Romeo and Juliet

Ask people to give an example of a romance classic, and most will answer that it is Romeo and Juliet. Even origins of the story are romantic, wandering minstrels in Medieval Europe sang about the star-crossed lovers two centuries before Shakespeare wrote it down.

In 1596, William Shakespeare published the tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The origins of this story are uncertain but Shakespeares chief source for his adoption of the story was from The Tragic History of Rome and Juliet, a poem by Arthur Brooke (1562). He also knew the story from Palace of Pleasure, by William Painter, which appeared in several editions prior to 1580. Shakespeares classic tale is about two young lovers caught in the crossfire of a senseless family feud. This feud between the two families ultimately is the cause of the two lovers untimely demise.

In 1996, Baz Luhrmann produced a modern film of the classic tragedy entitled William Shakespeares Romeo + Juliet. Adding familiar images and common ideas, Luhrmann brought the classic story to modern times. Though Romeo + Juliet has many differences from the original version of Shakespeare, it supports the original characters, themes, dialogue, and key issues of the classic tale of the star-crossed lovers.

There were many differences among the two stories; among these differences were setting, weapons, the classic Balcony Scene, other new adoptions to the film, the concentration on the main characters of Romeo and Juliet, and the implementation of imagery to the storyline.

First, the setting of the story is probably one of the biggest differences between the two stories. The original version of the tale is set in Verona, Italy. The newer version is set in a fictitious Verona Beach, California, a city with the appearance of modern day Los Angeles after a riot. The new environment gives familiarity to the viewer, allowing them to relate to the situation at hand, bringing it to a modern time. Another change to the story was the weapons used within the story. The original story used daggers as weapons whereas the newer version uses guns (appropriately titled sword, dagger). The famed Balcony Scene, where Romeo and Juliet avow their love to each other, was dramatically changed in many aspects. In the original version, Juliet appears on the balcony and utters the famous words O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Juliet then goes into the speech about names, asking Romeo to deny his fathers name. Romeo is hiding in the shadows below and hears the words of Juliet.

After hearing Juliets speech Romeo steps into the light. Romeo and Juliet profess their love for each other and they plan to get married secretly. This is a very romantic and heart-filled scene. The new version, on the other hand, takes place in the pool of the Capulets home. The same dialogue is spoken between the two lovers but the sexuality of the film takes away from the true romanticism of the original play. Only part of the scene takes place on the balcony. Only where Juliet is telling Romeo goodnight takes place on the balcony. This, in part, takes away from the story. Many things in the new version were changed to make the transition from old times to new. Guns, letter courier services, cars, drugs, and policemen all replace swords, messengers, Monarchs, and the Watch. These modern elements neither take away nor add to the storyline.

While reading about the characters fight with swords in the original play, the audience understands the magnitude of the hatred between the two families. This same magnitude is conveyed when the characters fight with guns. Because the play focuses on the feuding families and the desire, Romeo and Juliet have for each other, time changes, props changes, and slight dialogue, action, and scene changes does not make a substantial difference in the overall plot of the story.

One aspect of the play that really bothered many Shakespeare fans was the change of the meaning of Mercutios Queen Mab speech. Mercutios long speech about Queen Mab in the original version, according to Robert Evans, presents what were the main reasons for marriage- money, place, and love - and then presents what in the milieu of Romeo and Juliet was a principle destructive force - violence. In the new version, Mercutio is merely referring to a mood-altering drug called Ecstasy. Also, in the new version, the two houses loyal servants were portrayed more as gang members.

Among some of the other changes in the story, there was also a great deal of concentration over the main characters of Romeo and Juliet. The original story has many scenes where other people have conversations. In the new version, most of these scenes have been omitted, probably to keep the focus on the main story. Imagery is also a big difference between the original and new versions. The new version of the story has strong images to support main ideas and help the viewer keep up with story whether they understand the dialogue or not. The old version leaves the reader with a lot to figure out and often confused. Though there were many differences between the two stories, the likenesses outnumbered the differences.

