Brit Lit: Romeo and Juliet

I’m prepping Romeo and Juliet. My eighth grade English teacher taught us Shakespeare.  She explained that Juliet’s nurse lost her own child, Susan.  The nurse weaned Juliet at three or four by rubbing ‘wormwood’ on her breast—like putting a bitter solution on a child’s thumb to get them to stop sucking the thumb.   I remember being riveted.  My teacher explained some of the bawdy jokes and explained the 5-act structure.  I want to do a good job with this play.  The girls have watched West Side Story.  Angel mentioned Gnomeo and Juliet, too.

   8 Great Teaching Tools for Reading Romeo and Juliet first casts Romeo as a manipulative villain.  I’m giving the girls this graphic for character studies—not the text. I plan to tackle suicide, humor, love and hate, and give the play some context.  Scroll down this site for an overview of the five act structure review.  Films and books often follow this structure, too.  Look for more once I finish rereading the play.