"Romeo and Juliet" who wrote? Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet"

Probably, in all world literature there is no such famous and great work that does not lose its relevance for centuries, like the play "Romeo and Juliet". Who wrote this immortal creation, today is known to all educated people. One of the tragedies that made William Shakespeare famous is Romeo and Juliet. Its author - the most famous English poet and playwright - is recognized as the greatest of the genius figures of the Renaissance. His story about Romeo and Juliet is permeated with a bright feeling of love, which overcomes not only years of human enmity, but also death.

History of creation

"Romeo and Juliet" ... Who wrote a brilliant work? It is known that before the creation of this play there were already several legends and short stories by other authors about the love of two representatives of the warring clans. The basis of the tragedy of Shakespeare was three novels. The earliest was written in 1562 by Arthur Brook, a famous playwright. It was called The Tragic History of Romeus and Juliet. This poem is considered the immediate source of the plot on which the work "Romeo and Juliet" is based.

Who wrote another prototype of the play of Shakespeare, also known from the history of literature. They became the novel "Romeo and Juliet", created by one of the famous Italian writers of the XVI century, Matteo Bandello. Even later, the Italian writer and historian Luigi Da Porto wrote a novel "The Story of Two Noble Lovers", almost completely repeating the plot of the Shakespearean play.

As you know, William Shakespeare only slightly changed the previous works, for example, in the early plays, the action took place over a longer period of time - about nine months. In Shakespeare, on the basis of everything that happens, five days are allocated.

"Romeo and Juliet". Summary

In the play, the author describes the events that take place in the Italian city of Verona. Two warring clans, two families - the Montagues and the Capulets, for a long time vying with each other. Their enmity then subsides, then resumes. The last outburst starts with a squabble of servants, then goes into a real battle. Romeo Montague, heir to one of the families, does not participate in the bloodshed, he is busy reflecting on the conquest of the noble beauty Rosalina, whose heart he wanted to conquer. His friends - Mercutio and Benvolio - in every possible way try to distract him from heavy thoughts, but Romeo continues to mourn.

At this time, the Capulet family celebrates a merry holiday. These people do not have aristocratic roots, but they are very wealthy, and with the help of organized balls they are trying to show even more their wealth and luxury. On their holiday a relative of the Duke himself is invited - Count Paris, who falls under the spell of the beauty of Juliet and asks the head of the family for her hand. Juliet's father gives his consent, despite the young age of his daughter. Juliette is only 13 years old.

At this time, Romeo's friends suggested that he put on a mask and enter the Capuletti's house for a ball to have fun. Romeo agrees. One of the relatives of the Capuletti family - Tybalt - learns in Romeo the son of Montague, with whom there is a feud. But at this time Romeo sees Juliet, falls in love with her at first sight and forgets about her former lady of heart Rosaline. Juliet also falls in love with Romeo, they hide from everyone and give each other an oath of devotion.

Late in the evening after the ball, Juliet goes to the balcony and begins to talk aloud about her feelings for Romeo, he hears her words and admits to her in a reciprocal attraction. Lovers plan to marry. Early in the morning, Brother Lorenzo, a servant of the monastery of St. Francis, helps them.

At the same time, Mercutio and Tybalt accidentally meet. Between them flashes a quarrel, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. Romeo is forced to avenge the death of his friend, he kills Tybalt. After this, the young man disappears, so as not to incur the wrath of the Duke. He is forced to flee the city. Before this Romeo spends the night with Juliet, the approach of dawn signifies their separation. Listening to the morning chirping of the larks, they say goodbye.

The Capulets family is set to give Juliet for the Count of Paris, and the bride's parents begin preparing for the wedding. The girl in desperation is looking for solace from her brother Lorenzo, and he offers her a cunning plan - to drink a drink that will plunge her into a deep sleep, like death. Juliet will sleep, in the meantime, everyone will think that she is dead, and thus will avoid a fatal wedding. Romeo send a letter in which they warn about this plan. Unfortunately, the messenger does not have time to warn Romeo because of quarantine about the plague, and the news of Juliet's death comes earlier. Romeo returns to Verona to bid farewell to his beloved.

At the sight of Juliet's dead, not knowing that she is just asleep, Romeo drinks poison, unable to imagine life without her. Juliet wakes up when Romeo is already dead. She desperately considers herself guilty of the death of a loved one, snatching his dagger, striking herself in the heart. When the competing families of Montague and Capulets learn about the tragedy, they agree on peace - the death of their beloved children softens their hearts, enmity ceases. The love of Romeo and Juliet becomes an atonement for all the evil of the clans inflicted on each other.

