Romeo and Juliet

Professor Evans helps the reader to visualise the stage action of Romeo and Juliet, a vital element in the play's significance and useful to students approaching it for the first time. The history of the play in the theatre is accompanied by illustrations of notable productions from the eighteenth century onwards. A lucid commentary alerts the reader to the difficulties of language, thought and staging.

For this updated edition Thomas Moisan has added a new section to the Introduction which takes account of the number of important professional theatre productions and the large output of scholarly criticism on the play which have appeared in recent years. The Reading List has also been revised and augmented.

An international team of scholars offers:

• modernized, easily accessible texts
• ample commentary and introductions
• attention to the theatrical qualities of each play and its stage history
• informative illustrations

Contents

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List of Illustrations Preface Abbreviations and Conventions Introduction  The date  Sources and structure  The tragic pattern  Language, style and imagery  The characters  Romeo and Juliet in the theatre  Recent Developments in Criticism and Production, by Thomas Moisan   Romeo and Juliet and Recent Criticism   Gender and Romeo and Juliet   '... wherefore art thou Romeo?'   Death   Festival and Black Funeral   'In fair Verona where we set our scene': the Text In its Time   The Text in Our Times   Romeo and Juliet in Recent Stage and Film Productions Note on the Text List of Characters The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Supplementary Notes Textual Analysis Appendix: Brooke's Romeus  The Argument  The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet   The lovers exchange vows of mutual love   Juliet debates at length Romeus's intentions   Juliet receives permission to go to shrift, where she meets with Romeus   The lovers discuss their perilous situation   The open quarrel between the Capilets and Montagewes begins   Juliet laments Romeus's banishment and Tybalt's death   The Nurse finds Juliet in a faint and revives her   The Nurse goes to find Romeus at the Friar's cell   Romeus and Juliet spend a last night together, lamenting his exile   Romeus refuses to allow Juliet to accompany him   Romeus suffers in exile in Mantua   In Verona, Juliet is counselled to forget the death of Tybalt   Juliet's mother reports Juliet's sad state to Capilet and urges marriage as a remedy. Capilet approaches Paris   Juliet visits the Friar for comfort and aid   All lament the supposed death of Juliet   Romeus receives the fatal news and seeks out an Apothecary   The Friar goes to the tomb at the appointed time   Juliet laments Romeus's death   The Friar, with philosophical embellishments and at great length, recounts the whole course of events Reading List