participants, it has become a means of self-affirmation, which is clearly seen in the skirmish between the servants of the Montagues and the Capulets, who boast that they serve with the best masters. The ancient enmity is also a means of self-affirmation for Tybalt, Juliet's cousin. After all, it was in endless fights that he gained fame as the best blade of Verona. That is why Tybalt "hates the world" and the very word - what will his skill mean in peacetime ?!
But if once the blood feud and enmity of clans was considered worthy behavior, now it is a sin according to the laws of the church and a crime according to worldly laws. This is what the Prince of Verona says, threatening the Montagues and Capulets with punishment and pointing out that their enmity brings neither honor nor good fame:
... Under pain of torture
Throw your swords from inglorious hands
And listen to the prince's will.
...And if you ever run into each other again,
You will pay me with your life for everything.
This time let the people disperse.
Let's remember these words - "with your life ... pay for everything." But let's pay attention to one more detail. For the population of Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets, arranging bloody battles in the streets, are equally hated:
Here with oak and stakes! Loopy!
Down with the Montagues and the Capulets!
So, we see that the prince and the people are unanimous in their desire to curb the willfulness of the two "advisers of Verona" by law. Progressive tendencies are manifested in this - feudal privileges, such as the conduct of internecine wars, should be replaced by law and order. The Church also cannot approve of the enmity between the Montagues and the Capulets, which is quite natural if it acts in accordance with the teachings of Christ. Brother Lorenzo, a monk known in Verona for his learning and high moral qualities, having learned about the love of Romeo and Juliet, takes their side not only out of sympathy for young lovers; he hopes that their marriage will serve as a means to reconcile their parents. We know that the monk is right: the Montagues and the Capulets will indeed reconcile at the end of the tragedy, but did Brother Lorenzo think of such reconciliation, uniting their children forever?!
Is love tender? She is rude and evil.
And it pricks and burns like a thorn, -
Romeo says to his friend Mercutio. Indeed, in a world full of hatred, anger, inflated self-esteem and unsatisfied vanity, there is no place for love. Willy-nilly, even mutual love becomes a source of grief and suffering. The main characters of Shakespeare's tragedy strive for happiness, but they are doomed, like the heroes of ancient tragedies, all of whose actions lead to a bloody denouement. The long-standing enmity of the two clans to which Romeo and Juliet belong becomes a fate for the lovers, which separates them, despite all efforts. Romeo kills Tybalt, who killed his friend Mercutio: Romeo is expelled from Verona for the murder of Juliet's cousin, and Mercutio's dying curses bring punishment on both warring families: "Take both your families, a plague!" And before that, the Prince of Verona warned the warring parties that one more skirmish, and they will answer for it with their lives. True, it is by no means a prince, not an earthly power that punishes the Montagues and the Capulets. Curses of Mercutio seem to really call on some sinister forces. And here in Shakespeare's tragedy we again find an echo of pagan beliefs - after all, once people attached very great importance; the magicians of antiquity knew rites by which it was possible to destroy the well-being of their enemies or an unworthy ruler.
The actions of the characters inevitably lead to other actions. The father forces Juliet to marry Count Paris, not wanting to delay the wedding for a long time; however, according to the laws of God and human, Juliet is the legal wife of Romeo, who was expelled from Verona, and she does not have the right to marry another man while her husband is alive:
My vow is in heaven, I have a husband.
How can I return an oath from heaven to earth,
Until my husband flew off the earth?
But the father, who sees disobedience and stubbornness in his daughter's refusal to marry Count Paris, threatens to drive his daughter out of the house if she does not agree to marry Paris. Lorenzo's brother, who knows about Juliet's secret, of course, cannot allow her to be forced into an illegal marriage. A terrible remedy he proposes to avoid it! After drinking the potion, Juliet will become numb for forty-two hours and look like she's dead. But this does not frighten Juliet - she is ready for anything just not to betray Romeo. But mysterious fate interferes in the lives of the heroes: Romeo does not get the news that Juliet died an imaginary death, and he must appear in the Capulet crypt to wait for her to wake up and take his wife away. On the contrary, Romeo hears that his Juliet has died, and in despair rushes to the crypt to die beside her.
Over the corpses of their children, the Montagues and the Capulets reconcile, whom the heavenly punishment has befallen. And this punishment, and not at all a boon, was the love of their children, which led to such an end:
What a lesson for the haters
That the sky is killing you with love!
Composition is the construction of a work of art, the arrangement of its parts in a certain system and sequence.
The main compositional elements: introduction (exposition), plot, development of action, climax, denouement, conclusion.
The introduction and conclusion are not always in the story.
An exposition is a part of the plot that immediately precedes the plot, presenting the reader with initial information about the circumstances in which the conflict of a literary work arose.
The composition of a work is understood as the arrangement and interconnection of its parts, the order in which events are presented. It is the composition that helps the reader to better understand the intention and idea of the author, the thoughts and feelings that inspired him.
