Romeo & Juliet Oral Presentation

1. William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. His work consisted of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and several more. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of other playwrights. One of his many well-known successful plays was ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young “star crossed loves” whose death ultimately unite their feuding families.

2. Good Afternoon, my name is Yasmine, and in my oral today, I will be taking the role of William Shakespeare and presenting my favourite passage as well as discussing what my intentions were for writing this play. Throughout my play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ my favourite scene of all time is when Juliet asks Romeo to deny his family for her love.

3. ‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny the father and refuse thy name
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be Capulet.

4. Juliet speaks these lines, perhaps the most famous in the play, in the balcony scene. Leaning out of her upstairs window, unaware the Romeo is below in the orchard, she asks why Romeo must be Romeo- why he must be a Montague, the son of her family’s greatest enemy. Still unaware of Romeo’s presence, she asks him to deny family for her love.

8. Additionally, some of my intention with this play was to show that labelling people is wrong. Their last names of Capulet and Montague were mere labels, yet these names were what almost kept the two apart.

many

5. During my play, I did not intentionally intend for it to have a "moral", but only to entertain. People who watch plays tend to find their own ideas reflected in the play, and so take away their own preconceived notions. However, during the balcony scene, I show that one’s best intentions can turn out harmful. Romeo puts himself in a situation where he goes out of his way during the night, to see Juliet. In this scene, I prove that although Romeo knows it is forbidden to talk- yet fall in love with enemy; he still does the wrong thing. It shows how stubborn and unwise one can get at times, to get exactly what they and need, even though there’s a lot at stake.

6. Furthermore, during this scene, I intentionally make Juliet lean out of her upstairs window, 20 feet above Romeo, in order to show the audience, how high Juliet’s royal status is compared to young Romeos. In addition, this particular scene reinforces the significance of how dangerous Romeo going to Juliet’s bedroom is. Just think for a moment, what could’ve happened if Romeo was to get caught by Juliet’s family?

7. During my play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ my intention was to write a classic, tragic love story. Its purpose was to warn readers of lust, hatred, prejudice and blind passion show in the Elizabethan Era. If you remember, Romeo and Juliet met and fell “in love” very quickly, in fact, all in a matter of days! I wanted to teach about the effects of lack of communication. Had Juliet and Romeo shared their individual plans with one another they might have not committed suicide.

9. For all the young playwrights out there, my advice for you is to not believe in talent. Believe that everything about playwright ting can be learned through devotion, time and effort. Learn to take criticism, in order to learn from your mistakes. And my last advice is to you all is to write from your heart. Thank you for listening to my oral presentation.