meaning "passionate desire") is the 
god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is
also known in Latin as Amor ("Love"). His Greek counterpart is Eros.
ROMAN: AURORA
GREEK: EOS
Roman goddess of dawn. She draws the
light into daylight using her chariot. By
mentioning Aurora, we know that Romeo
has been awake all nights while
meandering through the Sycamore trees.
At the beginning of the play we know that
Romeo is depressed, but his parents do
not know the reason. Later, Romeo
reveals to Benvolio that he is in love with
Rosaline ( Juliet’s cousin), but she will
never fall in love with him because she
vows to remain chaste forever.
Although Rosaline does not have a
physical role in the performance of the
play, had Romeo not fallen for Rosaline,
he would have never attended the Capulet
Ball and meet Juliet.
ROMAN: DIANA
GREEK: ARTEMIS
Roman goddess of chastity, wild animals,
and hunting. She is represented with a
moon on her head symbolizing the 28 days
of a lunar cycle.
We learn that Rosaline cannot be in a
relationship with Romeo, nor marry him,
because she wants to remain chaste—a
virgin. If we contextualize the play, we
could argue that Rosaline might have
vowed to become a nun, so she could
actually have an education. Nuns and
monks—like friars and priests—have to
remain chaste and celibate in order to
remain in an spiritual connection with God.
Notice that the Friar is able to make the
potion for Juliet because he is a botanist—
revealed in his first monologue. Baz
Luhrmann introduces the Friar in the film
in a horticulture lab as he is teaching two
young boys about the power of nature and
humans—to turn vice into virtue and vice
versa.
ROMAN: VENUS
GREEK: APHRODITE
Like her Greek counterpart, Aphrodite,
Venus was intimately associated with love
and beauty, yet other elements were
distinctive to the Roman goddess. Venus's
first temples were erected in Rome during
the 200s B.C. to solicit her assistance in
battles, and individual leaders later allied
themselves with the deity.
Representations of Venus in Art..
 Boticelli’s The Birth of Venus
 Venus de Milo
ROMAN: CUPID
GREEK: EROS
Although we associate Cupid with St.
Valentines, the god is not portrayed as a
cherubic child in its origin. In fact, Cupid
or Eros does more than shoot people with
an arrow and thus fall in love. Cupid
comes from the Latin “Cupido” meaning
desire (derivative of Eros)
Romeo reveals his situation with Rosaline
by stating that she will never be shot with
Cupid’s arrow.
In Classical mythology, he is the god of
desire, erotic love, attraction and
affection. He is the son of Venus
(goddess of love) and Mars (god of war);
therefore, he is literally the combination
of love and war—revealing that the same
passion can turn from vice to virtue and
vice versa.
Etymology: all words that have “eros” as
a root is related to desirous or carnal love.
FORESHADOWING
Narrative device
While the Elizabethans believed that
dreams could unveil future events, they
also consulted astrology to decipher a
“I fear too early, for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the
stars” (A1,S4)
“I’ll look to like if looking liking move
But no more deep will I endart mine eye.
Than your consent gives strength to make
it fly.” (A1, S3)
“I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall
Now seeming sweet, covert to bitterest
gall.”
(A1 S5)
LITERARY
ALLUSIONS : FATED COUPLES
* used to create metanarratives and
characterization
Shakespeare uses literary allusions to add
to characterization and the understanding of
the play via parallels with other stories
Paris and Helena
Paris (Ancient Greek: Πάρις), also known
as Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος, Aléxandros),[1] t
he son of King Priam and
Queen Hecuba of Troy, is a mythological
nobleman that appears in a number
of Greek legends. 
Of these appearances, probably the best
known was the elopement with Helen,
queen of Sparta, this being one of the
immediate causes of the Trojan War. Later
in the war, he fatally wounds Achilles in
the heel with an arrow as foretold by
Achilles's mother, Thetis.
Cleopatra and Mark Anthony:
As Octavian entered Alexandria, both
Antony and Cleopatra resolved to commit
suicide. Antony, thinking his lover already
dead, stabbed himself with a sword but was
then brought to die in Cleopatra's arms.
Mark Antony died on August 1, 30 BC.
Cleopatra was captured but managed to kill
IRONY: Literary technique, originally THEME: Perception
used in Greek tragedy, by which the full
significance of a character's words or On the Ambiguity of Reality
actions are clear to the audience or reader
although unknown to the character.
Reality vs Dreams
noun: dramatic irony; plural
The world is not what it seems…
noun: tragic irony “Our senses deceive us”
There are three types of irony: We cannot rely solely in our senses and
 Verbal: literally saying the perception of reality because our senses
opposite of what’s intended are also subjective to our desires and will.
 Situational: when something
happens in a particular situation
“O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard,
opposite of what you expect
Bright in night, all this is but a dream,
 Dramatic: Dramatic irony is a Too flattering sweet to be substantial.”
situation in which the audience (A2,S2)
or reader has a better
understanding of events than the
characters in a story do.
Dramatic irony is often the result .
of a story having shifting
perspectives or a character being
absent from a scene or chapter
that reveals important
information to the audience.
“Go ask his name. –If he be married,
My grace is like to be my wedding bed.”
“My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too
late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me
That I must love a loathed enemy”
(A1,S5)
herself via a poisonous snakebite