Composition. The prologue in the tragedy acts as an exposition.
Tie. In the first act, there is a clash between the servants of the Capulets and Montagues, then between the nephews of the latter - Tybalt and Benvolio, then the heads of the warring families, the Prince of Verona and Romeo, appear on the stage.
In the third act, the clash between the Capulets and the Montagues is repeated: this time, the prince's relative and friend of Romeo, Mercutio and Tybalt and Tybalt and Romeo, participate in the fight. The outcome of the first duel is the death of Mercutio, the outcome of the second is the death of Tybalt.
The second and fourth acts of the play are devoted to the development of a love line: in the second act, Romeo and Juliet are explained and they are prepared for the wedding, in the fourth, Juliet, trying to avoid remarriage, embarks on a terrible path of reunion with her beloved spouse. This is the climax.
The clash ends with the appearance of the Capulets and Montagues on the stage, and then the prince, who makes a murderous decision for Romeo to be expelled from Verona. The fifth act again returns the plot to the usual dueling course: this time the battle takes place between Paris (a relative of the prince, the alleged husband of Juliet, that is, a potential Capulet) and Romeo. Paris dies at the hands of Romeo, Romeo kills himself with poison under the influence of insurmountable circumstances imposed on him by the will of Juliet's father.
The fifth act and the whole tragedy ends with the appearance of the Capulet spouses, the Montagues and the prince, the reconciliation of families and the posthumous reunion of Romeo and Juliet - in the form of golden statues standing next to each other.
Interchange. The death of the children (Romeo and Juliet) - the successors of the family traditions of the Montagues and the Capulets - puts a decisive point in the conflict of the warring Verona families, both at the plot and moral level.
2. Humor and satire in the stories of M.M. Zoshchenko (on the example of the story "History of the disease").
Satire is a denunciatory, scourging ridicule.
A work of art that sharply and mercilessly denounces the negative phenomena of reality is called satirical.
Humor is a depiction of something in a funny, comic way.
Understanding the comic, the ability to see and show a funny, condescendingly mocking attitude towards something.
The story “Case History” begins like this: “Frankly, I prefer to be sick at home. Of course, there are no words, in the hospital, perhaps, it is brighter and more cultured. And the calorie content of food, maybe they have more provided. But, as they say, houses and straw are eaten”
A patient diagnosed with typhoid fever is brought to the hospital.
He sees a huge poster on the wall in the room for registration of new arrivals: “Issuance of corpses from 3 to 4”.
The patient tells the hero to the paramedic, barely recovering from the shock, that "the patients are not interested in reading this."
In response, he hears: “If ... you will get better, which is unlikely, then criticize, otherwise we will really betray you from three to four in the form of what is written here, then you will know.
The nurse takes him to the bathroom and offers to get into the bath, where some old woman is already bathing. It would seem that the nurse should apologize and postpone the “bathing” procedure for a while. But she was used to seeing patients, not people, in front of her. And with patients what to stand on ceremony? She calmly invites him to get into the bath and ignore the old woman: “She has a high temperature and does not react to anything. So you undress without embarrassment”
The tests of the patient do not end there. First, he is given a dressing gown that does not fit. Then, a few days later, having already begun to recover, he falls ill with whooping cough. All the same nurse tells him: “You must have picked up an infection from a neighboring outbuilding. We have a children's section there. And you probably inadvertently ate from a device on which a whooping cough child ate. ”
It is very characteristic: it is not the one who is responsible for the cleanliness of the device that is to blame, but the one who “eats” from it
When the hero finally recovers, he can’t escape from the hospital walls in any way, because they either forget to discharge him, or “someone didn’t come, and it was impossible to celebrate,” or the entire staff is busy organizing the movement of the wives of the sick. Finally, after the patient nevertheless leaves the hospital, the last test awaits him at home: the wife tells how a week ago she received a notice from the hospital (later it turned out to be sent by mistake) with the requirement: “Upon receipt of this, urgently come for the body of your husband ".
“In general,” the former patient reports, “for some reason I felt unpleasant from this incident, and I wanted to run to the hospital to quarrel with someone there, but when I remembered what happens there, you know, and did not go. And now I'm sick at home."
What does the writer make fun of in his story? Low level of medical care.
“The Case History” is one of those stories by Zoshchenko, in which the image of rudeness, extreme disrespect for a person, spiritual callousness is brought to the limit. A person, being discharged from the hospital, rejoices at the fact that he is still alive, and, remembering the hospital conditions, prefers to “get sick at home”.
Poetic images of people appear, beautiful and humane, full of life and forces that yearn for happiness, which outdated prejudices sometimes prevent them from achieving.
This is the ideological content of the famous tragedy written by Shakespeare in the early period of his work - "Romeo and Juliet" (see its summary and full text). This is a highly poetic love story. free choice. She depicts the clash of such animated love with tribal enmity and the arbitrariness of parents.
