Asking A Play

Asking A play

“A play is not a flat work of literature” Elinor Fuchs writes in her article Visit To A Small Planet. In a play, a little world is expressed from literature part, which Elinor Fuchs describes the world as “a little planet”. Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet is one of the famous plays in the world and it has been on the stage for hundreds of years. It is not enough to understand the play only by its languages, audiences should also get into the play. In order to get into the play, we should not only understand the play on the surface by reading, but also asking the play about its shape, patterns, and images - those parts that make up the world of the play.

Looking at the shape of Romeo And Juliet by imaging the play is a small world. The world is very small, where is a city in Italy named Verona. Two families - Capulets and Montagues are living in the city. At the beginning, the prince says “By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturb’d the quiet of our streets” (1.1.81). This not only tells Capulets and Montagues against each other but also addresses the scene is happened in the street of Verona for audiences. Romeo And Juliet has many lines like this to help audiences to understand its world. In the Balcony, Juliet says to Romeo “This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flow’r when next we meet” (2.2.119-120). This shows the climate of the play is summer. Moreover, after Romeo spends the night with Juliet, he says to her “It was the lark, the herald of the morn, No nightingale.” (3.5.7-8). This shows the time of the scene is in the early morning when the sun is just rising. In the play, there are many lines like these, which tells the places, climates and times. A play is not a simple literature piece but larger and more complex form that needs to be shown on the stage. By knowing the shape, directors can stage the right scenes that fit with the story and help the audiences to understand the play.

Looking at the play as a whole shape is still not enough for examining the play completely, we also need to have a closer look at the play - asking the details of the play such as its patterns and images changes. I see the patterns in many ways. Firstly, the pattern of the whole play is like waves. There is negative thing followed by a positive thing, then the positive thing is followed by something negatively again. There is a fight between Capulets and Montagues on the street (1.1), it is followed by the ball where Romeo and Juliet fall in love(2.2). Another pattern is related to the time and places. The positive things always happen inside of people’s house at night. Oppositely, the negative things always happen outside at daytime. For example, Capulets and Montagues fight with each other, Mercutio fights with Tybalt, and Romeo kills Tybalt at the street during daytime. As a contrast, Romeo and Juliet fall in love with each other at night in Capulet's house (2.2) and Friar Lawrence gives his advice which seems to be helpful for Romeo and Juliet in his cell. In total, there are private conversations and cheerful things happen inside at night and the conflicts happen outside at the daytime. The patterns like these are also any way to help audiences to understand the play.

Images change plays another important role in the play, it tells the main theme of the play and makes the play unique. At the beginning, the image of Romeo is a man who is so depressed by the broken love with Rosaline that he cries all day, which is described by Montague as “Many a morning bath he there been seen, with tears augmenting the fresh morning’s dew … And makes himself an artificial night.” (1.1.121-130). The image changes to the man who love Juliet so much that can not live without Juliet at the end. Juliet also changes from the girl who listens to his parents in everything, including his wedding, to the girl who is bravely taken the veil and stabbed herself, says “There rust, and let me die” (5.3.171) at the end. The other characters such as Capulets and Nurse also have their changes in the play. Capulets’ order and Nurse’s encouragements for Juliet to marry Paris affects the play into tragedy ending. The images change goes with the story, and it shows the play as a tragedy - nothing goes as planned.

Asking a play is seeking deeper information that hides in the languages. Many people think it is too complicated and useless for reading a play, but it is absolutely required for performing the play on stage. By finding the shape, patterns and images change of the play, we can see a play as a small world in our mind. The world is our own understanding of the play and it is the information that we will depend on when we are performing. on the stage. If the directors and actors of the play can not have their own ideas of the play, how can they perform the play for their audiences?