Thisbe and Pyramus

Romeo and Juliet’s story is known across
the world, but what about the tale that
serves as the foundation for Shakespeare’s
work? Greek poet Ovid in Metamorphoses
tells the story of the couple; just like
Romeo and Juliet, the lovers are forbidden
to wed because of a long-standing rivalry
between the families.
“Is there no pity sitting in the clouds
That sees into the bottom of my grief?
O sweet my mother, cast me not away!
Delay this marriage for a month, a week,
Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed
In that dim monument where Tybalt lies.”
(A3,S5)

Pyramus, believing that Thisbe had been

devoured b y a lioness, stabbed himself.
When Thisbe returns and finds Pyramus
dead under a mulberry tree, she ends her “Farewell!—God knows when we shall
life. From that time forward, legend meet again.
relates, the fruit of the mulberry tree, I have a faint cold fear thrills through my
previously white, is black. veins
That almost freezes up the heat of life.”
(A4,S3)

ROMAN: MERCURY (Mercutio)

GREEK : HERMES

The Roman god is the deity of translators

and interpreters. He is the most clever of
the Olympian gods, and served as
messengers for all the other gods. Mercury,
or Hermes in Greek culture, rules over
wealth, good fortune, commerce, fertility,
and thievery.

It is clear that Mercutio is named after the

deity based on his role in the play. It is
Mercutio who tries to explain to Romeo
that Love deceives us into believing that all
will be happiness and pleasure, when in
fact, according to Mercutio, love is a

MERCUTIO
Like Tiresias, he is the prophetic soul
along with Romeo’s dreams. It is
Mercutio who warns Romeo about the
dangers of unbridled passions—especially
love! Mercutio intervenes in Tybalt’s
fight with Romeo and pays with his life
for it—yet, before he dies, he curses the
families.
Mercutio is introduced in the film for the
first time as the Montagues head for the
Capulet’s Ball. When Mercutio comes
into scene, he is dressed in drag to
emphasize his trickster nature.
trickster—like Queen Mab—and offers
more suffering and hatred than blissful
ecstasy.
OXYMORONS
Literary device
An oxymoron is when words are paired in
juxtaposition to create a dichotomous
relationship.
Oxymorons are different from a paradox; a
paradox is a contradiction in ideas!
Shakespeare uses oxymorons to emphasize
on the ambiguity of love—and all passions
for that matter.
“Yet tell me not, for I have heard it al.
Here’s much to do with hate but more with
love.
Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,
O anything of nothing first created!
O heavy lightness, serious vanity,
Misshappen chaos of well-seeming forms!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire,
sick health,
Still waking sleep, that is not what it is!
This love feel I, that feel no love in this”
“Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical!
Dove-feathered raven, wolfish -ravening
lamb!
Despised substance of divinest show,
Just opposite to what thou justly seem’st”
SYMBOLS
(Wardrove, Stars, Dreams)
Shakespeare is known for his
development of characters in different
dimensions. In order to translate
Shakespeare into contemporary cinema,
Baz Luhrmann uses fashion to allude to
social standing or to emphasize behavior.
For example, Paris is dressed as an
astronaut because he is trying to reach a
destiny or fate (reaching the star as a
spaceman) that is not meant for him.
Juliet is dressed as an angel to fit the lines
that Romeo expresses when he sees her
for the first time. Tybalt is dressed as a
devil to emphasize his humor as a choleric
person. The Friar has a tattoo on his back
to direct the audience’s attention to the
fact that he is a holy man. Romeo is the
idyllic man and romantic, thus he is
dressed as a knight.
In addition, we never know what the real
cause for the grudge between the families
is, but if we contextualize the play, we can
infer that the feud between the two
families was Protestants against Catholics
—a contention that created chaos and
death in the Tudor family.
Moon: The moon is associated with
women because it compares to a female’s
menstrual cycle—thus like the moon,
women are believed to change in moon
according to their cycle. Juliet tells
 Romeo not to swear by the moon because
the moon is ever-changing.

Dreams and Stars in Luhrmann:

Every time that dreams are portrayed in
the film, you will see a scene that is
intended to be shown at the end of the
film. Therefore, dreams foreshadow the
future to come and serve as a form of
oracle. According to Astrology, our
behavior and fate is decided by the
position of the stars and planets at the
exact time of our birth.
In other words, if our fate is decided, what
is the role of free will in our lives?

In the film, every scene that incorporates

either stars, fireworks, or candles implies
that the scene in performance is a “fated”
moment.