Romeo and Juliet. Movie 2013
The play takes place in Italian city Verona. Although its problems are inspired by English reality, however, the nature and the whole atmosphere of Italy are perfectly suited to its lyrical plot.
An old family feud between two noble families - the Montagues and the Capulets - blocks the path to happiness for two young people - Romeo and Juliet, who fell in love with each other. Upon learning that the one she loved is the enemy of her family, Juliet says:
What does the name mean? A rose smells like a rose
Call her a rose, or not.
Romeo by any name would be
The height of perfection, what it is.
(Translated by B. Pasternak)
Love by free choice appears in this tragedy as a great feeling that binds people for life, a feeling for which even death is not a barrier. The struggle for their love against the oppression of the family pushes both lovers to desperate, reckless actions.
The tragedy is full of lyricism. Love is expressed in it with tremendous poetic power. Particularly striking moments in this respect are Juliet's first confession from the balcony, when Romeo unexpectedly hears her, who has made his way into the garden, and the farewell of the lovers. In these lyrical scenes, there is a wonderfully subtle disclosure of feelings.
Monk Lorenzo, a philosopher who studies nature, helps lovers like a wise older friend. He seeks to end family feuds. Another bright positive image is the cheerful Mercutio, Romeo's friend, with his sparkling wit. The untimely death of Mercutio in a duel with Tybalt cries out against the bloody feud, of which he becomes a victim. Shakespeare's faith in a wise monarch manifested itself in the image of the just Prince Escalus, condemning strife and bloodshed.
The images of the tragedy are depicted deeply and diversified. Juliet is characterized not only by love, but also by wit, willpower, determination; Romeo - stormy impulses, incontinence of feelings. The characters of both change as the play progresses. Juliet is at first a carefree girl. She does not even think of arguing with her mother when she first offers Paris as her suitor. The struggle for love turns her into an independent and heroic woman. Romeo in the first scenes indulges in far-fetched courtly sighs for a certain Rosaline. Only having fallen in love with Juliet, recognizing the power of true feelings, does he mature, and his love acquires heroic strength.
Stills from the feature film Romeo and Juliet (1968) with immortal music by Nino Rota
Juliet's father is depicted in a versatile and realistic way - a man of the old patriarchal way of life, autocratic in the family and at the same time a good-natured hospitable person, a joker who in his own way loves his daughter, as well as a nurse with her rude, selfish understanding of love and at the same time sincere affection for Juliet .
Federal Agency for Education
State educational institution higher professional education
Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University named after K.D.Ushinsky
TEST
by discipline:
Foreign literature
Analysis of the workWilliam Shakespeare"Romeo and Juliet"
Performed:
Correspondence student
FRFIK YAGPU
Specialty "Philological
education"
Bestaeva Marina Sergeevna
Yaroslavl, 2009
INTRODUCTION
The theme of love in Shakespeare's works
Tragedy of love The death of enmityProblems of "Romeo and Juliet" ConclusionList of references INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in the small town of Stretford-upon-Avon. The writer's mother belonged to an impoverished noble family, and his father came from peasants. In addition to the eldest son William, the family had three more sons and four daughters. Shakespeare studied at the Stretford Grammar School, where education was emphatically humanitarian in nature. It is believed that due to financial difficulties in the family, William, as the eldest son, was the first to leave school and help his father. William Shakespeare had the opportunity to hometown to attend touring performances of London theaters. In the troupe of James Burbage, where Shakespeare later worked for more than twenty years, there were very talented actors. First of all, here it is necessary to note the outstanding tragedian Richard Burbage, who played the roles of Burbage, who played the roles of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and the wonderful comedian William Kemp, the best performer of the role of Falstaff. They had a significant impact on the fate of Shakespeare, to some extent predetermined him. great role- the role of the playwright "of the people". William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52. Several periods are traditionally distinguished in the work of the great playwright: early tragedies, in which faith in justice and hope for happiness are still heard, the transitional period and the gloomy period of the later tragedies. Shakespeare's tragic worldview was formed gradually. The turning point in his mentality, which was marked with all distinctness in "Julius Caesar" and "Hamlet", was brewing in the 90s. We are convinced of this by the tragic motifs that sometimes sound in merry comedies. The new moods were even more clearly marked in Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice. Life abounds, kind people the forces of evil win, but in both plays inhumanity is not at all as unarmed as in the comedies Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night, or Whatever. She threatens, takes revenge, she is rooted in life. "Romeo and Juliet" marks the beginning of a new, Shakespearean stage in the development of English and world literature. Historical meaning The play about Romeo and Juliet consists primarily in the fact that social problems have henceforth become the basis of tragedy. Even before Shakespeare, elements of the social characteristics of the characters were characteristic the best works English dramaturgy; One cannot but agree, for example, with A. Parfenov, who asserts that "the realism of Marlowe's later plays... is distinguished