Popular culture considers Romeo this romantic wonder, this suave, sophisticated loverboy. Let us not, however, forget that Romeo does some serious slicing and dicing. He’s not one to mess with. Just ask all the people he killed.
Intro Music
Quote: A plague a both your houses. (III, i, 99)
Analysis: Mercutio as he dies says this to Romeo. It’s ironic that Mercutio blames Romeo even though Mercutio instigated the violence as Romeo attempted to stop it. Romeo feels responsible for Mercutio’s death and gets his revenge by slaying Tybalt. The curse Mercutio levels foreshadows the lovers’ suicide.
Quote: Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical! / Dove feathered raven! Wolvish-ravening lamb! / Despised substance of divinest show! / A damned saint, an honorable villain! (III, ii, 73-79).
Analysis: Juliet can’t quite wrap her mind around the fact that Romeo has killed her cousin. Shakespeare’s brilliant use of oxymorons emphasizes Juliet’s confused state.
Quote: ‘Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is here, / Where Juliet lives; and every cat and dog / And little mouse, every unworthy thing, / Live here in heaven and may look on her; / But Romeo may not. (III, iii, 29-34)
Analysis: Romeo does not take the news of his banishment very well. He reacts with pure emotion and instability as evidenced by his attempted suicide a few minutes later. At Juliet’s time of greatest need, when she needs Romeo, her husband, to step up and be a man, he sinks to the floor and cries. Poor Juliet.
Life Lesson
Let’s get back to the ‘tis torture and not mercy quote. Romeo is governed by emotion. Guess who else is governed by emotions? Your students. And guess who else is governed by emotions? You and I! And what causes our emotions? Our thoughts. So what thoughts are we hearing over and over? I don’t know. I can’t read your mind. But it’s important to listen to the soundtracks playing in our brain and asking ourselves if they’re serving us. If they are, great. Keep playing it. If not, it’s time to change that soundtrack.
Are we governed by emotions in the classroom? There are days when we don’t feel like teaching. Note the term feel is about emotion. We can overcome those feelings with a well-prepared lesson. When we don’t have to drag a class through what we’re learning we’ll do much better, especially when it comes to a Shakespearean play.
At ELACommon we have an entire unit with handouts….. There’s a link in the show notes. Now what if you had your entire semester or year of lesson plans already done?
I’ve even created a course specifically designed for ELA Teachers on how to create a semester’s worth of lesson plans in just a few days. So imagine having all your lesson plans done for the entire first semester or even the entire year on the first day of school?
I’m going to put a link in my show notes for anyone interested in checking out my video course, let you get a feel for my philosophy on teaching, lesson plans, etc. We’ll send you some free videos as well.
The course details how I create a short story unit plan, poetry unit plan, novel unit plan. It’s got tons of handouts, ready to use, and a checklist for creating all types of units.
Again, there’s a link in the show notes.
Classroom Application
If you love oxymorons, you can’t help but love Juliet’s reaction to Tybalt’s death at the hands of Romeo. This is a good opportunity to show students how form reflects content. Oxymorons are seemingly contradictory meanings to a paired group of words, and what is more contradictory than being in love. Now I’m an old man and I don’t quite remember the days of infatuation and crushes. That’s why I’m glad Shakespeare reminds us what it was like through the use of oxymorons. Thanks William.
Here’s another lesson idea if you want a bunch of already made Romeo and Juliet lesson plans: Go to the show notes and click on the R and J lesson plans link.
Links
- Romeo and Juliet Unit Plan
- Free Video Course Sign Up : https://forms.aweber.com/form/34/1733538234.htm
- Complete Lesson Plans Collections: https://trent-media.myshopify.com/
