Romeo & Juliet: Context (AQA GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
Romeo and Juliet historical context
Shakespeare plays dating from before April 1603 are considered Elizabethan as they were written and performed at the time Elizabeth I was on the English throne. Romeo and Juliet was written around 1595 and is therefore an Elizabethan play.
Queen Elizabeth I was the monarch at the time Romeo and Juliet was written in 1597:
She reigned during a bloody religious war, which divided the country
The feud resulted in violent conflict between Catholics and Protestants for many years
Elizabeth I’s reign marked a period of relative stability and prosperity for England:
Despite relative stability, there were underlying religious tensions between Catholics and Protestants
Elizabeth’s establishment of the Church of England was not universally accepted and led to plots against her life:
It also led to a threat from Catholic Spain
The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 marked England’s rise as a naval power
The Renaissance, a cultural movement that began in Italy in the 14th century, had spread to England by the late 16th century:
This period gave a revival to classical learning and influenced art, science and literature
How this links to the play Romeo and Juliet | |
Religious conflict | The underlying tensions between Catholics and Protestants during Elizabeth’s reign reflect the deep-seated feud between the Montagues and Capulets. Just as the conflict in the play disrupts Verona, the religious strife threatened the stability of Elizabethan England. The play’s exploration of individualism and tragic love also reflects Renaissance ideals. |
Romeo and Juliet social context
Gender Roles
In the patriarchal system of Elizabethan England, women’s status and security depended on the status of their fathers or husbands:
Women had no right to own property or wealth, even in marriage
Single women and relationships outside of marriage were harshly judged
Within marriage, Elizabethan women were expected to obey their husband
Conventional Elizabethan men were expected to be strong, aggressive and loyal to their family
Elizabethan society expected women to be obedient and submissive:
Women were viewed as emotionally and mentally frail and their opinions were often seen as invalid
Wealthy Elizabethans often employed nurses who would raise the family’s children until the age of marriage:
A wet nurse would often be employed to breastfeed babies, forming close bonds between the nurse and child, sometimes closer even than the mother
How this links to the play Romeo and Juliet | |
Gender roles | Shakespeare presents Juliet’s decision to defy her father as fatal, showing Juliet’s limited autonomy, with death left as her only choice. Lady Capulet’s obedience to her husband negatively impacts Juliet. By depicting Juliet’s defiance and isolation, Shakespeare critiques traditional gender roles of his era. |
Expectations of male behaviour | Romeo defies male stereotypes and Mercutio criticises Romeo’s peaceful behaviour as dishonourable and submissive. Romeo sees his love for Juliet as making him “effeminate” and weak. His later reckless and vengeful violence leads to both his and Juliet’s deaths. |
Subverting gender roles | Juliet’s strength of will and autonomous actions subvert traditional gender norms. She is dominant, not submissive, as she proposes to Romeo, insisting he take the marriage seriously. Juliet is also rational and sensible and she questions the discrimination inherent in the feud. |
Class and maternal expectations | The nurse serves as comedic relief in the play as a bawdy and unsophisticated character, representing the class divisions of the time. Lady Capulet is shown as alienated from her daughter in her traditional role as mother. Juliet’s nurse represents this maternal figure as she, rather than her mother, is Juliet’s first source of advice and comfort. |
Love and marriage
Courtly love (romance occurring in the Elizabethan court) was intense, melodramatic and often fleeting:
Within the culture of courtly love and arranged marriages, unrequited love was common
Secret and forbidden affairs were common
It is said that Queen Elizabeth I had a secret affair with the Earl of Leicester
As the play was written for Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespeare could be mirroring her own challenges within forbidden relationships
Marriage occurred at a much younger age in the Elizabethan era:
The average age of death was 40 years old and marriage would occur around the age of 13
Wealthy fathers would arrange marriage once a daughter was able to bear children
Renaissance marriages were arranged by the father to improve the family’s social mobility:
For many daughters marriage would be a duty, a diplomatic exchange
Renaissance aristocrats believed it foolish to marry for love and Shakespeare’s work often advocates for pure and lasting love:
The play has been enduringly popular, since its production in the 16th century, for its focus on pure and infinite love
How this links to the play Romeo and Juliet | |
Romeo’s attitude to love | Romeo’s obsessive, impulsive attitude to love is presented as his fatal flaw. Shakespeare shows courtly love as superficial and fleeting when Romeo falls instantly in love with Juliet, the same day he displays melodramatic grief over his unrequited love for Rosaline. |