by the individual and social concretization of images." At the same time, only in Romeo and Juliet did social problems become a factor determining the pathos of the tragedy. The theme of love in Shakespeare's works Having made man the hero of tragedy, Shakespeare first of all turned to the image of the greatest human feeling. If in “Titus Andronicus” the voice of love attraction, barely audible at the beginning of the play, was drowned out by cries of inhuman hatred, then in “Romeo and Juliet” the poetry of love, which pervades the entire work, acquires an increasingly powerful sound as the end of the tragedy approaches .; “The pathos of Shakespeare’s drama Romeo and Juliet,” wrote V. G. Belinsky in 1844, “constitutes the idea of love, and therefore enthusiastic pathetic speeches pour from the lips of lovers in fiery waves, sparkling with the bright light of stars ... This the pathos of love, because in the lyrical monologues of Romeo and Juliet one can see not only admiring each other, but also a solemn, proud, ecstatic recognition of love as a divine feeling. The problem of love as the most important ethical problem was brought to the fore by the ideology and art of the Renaissance. The fact that this problem worried Shakespeare throughout his work is evidenced by the comedies of the first period, and the works created after 1599, and the plays of the last period. At the same time, Shakespeare's early works bear a special stamp that characterizes the means and methods of posing the problem of love in an artistic sense. It is in these works that Shakespeare tends, so to speak, to an aesthetic analysis of the problem of love in its purest form, without complicating it with such secondary ethical aspects as jealousy, social inequality, vanity, etc. Especially visual material in this sense, give Shakespearean poems written shortly before Romeo and Juliet. In them, Shakespeare creates four - however, unequal in terms of artistry - pictures that depict various options for the relationship between a man and a woman. Brief analysis these paintings can be carried out without taking into account the chronology of the publication of the poems, for it is quite obvious that during the creation of "Venus and Adonis" and "Dishonored Lucretia" the poet was guided by a single set of moral and ethical views. Tragedy of love The presentation of moral problems in the play is not limited to the depiction of love that inspires and unites Romeo and Juliet. This love develops and grows stronger against the background of other options for relationships between a man and a woman - options developed with varying degrees artistic expressiveness, but each time in a new way and always contrastingly shading the purity and grandeur of the feeling that gripped the main characters of the tragedy. The viewer encounters the most primitive of these options at the very beginning of the play, observing a very rude buffoonery of servants who believe that women exist only to be pinned against the wall: “That's right! That is why women, a meager vessel, are always pinned to the wall. (I, 1, 15 --17). In the future, the bearer of this moral concept - however, in a much milder form, is the nurse. And therefore it is quite natural that in one of the most tense moments of the play, when Juliet is looking for ways to remain faithful to Romeo, the morality of the heroine and the morality of the nurse, persuading her pupil to forget Romeo and marry Paris, enter into an open conflict. Another no less unacceptable for Shakespeare a variant of the relationship to a woman is Paris and the old Capulet. This is the usual, official for that time way of solving matrimonial problems. Paris begins marriage negotiations with Juliet's father, without even bothering to ask the bride herself about her feelings. This is clearly evidenced by the conversation between Paris and Capulet in the 2nd scene of Act I, where the old Capulet, having listened to Paris' proposal, advises the young man to first take care of his daughter (I, 2, 16--17). But then, at another meeting with Paris, Capulet himself guarantees him the love of his daughter, being sure that Juliet will obey his choice. “Signor, I can fully vouch for youFor my daughter's feelings: I'm sureWhat will be to me she is obey" (III, 4,12-14). Juliet's refusal to marry Paris (III, 5) evokes such a reaction of the Capulets, completely sustained in the house-building traditions, that she does not need any comments. The only time the audience is present during the conversation between Paris and Juliet in the cell of brother Lorenzo. Having secured by this time the final consent of Capulet to give his daughter to him and knowing about the day of the upcoming wedding, Paris acquires some eloquence. But again, in this conversation, Paris, in essence, does not say anything to Juliet about love, although, as is clear from his words at the beginning of the scene, he had not been able to tell the bride properly about his feelings before. True, Paris's behavior changes after an imaginary death Juliet. But even here, in his words and actions, one can feel the chill of courtly conventions. Only the last dying words of Paris with a request to put him next to Juliet bring a warm tone to the restrained palette that Shakespeare used when creating this image. It is much more difficult to establish the author's attitude to that ethical concept, the bearer of which is Mercutio in the play. The simplest explanation is offered by researchers who believe that the "foul language of Mercutio", as well as the "severity of the Capulet" and the "unprincipled opportunism of the nurse", aims to shade the purity of Romeo's attitude towards Juliet. At the same time, an analysis of the role assigned by the playwright to the image of Mercutio does not allow us to agree with such a statement. As is known, Shakespeare from the sources available to him could only find out the name of Mercutio and the characteristics of this young man as a model of courtesy and a successful hunter