The film, in fact, is just a modernized version of the original tale. The new version contains all the original main characters. Romeo is the only son of the Montague family. He falls in love with Juliet and proceeds to marry her. He is a tragic character. He is young, hasty, and emotional. These qualities ultimately lead to his death. Juliet is the daughter of the Capulet family. She falls in love with Romeo. She believes that marriage should be out of love not out of necessity. She is also can be characterized as hasty and young. Lord Capulet is Juliets father. He is a strict, harsh, non-understanding man. He wishes Juliet to marry Paris and arranges so. Lady Montague is Romeos mother. She is very busy and strict. Lord Montague is Romeos father. He is very stubborn and not willing to forgive and end the feud. Paris is a kinsman to the Prince. He cares about Juliet and wishes to marry her. The Prince is the prince of Verona. The Prince is fed up with the constant quarrels between the two families and wishes to call peace between the two families and end the feud. Friar Lawrence is the priest in Verona. He marries Romeo and Juliet in secrecy hoping it will unite the two families, instead it causes more turmoil. He also gives Juliet the sleeping potion. Juliets Nurse cared for Juliet throughout her childhood. She just wants Juliet to be happy. Mercutio is Romeos best friend. Mercutio isnt for either of the houses and at the time of his death curses both houses.

Both stories support the same central themes as well. Themes play a strong part in the original story as well as the movie. The most notable are the themes of love and fate. The play develops the theme of love through contrast. On one hand, there is Romeos infatuation with Rosaline and the arranged marriage of Paris and Juliet. On the other is the pure true love of Romeo and Juliet. The play shows this primarily through their actions and their romantic speeches to one another. The movie develops the theme of love the same way, but with the additional twist of incest (Tybalt and Lady Capulet) and homosexuality (Mercutio). The theme of fate almost disappears, however. The play shows many premonitions of tragedy to Romeo, Juliet, and the Friar. There are also several events beyond their control, such as the feud between the two families, the plague, and the arranged marriage of Paris and Juliet. In the movie, Romeo fails to notice the receipt of the letter from Friar Lawrence. Near the end of the movie, Romeo fails to notice that Juliet is moving and that she is still warm. Therefore fate is mistaken through sheer ignorance to the obvious.

There were many key issues in both versions that play a significant part in the events of the story. Feuding is one of the key issues that lead to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. If the two families had not been feuding, the situation never would have existed.

Dreams were also a big issue in the story. If Romeo had heeded the warnings of his premonitions he could have avoided his death. There were also the issues of decisions, sacrifices, stereotypes, and fate. Buy essay

Over 400 years ago Shakespeare wrote a classic story that has been retold for centuries. This new version is just a modern adoption of the classic tale of the two star-crossed lovers. The actors featured in Luhrmanns film did an excellent job in portraying the two young lovers. Throughout the film, Shakespeares poetic language is spoken nearly verbatim. But the terrific cast, led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, follows the well-known dialogue with nearly an English accent. Nevertheless, DiCaprio and Danes on-screen chemistry transcends the antiquated language to produce the beautiful and tragic love story for todays movie going audiences.

According to George Bernard Shaw playing the parts of Romeo and Juliet is almost impossible, except to actors of pure genius, skilled to the last degree in metrical declamation, by the way in which the poetry, magnificent as it is, is interlarded by the miserable rhetoric and silly logical conceits which were the foible of the Elizabethans. When Juliet comes out on her balcony and, having propounded the question, Whats in a name? proceeds to argue it out like an amateur attorney in Christmas-card verse of the rose by any other name order, no actress can make it appear natural to a century which has discovered the art of giving prolonged and intense dramatic expression to pure feeling alone, without any skeleton of argument or narrative, by means of music. Romeo has lines that tighten the heart or catch you up in to the heights, alternately with heartless fustian and silly ingenuities that make you curse Shakespeares stage struckness and his youthful inability to keep his brains quiet. Custom Essays

Though certain aspects are changed, the story remains beautifully sound and serves as a classic example of the power of love. This new film, in my opinion, is rather interesting and extraordinary version of the story. It not only depicts the original tale, it adds visual stimuli to help draw the reader in. It was a courageous try and it happened to be very successful!

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Aaron is a professional freelance writer at custom essays writing service: custom-essay.net. Now he is a technical writer, advertising copywriter, & website copywriter for Custom Essay Network.

