October, Thuesday 11th

Today, we learnt about Romeo and Juliet the famous play of William Shakespeare. We talked about the Prologue of the play :

Chorus

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, 

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of strar-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents'strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

And the continuance of their parents'rage,

Which, but their children's end nought could remove,

Is now the two hours'traffic of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. 

Definition of a prologue : A prologue is the introduction yo a story. Here it is part of the play and it is very short.

What can you find in a prologue ?

- The place where the story takes place : Verona, Italy.

- The time when it takes place : in the Middle Ages.

- The main characters : - 2 lovers

                                  - 2 households (the Capulets and the Montaigue)

- The context : The two families are ennemies. Their quarrels are extremely violent.  Yet their children fall in love but their parents' hatred will cause their death. This death will bring peace. 

 

You can show a short video about the story of Romeo and Juliet :

October, Thuesday 18th

We have studied in details the Balcony Scene. You can watch this video : 

 The scene takes place at night, after the party at the Capulets'.  

Night is a protection for the lovers and the moon symbolizes the feminity. 

Romeo is standing in the dark whereas Juliet is in the light.

We can find a reference to the Garden of Eden. Indeed, during the scene Romeo is in the Capulet's orchard. 

Athough Juliet is 12 years old, she is very thoughtful and calm. Romeo is lost in admiration for her.

 

You can read the complete analyse of the symbols of in this scene in this document.

 November, Thuesday, 8th

 We have also studied the references to the Balcony scene in others works.

 - Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand : 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Le Grand Fossé (Astérix) - Goscinny, Hergé

 

- West side story :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Aladdin : 

 - Gnoméo & Juliet : 

- Romeo and Juliet (with Leonardo DiCaprio) : 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Shakespeare in love : 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(You can clic on the photos to see in bigger)

I have chose to speak about the Balcony Scene of Cyrano de Bergerac.

The story : It's a play written in 1899 by Edmond Rostand, a french play-writer. It speaks about Cyrano de Bergerac, a poet whose nose is very big. He has a bad character and he is impulsive. He is in love with Roxane, a beautiful woman, but Roxane loves Christian, a cadet of Gascony (as Cyrano). Cyrano helps Christian to win the heart of Roxane and he teaches him poems. Unfortunately, Cyrano and Christian has to got to the war and Christian is killed. When Cyrano comes back, he confesses his love for Roxane, who is in a convent.

The Balcony Scene : In the balcony scene, as Juliet, Roxane is in the balcony. As Romeo, Christian is below. But there is a third character : Cyrano. He whispers poems to Christian, because he doesn't know how to speak to the women. As in Romeo and Juliet, the scene takes place at night what create intimacy. Only Roxane is in the light, that's why she didn't see Cyrano. It symbolizes the love of Cyrano, who endures loss for the one that he loves. And little by little, Cyrano speaks instead of Christian and tells Roxane very romantic verses. Roxane thinks that it's Christian's poems, and her love for him is stronger. Although Cyrano is desperate, he accepts the situation because he loves Roxane and wants her happiness.  

November, Thuesday, 8th

Today we spoke about "West side story" to make a comparaison between Romeao and Juliet and the famous film. To have a sum up of the story, we have listened a broadcast about the fifty years old of the film.

The film is inspire of a very famous Broadway show directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, writted by Arthur Laurents and set to music by Leonard Berstein and Stephen Sondheim. They want to make an actual "Romeo and Juliet" on speaking of the problems of their time.

Indeed the Montague and the Capulet are transformed in the Jets and the Sharks, two gangs, who fight to control the street. But it's also a fight between the american and the immigrants called "Puerto Ricans". The lieder of the Jets is Tony, a young man of 20 years old, and the lieder of the Sharks is Bernardo. Her sister called Maria and is 17 years old. She is to marry Chino, another member of the Sharks. But at a party, she dances with Tony, and falls in love with him. They hope to live their love in happiness but the Jets and Sharks are making plans for a big fight. Tony want to stop the fight but the actions turns violent. Bernardo kills Tony's friend Riff, and in the fight, Tony kills Bernardo. When Maria knows that, she is horrified but she understands tha she loves Tony, even though he has killed Bernardo. Anita, the Marias's best friend, goes to the Jet's hiding place to warn Tony that the police are looking for him. But the Jets are cruel to her and they treat her so badly. Finally she says Maria is dead, killed by Chino. But it's a lie. Tony runs intot the street to come kill Chino. Maria appears but there is a shot. It's Chino, who killed Tony. At the end of the story, the two gangs bury the hatchet. 