for ladies' hearts. The significance of Mercutio for the development of the plot both in the poem and in the short story is limited to the fact that at the ball Juliet preferred the cold hand of Mercutio to the warm hand of Romeo; after that, Mercutio no longer participates in the action. Such a fleeting episode was needed only to motivate the beginning of a conversation between Romeo and Juliet during the holiday; it is just omitted by Shakespeare. Therefore, researchers from with good reason believe that the image of Mercutio, which appears before the viewer of Shakespeare's tragedy - "the model of a young gentleman of that time, refined, affectionate, noble Mercutio" - completely belongs to the creative imagination of the playwright. Analyzing the composition of the tragedy, one can easily notice that in In Shakespeare's work, the development of the image of Mercutio is not caused by considerations of the plot order. Although Mercutio has been on the stage for quite a long time, he is active only once - at the moment of the collision with Tybalt. But even in this case, the duel introduced by Shakespeare between Tybalt and Mercutio is not necessary in order to provoke a duel between the protagonist of the tragedy and Juliet's cousin; the stupid hatred contained in Tybalt himself is in itself a sufficient prerequisite for a skirmish between him and Romeo at any moment. Therefore, it is quite natural to assume that Shakespeare assigned an important function not of a plot, but of an ideological plan, to the image of Mercutio. The most important means for fulfilling this function is the duel between Mercutio and Tybalt mentioned above. Although both actors exchange their first remarks only immediately before the fight, their clash is prepared in advance by the playwright as a fundamental conflict of ideological antagonists. By this time, the viewer already imagines the characters and views of the duel participants. Mercutio is the only one of the characters in the play who, before that, speaks sharply negatively about the frantic young Capulet. This pronounced antipathy serves at the same time as a characteristic of Mercutio himself as a man of the Renaissance, to whom the medieval morality of Tybalt is hostile. Therefore, the duel of Mercutio and Tybalt far outgrows the boundaries of a street fight started by young people from decent families - a phenomenon very common for those times. The duel between Mercutio and Tybalt is the broadest generalization, symbolizing the clash of the old beginning, embodied in Tybalt, and the free, life-loving spirit of the Renaissance, the brilliant bearer of which is Mercutio. The symbolic nature of this duel is emphasized last words dying Mercutio. Feeling the fatal blow, Mercutio realizes that he did not just die from the blow of a vile nonentity, capable of no less to kill a man. The death curse he sends to both houses: “A plague, a plague on both your houses!Because of them I will go to worms for food,Lost, died.A plague on both your houses!”(III, 1,103 - 105)- proves that Mercutio himself considers himself a victim of a senseless medieval enmity. The proximity of the ideological positions of Romeo and Mercutio suggests a significant similarity in the ethical platforms of these characters. How, then, to explain the rather obvious fact that the outwardly ethical attitudes of the two friends diverge very far - so far that some scientists come to the conclusion that the ethics of Mercutio and the ethics of Romeo are opposed? The answer to this question is provided by the death of Mercutio. The playwright eliminates him from the play at the very beginning of the development of the main conflict. Mercutio dies, never knowing about Romeo's love for Juliet. In Shakespeare's comedies, the inspiration of love, its romantic side is combined with oddities, quirks of passion, because it takes a person out of the usual rhythm of life, makes him “sick”, funny. In the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" love is also not without comedy, despite the fact that it is identified with the sublime, with the beautiful in life. Juliet is funny in some scenes. The passionate and impatient feeling of a girl who has known love for the first time, comically collides with the slyness of the nurse. Juliet demands from the experienced maid that she quickly tell about Romeo's actions, and the nurse refers to pain in the bones, then to fatigue, deliberately postponing the message. It turns out very funny. Ardent Romeo falls under the cold stream of prudence of his mentor Lorenzo. Thanks to humor, more cheerful than in any other tragedy, the growing tragedy is discharged, a love plot from the sphere of high romance descends on the soil of living human relationships, "lands" in a good sense of the word, is not belittled. The plot of Shakespeare's tragedy is opposed to the very stories of chivalrous love, which is depicted in the medieval novel as a feeling detached from social reality. Petrarch, on the one hand, Boccaccio, on the other, destroyed the feudal-knightly idea of unearthly, "ideal" love and the Church's view of love as a sinful feeling. The poet of the Italian Renaissance, in his sonnets dedicated to Laura, revived the image of a lady of the heart, dried up in a chivalric romance. The author of the Decameron contrasted the simple joys of love with the dishonest game of the clergy in piety. In Shakespeare, we observe a synthesis of both tendencies: in Romeo and Juliet, the lofty pathos of Petrarch is combined with the love of life of Boccaccio. What is new also lies in the fact that Shakespeare has an unprecedented breadth of vision. All or almost all characters express their attitude towards the love of Romeo and Juliet. And they are evaluated depending on their position. The artist proceeds from the fact that true love has an all-penetrating power, it is a universal feeling. At the same time, she is individual, unique, unique. At first, Romeo only imagines that he loves Rosaline. This girl does not