How To Make A Million In 365 Days - Step 1

Just how do you become a $ millionaire in 365 days? Please do NOT follow a get rich quick or pyramid scheme. Instead, find a program that will take you step by step, in 250, yes, 250, separate lessons (called modules), on how to build a successful web based business that should make you over $1m in any one year. Trust me, you need to have your hand held through every process, including step by step written, video and audio tutorials. Whichever program you eventually choose please one that is Google centric. Here is why:

1) Google controls about 60% of the Internet search market, do well with them and you have conquered 60% of the market

2) Google will keep changing its algorithms (the ranking rules) in order to protect their advertising revenues.

3) Google does not want to fill its databases with scraped automated content There are enough artists and get rich quick merchants out there to keep the Google thought police very busy. Many will fall for the appeal of short-term-gain and try and build 1,000s of automated content sites. You need to stay within the rules and therefore stay under the Google radar.

4) About 94% of web sites FAIL.

5) The barriers to entry are low and the returns on investment are potentially incredibly high. Where else can you invest so little and recoup so much?

6) This creates a passive income i.e. as your revenues grow your work load does not grow at the same pace

7) This is creating a long term business model that will generate revenues for 10, maybe 20 years hence.

What do I need to do to become successful? ACTION 1 Decide whether you want success bad enough. Think about the time invested, every week. Think about the financial commitment. Do NOT proceed unless you are comfortable with both. If you choose not to proceed then that is okay too and I wish you well in whatever you choose to do instead. However, if you have decided to go ahead then there are certain things that you will need to do in preparation. They are as follows: ACTION 2 Believe and commit. No ifs, no buts. Believe and commit. Your life has now changed.ACTION 3 Go for a walk. I am serious. Two hours please, on your own, in nature or in a park at the very least. You need to get in touch with the Earth.

No children, no partner, just you and your thoughts. On that walk, think about how your life has progressed so far, are you where you want to be? Can you change it? What are your dreams? Do you believe this is possible? Can YOU do it? Think how you are going to make the time and investment money available. Think about what you are going to do when you have made your first million. Think about what you are going to buy. Think about the 10% you are going to give away to charity. Who to? What charity? Think about the difference YOU can make to your life and to the lives of others. ACTION 4 When you get back from your walk I want you to find a picture of the two things that you are going to buy when you have succeeded. For example, if you have decided that you want to buy a nice holiday cottage somewhere and a sports car then please find pictures of both of these and stick them on the wall in front of your desk space or computer.

I want you to look at these every day.ACTION 5 I also want you to think about the charitable 10%. Who are you going to donate to? More importantly, who are the PEOPLE that this is going to help? For example, if you decide to donate to an orphanage in Africa and also help the homeless in your hometown, I want you to find a picture of an orphan and a homeless person and I want those to go on the wall, next to the pictures of your house and car (or whatever). Again, this is not just about YOU, there are other lives at stake. ACTION 6 Last one for the day. Go to a charity store and I want you to find a symbol for each of your pictures. For example, the cottage could be represented by a door knocker, the car by a drivers glove, the orphanage by a childrens book, the homeless by a warm pair of socks. To be honest, I do not mind what the object is, it is the symbolism I am after, as long as it makes sense to you, that is the important thing. I want you to imagine that you will present or use the object when you have succeeded i.e. Dear Homeless Shelter, here is a pair of socks, in each of the socks you will find $25,000 I hope they can keep a few people warm this winter. I want you to imagine. Think about these things every day. Thoughts make things. By the way, as we go through the year we will be keeping to a pretty tight budget so let us start here. Each item should not cost more than $2.00.

Allen Jesson writes for several sites including ones about a home based net marketing business and m1in365 and allenjesson.

The Professional Investors Plan

The art of using high-leveraged activities.

Here I would like to make just a few suggestions that will hopefully save you from wasting years of hard effort only to learn in the end that had you invested using a better strategy, you would have realized more profit, happiness, satisfaction, control and free time as a result.

Im not going to make you wait to find out the secret, so here is the crux of this technique. FINDEM, DONT FIXEM! It sounds easy, doesnt it? Please continue reading to get the full flavor of this topic. There are a few steps to follow if you are to succeed in using this method and you will really need to understand before you go and do it. I need to stop here and take into consideration the new investor who doesnt have a war chest of greenbacks to get started with.

