Development Unit: Romeo and Juliet
Since William Shakespeare first brought the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet to the stage over 400 years ago, the play has been reimagined by generations of playwrights, authors, and more recently, filmmakers. Why does this story of two ill-fated lovers continue to ignite our imaginations? In this unit, we will read the play Romeo and Juliet and view two film adaptations of it to explore the following question: Why do we still read Shakespeare? We will identify themes in Shakespeare’s play and analyze how each director develops them differently. To demonstrate our understanding and analysis, we will write a literary analysis essay that compares the theme development in Romeo and Juliet with the theme development in the film adaptations.