Conventions of marriage | Lord Capulet tells Paris to wait two more summers, until Juliet is “ripe to be a bride”, suggesting her duty to become a mother and bear fruit (have children). A daughter like Juliet would function to provide an heir for the family, a crucial part of progressing bloodlines. Shakespeare shows Lord Capulet referring to the importance of Juliet’s marriage when he calls her the “hopeful lady of my earth”. |
Subverting societal conventions | Romeo and Juliet defy their families and duties for love and the final scene instructs audiences to consider the role societal pressures played in the tragedy. Juliet tells the audience she would rather die than be forced to marry Paris, presenting the strength of her emotions to marry on her own terms. The use of religious imagery in the shared sonnet between Romeo and Juliet suggests a purity in their love which challenges societal norms. The play’s tragic ending — the pair choosing to die together — symbolises everlasting love. |
Religion and the Great Chain of Being
Religion was a dominant part of Elizabethan life:
The vast majority of Elizabethans would have been Christian, and the Church played a central role in a family’s life
In the absence of scientific knowledge, many Elizabethans believed in astrology and fate:
A predominant belief was that human lives were predetermined and affected by decisions made by the gods, stars and planets
Shakespeare’s plays often question audiences about attitudes to fate and whether people determine their own futures
Romeo and Juliet would have been performed for Queen Elizabeth I during the wars between the Catholic and Protestant religions
The Great Chain of Being was a hierarchical system in the 16th century which organised society into a fixed order of worth and power:
This system placed God at the top, followed by angels, noblemen, men, women and then animals and plants
The hierarchical system is challenged further as the children, Romeo and Juliet, defy their parents and authorities:
The play’s tragic ending could suggest the children are punished for disrupting the Great Chain of Being
How this links to the play Romeo and Juliet | |
Religious conflict | In the Prologue, the chorus describes a feud and suggests that this violence is impure (“unclean”). Shakespeare’s presentation of a petty feud could be controversial and dangerous. The controversial ideas are veiled carefully in a tragic tale of young love. Shakespeare sets his play in Verona, Italy, perhaps to create ambiguity and distance between the parallels of the Capulet and Montague feud and the one raging in England between Catholics and Protestants. |
Critique of religious conflict | For Shakespeare’s young protagonists, religion plays an important role. Friar Laurence is Romeo’s father figure and comfort, highlighting the dominance of religion in Elizabethan life. The friar sees the alliance as a way to end the feud, suggesting links between religion and peace. Shakespeare could be criticising conflict based on religious differences, and instead promoting peace. |
The Great Chain of Being | Shakespeare subverts the Great Chain of Being with his characterisation of Friar Laurence as his dialogue refers to nature as comprising opposing forces present in all things: good and evil, light and dark, love and hate, religion and magic. These paradoxes suggest that the hierarchical system is flawed. |
Romeo and Juliet literary context
Romeo and Juliet is known as a Shakespearean tragedy. Knowing this — and that an audience would also have certain expectations when watching a tragedy — can help to elevate your analysis of Shakespeare’s choices as a playwright.
The structure of a tragedy
Many of Shakespeare’s tragedies follow the same five-part structure:
Part | Definition | In Romeo and Juliet |
1: Exposition | The introduction to the play for the audience, and an introduction to the themes and atmosphere | In Romeo and Juliet, it is very significant that we are introduced to the tragic ending of the play in the Prologue. This creates dramatic irony and tension as audiences are instructed to watch events unfold and question the role of fate in the tragedy. Audiences are also shown a battle erupting between the servants of the two families, which foreshadows further conflict. Shakespeare emphasises this effect by having the Prince decree that further fighting will be punished with death. Foreshadowing often occurs in the exposition |
2: Rising action | The tragic hero’s tragic flaw is exposed and an inevitable chain of events starts | In the play, it could be said that Romeo’s premonition about his untimely death prior to his reckless decision to attend the Capulet Ball represents this stage |
3: Climax | The turning point in the play where the tragic hero has come too far to go back. In the language of tragedy, this is called peripeteia | In Romeo and Juliet, it is the moment a fight inevitably breaks out between Tybalt and Romeo. Mercutio is killed in error, which results in Romeo’s impulsive vengeful murder of Tybalt |
4. Falling action | The tragic hero and avenging hero clash. The tragic hero finally comes to the realisation that he is to be defeated. This moment of realisation is called the anagnorisis | Romeo realises he is “Fortune’s fool” and decides to act upon his own free will, impulsively heading to the tomb where Juliet lies |
5. Denouement | Normality and the natural order is restored | Romeo and Juliet take their own lives, fulfilling the Prologue’s fateful message. The feud between the families ends because of the sacrifices made |
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