If youre just beginning or starting out with a small amount of capital then you will most likely have to findem and fixem on the first one or two properties. By finding them and fixing them, then selling on your own, you will limit the amount of initial expense that you incur. Naturally you will keep more of the profit as a result. The trouble with this technique is that you eat up valuable time that could be more profitably spent on finding more great deals!

Here is what I am saying. If you spend your day painting a property, how much have you saved or earned? Lets say a painter at $30 an hour multiplied by eight hours equals $240 dollars a day. You, in effect, have given yourself a new job that pays $30 dollars an hour. Instead of painting, lets say you hire the painter so that you can go hunt down another bargain property with a $20,000 margin of profit. Lets also assume that it takes 100 hours of effort to find, fix and sell this property; $20,000 divided by 100 hours equals a $200-per-hour rate of pay. Dont do $30 when you can do $200!

By doing the first property using your own time and labor, you may get most of that $20,000 dollar profit when you sell, but it will generally take you an average of three months to do it, or 480 hours. That boils down to $41.66 an hour and you cant look for more great deals. What this will do is give you the capital to pay someone else to do the labor on the next one. Once you have your nest egg you can begin to pay up to $5,000 for the labor to include materials. Now you let the lower wage scales do the dirty work of cleaning, repairing, painting and installing new fixtures and you no longer spend your more valuable time doing the low paying labor jobs, so now you can quite feasibly make $20,000 and spend $5,000 to do it. This leaves you with $15,000 profit divided by 100 hours, which equals $150 an hour or five times the pay of the painter! Dont be a laborer if you dont have to be.

I hope you see how it pays to find them rather than fix them. Granted your going to have to learn this higher skill of finding and evaluating good deals, however, throughout Magic Bullets Ive given you at least 150 ways to find those deals, such as from bandit signs, newspaper ads, bird dogs, professional search services and so forth. You have the ammunition to launch a campaign that will yield plenty of these deals.

Once you find what appears to be a motivated, distressed or disinterested seller, your next skill set will be to evaluate the property to insure that a profit will result if you do proceed. Here again, youre focusing on plumbing, electrical, foundation, structure, roof and location, as the rest will generally be cosmetic repairs that can be done quickly and inexpensively in an effort to realize the true value without going broke!

Once you have some accurate figures concerning a probable sales price, the cost of materials, labor, marketing time and transfer costs you can project your profit. Will it yield $20,000 or more in 90 days? It should! If not, then you may consider passing on the deal and continue the hunt for another property that does satisfy your strategic objectives. Side note here: Often when you walk away from deals like this, they end up coming back to you later when the sellers cant sell. Youll have an opportunity to lower your offer to an amount that will satisfy your objectives and it will usually be accepted at that time.

Lets assume that you have found and evaluated the property. Now you will need to negotiate the sales contract and buy this property for the lowest possible price. By having your own offer sheets, sales contracts and financing in place, you can move swiftly to acquire these moneymaking assets. As there are so many creative ways to finance real estate, Ill only touch on a few here: owner financing, subject to existing loan, leases w/ option to buy, H.U.D. 203k rehab loans, conventional bank loans, assumptions, all cash, etc. You will see what type of financing can be used as the deals begin to take shape. Just be prepared to use the method that will work when you make your offer. Hint: It helps to be pre-qualified and if possible to have equity lines available to tap into if necessary.

Now that you have found, evaluated and acquired the property, you will have to affect the repairs. I did not say you would have to do the repairs yourself, remember? Here is where you play Mr. or Ms. General Contractor; by hiring licensed and bonded professionals who come highly recommended you begin to pass off the labor issues back to the lower earning wage scales so that you can get back to finding more good deals. Note: One trick to getting good workers and companies is to ask appraisers who they would recommend for certain jobs if they needed work done. Appraisers know a lot about value, folks! They seldom steer you wrong so build your network through their referrals.