 

The film is released in 1961. The main actors are Nathalie Wood (Maria), Richard Beymer (Tony) and Georges Chakiris (Bernardo). Moreover, Jacques Demy, a very famous french director, payed tribute to West Side Story on taking Georges Chakiris in his film "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort".   

 You can see the trailer of the film : 

This is the official Website of West Side Story with a lot of interesting information (you can clic).

November, Thuesday, 8th(2)

Today we made a comparaison between Romeo and Juliet, the play of Shakespeare, and West Side Story.

 

The characters : 

Romeo who is a Montaigue, correspond to Tony, the lieder of the Jets, and Juliet, who is a Capulet, is Maria, the sister of the lieder of the Sharks. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercution is the Romeo's best friend, who's killed by Tybalt. There is the same character in West Side Story : Riff. Maria has a brother, Bernardo, who's killed by Tony, he corresponds to Tybalt, the Juliet's cousin, who's killed by Romeo. Maria and Juliet both supposed to be married with a man : Chino in WSS and Paris in R&J. The lovers are help by differents characters : Friar Laurence, who married Romeo and Juliet, and the Nurse, who helps them. In WSS, this two charcaters correspond to Anita, the Maria's best friend. But we don't find the character of the Prince, who bannished Romeo after the murder of Tybalt, in WSS. But we know that Tony is searched by the police.

The setting : 

Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona in Italy in the Middle Ages whereas West Side Story takes place in a district of New-York calld West Side (it's a very poor district) in the 1950s.

The plot : 

In the two stories, we find two feuding groups who are ennemies : The Capulet and the Montaigue/The jets and the sharks. The two families want the power whereas the two gangs want control the street. It's also a story of racism, because the Sharks are immigrants called Puerto Ricans, and the Jets were born in New-York.

The lovers : 

Romeo and Juliets were born in wealthy families and Maria Tony are very poor. There is also a similarities between the ages of the characters : Romeo is 15 years old whereas Tony is 20 years old, and Juliet is 12 years old whereas Maria is 17 years old. They both met at a party.

The action (the murder) :  

In R&J

Tybalt kills Mercutio                                                                                                                Romeo kills Tybalt                                                                                                                      Juliet coming suicide                                                                                                                Romeo coming suicide

 In WSS

 Bernardo kills Riff                                                                                                                      Tony kills Bernardo                                                                                                                    Tony is shout dead by Chino  

November, Thuesday, 15th

Today we made a comparaison between the balcony scene of West Side Story and the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet to see the similarities and the differences. 

You can watch the two balcony scene : 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Similarities : 

- It takes place at night. Night keeps their secret, it's a time when you can dream and your dreams will come be true.

- They said 7 times "Good night !"

- She doesn't want Tony to see her father because she knows she won't like him.

- They know they are different from the rest of the world : "They are not one of us".

- Symbol of the balcony : it's both part of her intimacy, but also outside her world (the world rejects).

- Tony is more excited than Maria. She seems to be more sensible.

Differences : 

- There is a change in roles : at the beginning Maria calms his down, at the end it's Tony who says "Shhhh". They are aware of the danger. 

- They didn't kiss.

- They sing together.

- Maria saw Tony first.

- Tony steps on the balcony : they are on an equal footing.

- The balcony is an emergency staircase which looks like a jail (maybe it's symbolizes the prison in which their social background had put them).

We also made a problematic with the common themes : 

- "star crossed lovers".

- Their love is impossible in this world.

- Yet, they challenge their families or gang to love each other. They bretray their origins.

- They were in a world apart. 

- "It's not us. It's everything around us" (Maria). Here Maria means the problem comes from the others who are hateful. Romeo and Juliet just like Tony and Maria symbolizes the perfet, ideal love which can not exist in a world full of hatred. 

> Problematic : Love between two peoples : a necessary confrontation which the outside world ?

We have also made a translation about the song : "Somewhere" :

Il y a un endroit pour nous,

quelque part un endroit pour nous.

Paix, silence et air pur

Nous attendent quelque part.

Il y a un moment pour nous,

Un jour, un moment pour nous,

Un moment ensemble avec des choses à vivre,

Un moment à voir, un moment à sentir.

Un jour ! Quelque part !

Nous trouverons un nouveau chemin de vie,

Un chemin plus clément,

Quelque part.

Il y a un endroit pour nous

Un moment, un lieu rien que pour nous.

Prends-moi la main et nous y sommes déjà à demi,

Prends-moi la main et je t'y emmènerais là-bas,

Peu important comment, peu importe quand, mais simplement quelque part...