even appear on the stage, so her absence emphasizes the illusory nature of Romeo's passion. He is sad, he is looking for solitude. He avoids friends and shows, in the words of the wise Lorenzo, "stupid ardor." Melancholic Romeo is not at all like a tragic hero, he is rather funny. This is well understood by his comrades Benvolio and Mercutio, who cheerfully tease him. The meeting with Juliet transforms the young man. Romeo, who invented love for Rosaline, disappears. A new Romeo is born, completely surrendering to a real feeling. Lethargy gives way to action. Views are changing: before he lived by himself, now he lives by Juliet: "My heaven is where Juliet is." For her he exists, for her sake - and thus for himself: after all, he is loved. Not languid sadness for the unrealizable Rosaline, but a living passion inspires Romeo: “All day long, some kind of spirit takes me up above the earth in joyful dreams.” Love transformed and cleansed the inner world of a person, it miraculously influenced his relationships with people. The hostile attitude towards the Capulet family, blind hatred, which could not be justified by any arguments of reason, was replaced by courageous restraint. One must put oneself in the position of the young Montague in order to understand what his peacefulness cost him when the pugnacious Tybalt insulted him. For nothing in his life, the former Romeo would not have forgiven the arrogant nobleman for his causticity and rudeness. A loving Romeo is patient. He will not rashly engage in a duel: it may end in the death of one or even both participants in the battle. Love makes Romeo reasonable, wise in his own way. Finding flexibility does not come at the cost of losing hardness and stamina. When it becomes clear that the vengeful Tybalt cannot be stopped by words, when the enraged Tybalt attacks the good-natured Mercutio like a beast and kills him, Romeo takes up arms. Not for revenge! He's not the same Montague anymore. Romeo punishes Tybalt for murder. What else could he do? Love is demanding: a person must be a fighter. In Shakespeare's tragedy, we do not find a cloudless idyll: the feelings of Romeo and Juliet are severely tested. Neither Romeo nor Juliet think for a moment what to give preference to: love or hate, which, according to tradition, determines the relationship between the Montagues and the Capulets. They merged into a single impulse. But individuality did not dissolve into the general feeling. Not inferior to her beloved in decisiveness, Juliet is more direct. She is still just a child. The mother and the nurse establish exactly: there are two weeks left of the day when Juliet will be fourteen years old. The play inimitably recreates this age of the girl: the world amazes her with its contrasts, she is full of vague expectations. Juliet has not learned to hide her feelings. These three feelings: she loves, she admires, she grieves. She doesn't know irony. She wonders why you can hate a Montague just because he is a Montague. She protests. When the nurse, who knows about Juliet's love, half-jokingly advises her to marry Paris, the girl is angry with the old woman. Juliet wants everyone to be as constant as she is. For everyone to appreciate the incomparable Romeo in a worthy way. The girl has heard or read about the inconstancy of men, and at first she dares to tell her beloved about it, but immediately rejects all suspicion: love makes you believe in a person. And this childishness of feelings and behavior is also transformed into maturity - not only Romeo grows up. Having fallen in love with Romeo, she begins to understand human relations better than her parents. According to the Capulet spouses, Count Paris is an excellent groom for their daughter: handsome, noble, courteous. They initially assume that Juliet will agree with them. After all, one thing is important for them: the groom must approach, he must comply with the unwritten code of decency. Capulet's daughter rises above class prejudices. She prefers to die, but not to marry the unloved. This is first. She will not hesitate to marry the one she loves. This is second. These are her intentions, these are her actions. Juliet's actions become more confident. The girl is the first to start talking about marriage and demands that Romeo, without delaying things, become her husband the very next day. Juliet's beauty, her strength of character, her proud awareness of being right - all these features are most fully expressed in relation to Romeo. To convey the tension of high feelings, high words were found: Yes, my Montecchi, yes, I'm recklessAnd you have the right to consider me windy.But trust me, friend, and I will be more faithful Anyone who knows how to behave cunningly. (II, 2, 45) Where, when did a girl declare her love with such dignity? To express the poetry of love, its intimacy, gentle colors are also found: It's getting light. I would like you to leaveNo further than a bird, which is sometimes a minxOn a thread descends to fly,Like a prisoner in chainsAnd again pulls the silk thread to itself,Jealous of her freedom from love. (II, 2, 48) Meanwhile, disturbing blows sound. Romeo and Juliet's love is surrounded by enmity. Juliet dies, barely experiencing the happiness of love, which she dreamed of and created. No one can replace a poisoned Romeo. Love does not repeat itself, and without it, life loses its meaning for Juliet. Such was the time, such was the position of Juliet. At the same time, in addition to this darkness, which replaced the bright season of love, there was another reason that forced Juliet to use Romeo's dagger. She knew that Romeo laid hands on himself, confident in her death. She had to share his fate. She saw it as her duty, and that was her wish. Having taken their own lives, the heroes of the tragedy passed a sentence of inhumanity much more severe than that passed by the Duke of Escalus of Verona. The light of love lit by Romeo and Juliet has not lost its warmth, its life-giving power in our time. There is something