Summary:
A comparison on how both Shakespeare and Baz Luhrman (the director of the film version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes) engage the audience and set up the major themes in the opening scenes of "Romeo and Juliet." Although set in two entirely different eras, each version of the play still ultimately represents the same universal themes of love and conflict, which one can adapt to any time frame or setting.
Both Shakespeare and Baz Luhrman have recognized that without emotional engagement, intellectual concepts, themes and ideas are irrelevant to an audience. This justifies both their efforts to create a compelling opening scene in order for these themes to be acknowledged. Once the audience is aware of these themes, the concepts established by both Shakespeare and Luhrman will be more apparent throughout the rest of the performance.
Shakespeare uses the prologue of 'Romeo and Juliet' as his initial engagement. A chorus, traditionally a single character is used to deliver the prologue, much like in Greek Theatre. Audiences aware of this reference will be then able to correlate the main themes found in Greek Theatre such as tragedy, with the play. The opening lines, 'Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From.....
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