In an earlier post I generalized that Shakespeare typically shows his upper class characters adhering to much higher standards of sexual behavior than the “servant class” does. In Romeo and Juliet, this difference is not as much a social class distinction as it is a marker of sincere love contrasted with crude shallowness.
Romeo’s companions (with the possible exception of Benvolio) engage in the equivalent of boys’ locker room humor, as do the young men of the opposing house of Capulet. In the dramatic structure of the play this creates a shady, worldly backdrop that in turn makes the idealized love of Romeo and Juliet shine all the brighter.
The play can be directed in a style that moderates this contrast by deemphasizing the immature male joking (much of which can be lost in the “translation” to a modern audience anyway). The 2012 production on the Ashland stage, however, sometimes underlines the coarse humor through inflection and gesture. It will be helpful for viewers to understand Shakespeare’s purpose in these scenes in order to appreciate the innocence and comparative maturity of the famous young couple’s romance.
See Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s own description of the age-appropriateness of their 2012 Romeo & Juliet at www.osfashland.org/education/teachers/recommendations.aspx#Play1. On the same web page you will find descriptions of their other plays also, including As You Like It.)
An interactive blog designed to help classroom teachers and home school parent-teachers who are approaching the Shakespeare plays from a Christian worldview.
NOTE: All "Act-Scene-Line"
references are based on the New Folger Library editions published by Washington Square Press, which we
recommend for study by high school and middle school students.
The reference III.2.113-115 would mean Act III, Scene 2,
Lines 113-115.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
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Thanks for the heads-up on Ashland's R&J. I appreciate your explanation of how the casual jesting from some of the characters creates a contrast to the real lovers' sincerity. You wrote that Benvolio is a "possible exception" to the rule that Romeo's friends express themselves with crude sexual humor. He looks like an exception to me!
ReplyDeleteHi, Heather! Yes, Benvolio looks like an exception to me too, but some people see him as compromising values by seeming to condone Romeo's apparent intention to conquer Rosalind's chastity early in the play (end of Act I Sc. 1). But I think Romeo is just "talking big" and Benvolio is dealing with it by trying to get Romeo's mind off the inaccessible Rosalind. BTW, if Romeo is serious about trying to seduce Ros at this point (and I'm not even sure of that in view of lines 225-232 where Romeo alludes to Rosalind not planning to bear children, which sounds like an issue of marriage vs. celibacy) but even if he is, it only serves as an additional example of contrasting shallow attraction with the sincere love that Romeo is about to encounter within hours. I have another post coming soon that will focus partly on the high view of marriage in the play.
DeleteOK, good. So with Benvolio exonerated, is there really a naughty-mouth in the play han Mercutio?
DeleteAssuming you meant "other than Mercutio," I'd say no, not among major characters. You do have the banter between the servants Gregory and Sampson in the first scene of the play and maybe a hint or two later.
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