native to us in the energy and constancy of their characters, in the courage of their actions. In their rebelliousness and desire to assert their freedom, the properties of noble souls are also expressed, which will forever excite people. Against whom did they revolt? Others believe that in the play shows the clash of fathers and children, inert parents and progressive young people. This is not true. It is no coincidence that Shakespeare draws the image of the young Tybalt, blinded by malice and having no other goal than the extermination of the Montagues. On the other hand, the old Capulet, although unable to change anything, admits that it is high time to put an end to the hostility. In contrast to Tybalt, he wants peace with the Montagues, not a bloody war. Love is opposed to misanthropy. Romeo and Juliet not only rebelled against the old ways and their relationship. They gave an example of a new life. They are not separated by enmity, they are united by love. Love is opposed to philistine inertia, in the power of which are the Capulets. This is universal love, born from admiration for beauty, from faith in the greatness of man and the desire to share the joy of life with him. And this is a deeply intimate feeling that connects a girl and a boy. The first irresistible attraction, which should be the last, because the world surrounding Romeo and Juliet is not yet ripe for love. There is hope that it will change. In Shakespeare's tragedy there is still no feeling that freedom is trampled on and evil has penetrated into all pores of life. The heroes do not have a feeling of aching loneliness, which Othello, Lear, Coriolanus will later experience. They are surrounded by devoted friends: Benvolio and Mercutio, ready to give their lives for Romeo, the noble Lorenzo, the nurse, Balthazar. The duke, despite the fact that he expelled Romeo, pursued a policy that was directed against inciting civil strife. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy in which power does not oppose the hero, is not a force hostile to him. The death of enmity Escalus, Duke of Verona, sees a terrible scene. The dead bodies of Romeo, Juliet and Paris lie in the Capulet family vault. Yesterday, young people were still alive and full of life, but today they were carried away by death. The tragic death of children finally reconciled the families of the Montagues and the Capulets. But at what price has peace been achieved! The ruler of Verona makes a sad conclusion: “There is no sadder story in the world than the story of Romeo Juliet.” It seems that two days have not passed since the duke was indignant and threatened Romeo with “cruel retribution” when Tybalt and Mercutio were killed. The dead cannot be punished, it was necessary to punish at least one survivor. Now the duke, sincerely regretting what happened, still stands his ground: "Some - forgiveness, punishment awaits others." Whom is he going to pardon, whom to punish? Unknown. The monarch spoke out, expressed his will for the edification of the living. By government measures, he could not prevent tragedy, and now that it has happened, his severity will not change anything. The Duke hoped for strength. With the help of weapons, he wanted to stop lawlessness. He believed that the fear of imminent punishment would stop the Montagues, who had raised their hands against the Capulets, and the Capulets, who were ready to throw themselves at the Montagues. Was the law weak, or was the duke unable to use it? Shakespeare believed in the possibilities of the monarchy and did not expect to debunk it. The memory of the war of the Scarlet and White Roses, which brought so much devastation to the country, was still alive. Therefore, the playwright tried to show the keeper law by an authoritative person who does not throw words to the wind. If we keep in mind the author's intention, then our attention should be attracted by the correlation of the struggle of patrician families with the interests of the state. Unbridledness, self-will, vindictiveness, which became the principles of the life of Montagues and Capulets, are condemned by life and power. Actually, this is the political and philosophical meaning of those scenes in which the duke acts. The plot branch, at first glance, not so significant, allows you to comprehend more deeply the battle for a free life and human rights that Romeo and Juliet are waging. The tragedy acquires scale, depth. The play opposes the popular belief that it is a tragedy of love. On the contrary, if we mean love, then it triumphs in Romeo and Juliet. “This is the pathos of love,” wrote V. G. Belinsky, “because in the lyrical monologues of Romeo and Juliet one can see not only admiring each other, but also a solemn, proud, ecstatic recognition of love, divine feeling.” Love is the main sphere of life of the heroes of the tragedy, it is the criterion of their beauty, humanity. It is a banner raised against the cruel inertia of the old world. Issues « Romeo and Juliet» The basis of the problems of Romeo and Juliet is the question of the fate of young people inspired by the establishment of new lofty revivalist ideals and boldly entering the struggle for the protection of free human feeling. At the same time, the solution of the conflict in the tragedy is determined by the clash of Romeo and Juliet with forces that are characterized quite clearly in social terms. These forces that hinder the happiness of young lovers are associated with old moral norms, which are embodied not only in the theme of tribal animosity, but also in the theme of violence against the human person, which ultimately leads the heroes to death. The fact that Shakespeare, like many humanists of the Renaissance, at a certain stage of their creative development I saw the main source of evil that prevents the victory of new relations between people, in the forces associated with the old norms, can not be called either delusion or a tribute to illusions. The new morality could make its way only in the struggle against the