William Shakespeare. "Romeo and Juliet". Who wrote the masterpiece

There is very little information about the life of the most talented English playwright W. Shakespeare. He did not keep a diary, did not write down his memoirs and practically did not correspond with anyone. All documents that have his signature or at least some record made by his hand have a huge historical value.

William Shakespeare was born in the small English town of Stratford, which is located on the banks of the River Avon, in 1564.

His father, a wealthy merchant, went bankrupt when William was fifteen years old. From that age he himself had to earn his living. In 1585 William Shakespeare went to London. There he changed several professions. For example, he guarded the horses, while the noblemen watched the performances. Then he entered the service in the theater, where he sometimes replaced the prompter, rewrote some of the roles and made sure that the actors entered the stage on time. Such work in the future helped him to put on stunning plays, since he knew the backstage very well.

Gradually, after serving several years, he achieved that he was given small roles on the stage. Then he himself began to write and stage plays. Shakespeare is known for his poems and sonnets. In addition to "Romeo and Juliet" he has some more immortal creations - "Midsummer Night's Dream", "Macbeth", "Taming of the Shrew", "Hamlet", "King Lear", "Twelfth Night", "Much Ado About Nothing" and others. In total 37 plays of Shakespeare, 154 sonnets and 4 poems are known.

Many of his texts, William did not invent, but simply processed real events - it is thanks to this talent that his works are known for their truthfulness and vitality. Shakespeare's works convey the breath of that time - the humanistic ideas of the Renaissance. His works are profound, his characters are spiritual and strong, they struggle with human passions and vices.

One of the basic ideas of the genius Shakespeare: people need to be evaluated not by status and title, not by level of wealth or position, but by thoughts, actions and human qualities. Shakespeare's contribution to world culture can not be overemphasized, his works are still relevant, they win the hearts of millions of fans around the world.

William Shakespeare died at the age of 52 in 1616. He is buried in his hometown, Stratford. On his grave still come numerous fans and tourists. Perhaps life in the town would have completely died out if it had not been organized "Shakespearean" industry - every sign of the city certainly indicates the genius of William Shakespeare. Crowds of tourists come to Stratford every year to bow to the grave of a great writer and playwright.

Theatrical productions

The play "Romeo and Juliet" was staged thousands of times on many stages of the world. Perhaps, this play can be called one of the most popular in the repertoire of many world theaters. In Russia, the play "Romeo and Juliet" was staged in the theater "Satyricon" by him. A. Raikin, in the theater. Pushkin and many others. The main characters are the most talented actors, great directors are going to put this play.

Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet" - this is the eternally actual ageless classics, the production of which can be considered an honor for any theater. Musicals on the theme of unhappy lovers are constantly updated, sometimes the most unexpected details are introduced into the tragedy, the production is interpreted by the most talented people in the most unexpected way. "West Side Story" - this is one of the adaptations of the classical play of Shakespeare, the world premiere of which was held for the first time in 1957. The play "Romeo and Juliet" (author - Shakespeare) - the heritage of world culture, it constantly attracts many admirers of the talent of the great master.

Romeo and Juliet at the cinema

Since 1900, almost from the moment of the appearance of cinema, Shakespeare ("Romeo and Juliet" in particular) has been screened a huge number of times. Almost every year in different countries films are being made about the tragedy of lovers. In France and in the United States, in the UK and Spain, in Mexico, Belgium, Italy, Argentina, Brazil and Portugal, Romeo and Juliet are played by the best actors in the world of cinematography. In the USSR, the film-ballet Romeo and Juliet was filmed in 1983, the main roles were played by Alexander Mikhailov and Olga Sirina. The last film co-produced by the United States and Italy was released in 2013. He was successful in many countries of the world and was recognized as one of the best by the end of the year.

Music

Based on the immortal play of Shakespeare, many academic works were written. In 1830 appeared the opera Romeo and Juliet by V. Bellini, in 1839 - the symphonic poem by G. Berlioz, in 1938 a ballet was published for the music of Prokofiev.

In addition to opera and classical versions, there are many compositions of rock bands and pop artists. Songs about Romeo and Juliet were performed by V. Kuzmin, A. Malinin, S. Penkin, D. Gurtskaya. The name of the play is used in the names of albums of different groups.