PROPHECY ROMEO MONTAGUE JULIET CAPULET THE TRAGEDY OF ROMEO AND

“ A plague on both your houses” (age: unknown) (age: 13) JULIET
For a play to be considered a tragedy by
Aristotelian and Shakespearean standards, Tragic hero whose flaw is : intemperance Birthday: Lamma’s Eve on July 31st—Leo Written by William Shakespeare during
it has to have a prophecy—an event that Arranged marriage: Paris the English Renaissance when Queen
seals the tragic and catastrophic death of Only child and heir to his father’s fortune (once she turns 14) Elizabeth reigned.
the tragic hero. Performed in 1597
Genre: Tragedy

THE MONTAGUES THE CAPULETS QUEEN MAB

Lady Montague and Lord Montague
Romeo’s parents are concerned that Lady Capulet and Lord Capulet have the Queen Mab is the queen of fairies who
parental duty to pick the right suitor for makes you dream of your desires and
“He bears him like a portly gentleman,
And, to say truth, Verona brags of him
To be virtuous and well-governed youth.”
Juliet. Marriage is a contract; it is
important that the most prominent bachelor
chooses Juliet to be his wife.
*NOTE: Paris is related to the Prince;
therefore he has a higher social standing.
nightmares—all unconsciously driven.
Queen Mab and her carriage also
symbolize the power of waking fantasies,
daydreams, and unbridled desires.
Mercutio suggests that all desires and
fantasies are nonsensical and fragile as
Mab and are basically corrupting.
(Act 1, Scene 4)

THEME: PASSIONS
“Pathos” entered English in the 1500s.
The Greek word means experience,
misfortunes, emotion, or condition. The
word comes “path”, meaning “experience,
undergo, suffer.” In English, pathos
usually refers to the element in an
experience or in an artistic work that
makes us feel compassion, pity, or
sympathy.

Then, the play is not about love but the

passion that is derived from it.

“Black and portentous must this humor

prove
Unless good counsel may the cause
remove.” (A1,S1)

“Alas, that love, so gentle in his view,

Should be so tyrannous and rough in
proof.” (A1,S1)

“O heavy lightness, serious vanity,

Misshappen chaos of well-seeming
forms.” (A1,S1)

“Be ruled by me! / By giving liberty unto

thine eyes.
Examine other beauties.” (A1,S1)

“Is love a tender thing? It is too rough,

Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like
a thorn.”
“If love be rough with you, be rough with
love.”

“If love be blind, love cannot hit the

mark.”
(A2,S1)

“Holy Sanit Francis, what change is here!

Is Rosaline, whom thou didst love so dear,
So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then
lies
Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.”
(A2, S3)

“Alas, poor Romeo! He is already dead,

stabbed with a white
Wench’s black eye, shot through the ear
with a love song, the very pin of his heart
cleft with the blind blow-boy’s butt shaft.
And is he a man to encounter Tybalt?”

TYBALT ROMAN: BACCHUS

“The fiery Tybalt”
“ What, dares the slave
Come hither, covered with an antic face,
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?
Now, by the stock and honor of my kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.”
(A1, S5)
GREEK: DIONYSUS
Originally Dionysus was the Greek god of
fertility. Later, he came to be known
chiefly as the god of wine and pleasure.
The Romans called him Bacchus.

ROMAN: FORTUNA
GREEK: TYCHE

Roman goddess of change or lot. The original Italian

deity was probably regarded as the bearer of
prosperity and increase. As such she resembles a
fertility deity, hence her association with the bounty of
the soil and the fruitfulness of women.

She is often characterized as blindfolded to show her

impartiality.
She is also known as Lady Fortune and is still referred
to as Lady Luck, especially gamblers. Fortune was
often, but not always, represented with a blindfold
over her eyes, to suggest that she does not
discriminate and that she distributes both good and
bad luck equally.”

“I am Fortune’s fool!”

THEME: FATE

Fate in tragedies can be interpreted in

different contexts. For the Greeks, the
oracle or a seer could reveal a fate that is
already chosen for humans without being
able to bend or break. Because the
Elizabethans were Christians, they believe
that humans have the capacity to choose a
destiny or fate—having free will.
Nevertheless, if God created us, then our
lives are still predestined by a supernatural
force or being; therefore, are we really in
charge of our destiny, or is it merely an
illusion of control?

According to the beliefs of the times,

whether you believed in Fate, Destiny,
Fortune, or God, there was always the
illusion that you could have some control
over your life based on the choices that you
make.
SAINT FRANCIS

Throughout the play, Friar Laurence refers to St.

Francis in times of awe or distress, which makes
him fitting for a tragedy.

Known for his love of all creation—nature and

animals—and for dedication to the poor, peace,
and interreligious dialogue (remember the feud
could have been religiously motivated). The
prayer for St. Francis is a prayer for peace,
which would make sense to pray to in a world
full of violence.
“Saint Francis be my speed! How oft tonight
Have my old feet stumbled at graves!”