old way of life hostile to this morality. And this is precisely the source of Shakespearean realism in Romeo and Juliet. Belief in the invincibility of new norms and in the triumph of these norms, which must come or has come at the moment of the collapse of the old forces, entailed the need to include in the fabric of the work a moment, without which the tragedy could not have happened at all - the intervention of fate, whose outward expression was the role of an accident unfavorable to Juliet and her lover. The fatal confluence of circumstances in the early tragedy takes much greater place than in the mature Shakespearean works of the same genre. Some of the aspects of the mature Shakespearean concept of the tragic, first manifested in Julius Caesar, were later embodied in different ways in the works created in the first decade of the 17th century. During the second period of Shakespeare's work, his tragic conception underwent such significant changes that we have the right to consider each of the works of this period, in essence, a new step in the development of this concept. At the same time, with all the differences within the cycle of mature Shakespearean tragedies, these works, taken together, can be contrasted in a number of ways with Shakespeare's early tragedy. confirmed by the material of comedies and chronicles, caused a sharp shift in Shakespeare's dramaturgy, which is naturally seen as a transition to a tragic period of creativity. The essence of this transition becomes especially clear in the course of studying the qualitative changes that Shakespeare's concept of the tragic underwent from Romeo and Juliet to Julius Caesar. In Romeo and Juliet, as in most other Shakespearean works of the first period, the subject of artistic comprehension was the reality and tendencies of the past - albeit indefinite, albeit conditionally distant, but nevertheless the past in its major correlation with the present. In "Julius Caesar", although this tragedy is built on a historical plot, the author and his audience face the most complex problems of the present in their correlation with the future. In Romeo and Juliet, the sources of evil that the heroes of the tragedy face are forces that are organically connected with the past. In "Julius Caesar" the forces of evil, which predetermine the death of the positive hero of the tragedy, are inevitably associated with new tendencies emerging in society that are replacing the Renaissance. Conclusion Shakespeare bravely fought for human rights, believed in his dignity, gave all his strength to sing of his beauty. Thus, he became a contemporary of all generations fighting for the complete emancipation of mankind. He is our ally and collaborator. This explains its growing popularity among readers and viewers of all times and peoples. Among those who are inspired by Shakespeare are playwrights, poets, directors, actors, for whom the English artist is a demanding teacher. Shakespeare's mastery is the best of literary schools. Romeo and Juliet depicts the path from the past to the present, the path on which the norms of humanistic morality triumphed over the principles of the old society. Therefore, in the death of heroes, victorious in its very essence, chance and the intervention of fatal forces play such a large role. In Julius Caesar, the path from a difficult present to an unclear future that does not promise an early victory for good is the path on which the death of a hero fighting for humanistic ideals becomes inevitable, a regularity arising from the very essence of the tragedy. Illusions reflected in "Romeo and Juliet" and connected with the specifics of Shakespeare's work during the first period, consist in something else - in the playwright's faith indicative of this period that as soon as the old way of life is defeated, the time will come for the triumph of a new, humanistic morality that determines the relationship between free people. These illusions left a decisive imprint on some features of the poetics of Romeo and Juliet. The most important of these features is that the conflict and its resolution, ending in the moral victory of the new humanistic forces, as well as the conflicts of the comedies created in the first period, are depicted as a picture of events that took place in the past, and presented to an audience already living in conditions for the celebration of new relationships. This is precisely the source of that peculiar optimism that distinguishes Romeo and Juliet from all other Shakespearean tragedies, although many of them should also be recognized as optimistic works. When Shakespeare poses and solves the great problems of the era, when he reveals the patterns of history in actions and experiences his heroes, he thereby not only creates wonderful works of art, but also proclaims the principles of creativity that have been stable for centuries. These principles, along with the popular assessments given to characters and situations, form the basis of the modern aesthetics of realism. Shakespeare's humanistic ideas are alive, retaining their sharpness and his artistic vision of the world, of changing reality. It seems that Goethe was the first to predict Shakespeare's immortality: "There is no end to him." Humanity is developing, its views are becoming deeper, tastes are becoming more demanding. And Shakespeare remains the same inexhaustible, still the same generous. It brings joy, makes you think about time, become cleaner, fight, act. A person is 400 years old, but he lives. He doesn't age... List of used literature 1. Dubashinsky I. A. William Shakespeare: an essay on creativity. M., 19652. Mikhoels S. Modern stage disclosure of Shakespeare's tragic images. M., 19583. Morozov M. Shakespeare, ed.2. M., 19664. Nels S. Shakespeare on the Soviet stage. M., 19605. Samarin R. M. Realism of Shakespeare. M., 19646. W. Shakespeare: selected works. / Compilation, preface and comments by V. I. Korovin - M., 19967. Shvedov Yu. F. The evolution of Shakespeare's tragedy. M., 1975