Translation in the literature

The work "Romeo and Juliet" (translated in Russian and not only) was reprinted many hundreds of times. Based on the immortal play, H. Keller's novels and Anne Fortier's novel were published. The creation of "Romeo and Juliet" in Russian first appeared in the second half of the XIX century. One of the best is the translation of I. Raskovshenko. The translations of Grekov, Grigoriev, Mikhalovsky, Sokolovsky, Shchepkina-Kupernik, Radlova were popular with readers. The work "Romeo and Juliet" (in English was the original) in the translation of B. Pasternak was greeted especially warmly. This option is far from the most accurate, but the most beautiful and poetic. It is Pasternak who owns the lines "But the tale of Romeo and Juliet remains sadest in the world ...".

Curious facts

Until now, tourists in Verona are invited to visit the houses of Romeo and Juliet, and even their graves. In fact, we know that these attractions have nothing to do with the literary characters of Shakespeare. Nevertheless, in the courtyard of the house where Juliet allegedly lived, her statue, cast in bronze, stands. A local legend says that anyone who touches her breast will find happiness and love.

Another interesting fact is that in Italy, when they talk about the play of Shakespeare and his heroes, it is customary to mention first the name of the girl, and then the guy - Juliet and Romeo. For the Russian language it is more habitual to use names in the title on the contrary.

Balcony Juliet - an important detail of any production or film about the legendary lovers. However, it is known that in the original version in Shakespeare it is not a balcony - Romeo listened to her speech simply from the window. Nevertheless, Juliet's balcony eventually became one of the significant details of all the performances about lovers. Tour guides Verona and now show numerous tourists exactly the balcony on which stood Juliet.

Historical personalities or literary characters?

The history of Romeo and Juliet is beautiful and very tragic. Many researchers, historians and literary critics are concerned with the question of whether the heroes of Shakespeare's play actually lived. It is known that some individuals really existed - for example, Escala, mentioned by Shakespeare, in reality was the Duke of Bartolomeo I della Scala. It is roughly established which year is described in the play - 1302nd.

For Italy at that time there were really different conflicts, when different clans competed for titles and nobility of the clan. American historian Olin Moore devoted to studying the legend of lovers for several years, and thanks to his research it was possible to find out that exactly in those years in question, in Verona, there really were two clans with very similar names - Dal Capello and Monticoli. Between them, in fact, was a confrontation, which was explained by different parties, whose adherents were these families. The history of the city indicates that in fact there lived a girl who did not reciprocate a high-ranking person and married to a poor young man, despite the pressure from relatives. The offended man avenged them, and the lovers died during the torture, and without acknowledging any guilt and not parting even after death.

It is possible that the story of the unfortunate lovers, described by Shakespeare in his tragedy, was based on real events, but slightly modified by the author and decorated with artistic details for greater expressiveness.

A symbol of eternal love

The tragedy of two unfortunate lovers, belonging to the pen of the great W. Shakespeare, has not lost its relevance for several centuries. The story took place more than four hundred years ago, but the theme still lives in numerous theatrical productions, in sculpture and painting, in music and cinema. Perhaps the whole of humanity, with its diverse culture, would have been considerably impoverished if Shakespeare had not written his brilliant work.

The history of Romeo and Juliet is the most touching and beautiful story known to the world. Young people are recognized as a symbol of high feelings, loyalty and loyalty, eternal love and its power over death and time. This play has a lot of admirers - there is a Museum of Love, in which all the exhibits are presented, evidencing the truthfulness of the history of Romeo and Juliet. There are clubs of fans of the legendary lovers. Juliette even can write a letter - in one of her clubs there are special secretaries who receive messages in different languages, read them and answer on behalf of Juliet.

On Valentine's Day, February 14, this club chooses the most touching and romantic story, and the author of the letter receives a gift from Juliet. A thirteen-year-old girl, affected by deep feelings, is worshiped by fans as one that can bless lovers, give them confidence and bring real happiness.

In Verona, the legend of lovers is very popular and to this day - there is a travel agency and a hotel named after Juliet, in the confectionery they sell the same cakes, guides conduct excursions to the mansions supposedly owned by the families of Montague and Capulets. The name "Romeo and Juliet" gives champagne, confectionery, furniture, flowers and fragrances - everything that you want to consider romantic and beautiful. In general, you can see that the industry also with pleasure and benefit supports the brand of Romeo and Juliet - their history is perfectly sold, and manufacturers can not not use it.

It does not really matter if Shakespeare's characters really existed, but still people want to believe in a fairy tale, do not lose hope and dream about the same strong and pure feeling as Romeo and Juliet. While we are able to love, the history of Romeo and Juliet will remain one of the most popular and the most romantic in the world culture.