Another way to save money is to begin getting familiar with local suppliers of all types of construction materials. Im not talking truss members and cinder blocks but you will have to create your repair list often, otherwise known as a punch list. You can create this list of items that you will need to fix or replace in a few short hours. By using your notes from your initial evaluation, youll be half way home. These items may include tile, vinyl, carpet or wood for floors, toilets, faucets, sinks, tubs, vanity cabinets, mirrors, towel bars, light switches, electrical receptacles, light kits, ceiling fans, knobs, handles, locksets and paint to make the property look and smell new again. Now you can spend another eight hours shopping for and scheduling the dates of delivery and installation for the larger items but that is where your labor ends and you revert back to the supervisory role of periodic inspections to insure the laborers and contractors are getting the job done on schedule.

Up to this point we have done four things: We have found, evaluated, acquired and are repairing. With these steps behind you, the next step will be to start the marketing efforts to find a buyer for this beauty. By pricing it right and advertising it for sale to the entire market of potential buyers, the word will get out. You can help that word get around by using newspapers, yard signs, corner signs, word of mouth, flyers, fact sheets, neighbor alerts, network partners and a host of other avenues of approach that can almost guarantee you a steady stream of buyers when the time to sell is near.

So you have found, evaluated, acquired, repaired and marketed the property. Now the final step is to get the sales contract signed and a closing date scheduled. This should all be accomplished in about 90 days and you will have cleared no less than $15,000 as a result. Your results may vary it could be lower, and quite possibly could be higher depending on how good you are! Im giving you the overview here. You will be doing many tasks along the way that are not being explained in depth here.

You will have capital gains taxes. However, when you keep every receipt and use a C.P.A. to do your taxes, the process will be fairly painless. This work will pay very well regardless of that fact. By having two or three of these rehabs going on at any one time and having just one closing a month, you should be making over $100,000 a year, after Uncle Sam gets his.

Many highly trained or experienced investors never even touch the property. They simply find great deals, handle some paperwork and sell it for less than they could get if they spent more time on it. These people are leveraging their time and techniques to squeeze out the maximum profit in the shortest possible time with the least amount of effort. I dont condone being a paper pusher and taking advantage of other peoples ignorance or misfortunes by doing paper trades. I personally have a hard time finding value in deeds done by using such methods. This is why I have given you a value-driven road map to follow in this brief report. I sincerely hope that you will create value for those that depend on you to deliver in an honest and caring professional manner. Happy hunting!

Dan Auito is a dual-licensed real estate agent and appraisal assistant. Founder of a non-profit drug prevention corporation, a real estate consulting group and is the author of Magic Bullets Real Estate. This 300-page power-packed book (due out in late Sept 2004) comes with a website that further supports its readers.

Dan may be reached at magicbullets@alaska.com or by visiting http://www.magicbullets.com Call 1 907 481-6300 or write 1619 Three Sisters Way Kodiak AK 99615

Five-Element Acupuncture Treats the Body, Mind and Spirit

While contemporary acupuncture typically focuses on symptoms, classical five-element acupuncture not only looks beyond symptoms to root causes, but treats the body, mind and spirit in harmony with the laws of nature. Ancient Chinese philosophers identified five laws or elements of nature: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. These five elements, present within and around us, must be in balance and flow harmoniously from one to the other in body mind and spirit for optimal health and well-being.

Five-element acupuncture identifies acupuncture points associated with these five elements of nature. Within everybody, one element will go out of balance under stress and affect all the other elements. Because most diseases start on the spirit level and eventually manifest in physical symptoms, the five-element practitioner treats not only the body, but also the mind and spirit. The practitioner focuses on acupuncture points associated with a specific element while providing the spirit with support, thereby treating the whole person.

Five-element acupuncture names points associated with each element. For example, a patient presented with headaches but underlying his symptom was indecisiveness and frustration about not manifesting his dreams. Wood points like Gate of Hope and Yang Mound Spring helped the patient regain hope and clarity and his headaches disappeared. Wood is associated with spring and exuberant growth. It goes with the liver and gall bladder and addresses anger, decision-making, logic, vision and hope. Another patient was feeling isolated and disconnected, unable to give and receive love. The Fire points Inner Frontier Gate and Outer Frontier Gate helped her feel and share the warmth within. Fire goes with summer when nature reaches its full expression. Summer also goes with the warmth and joy we experience when connected to life and others. Physically, fire goes with the heart and small intestine and is associated with sexual hormones and regulating body temperature.

A patient complained of constant hunger, stress and lack of support her marriage. Earth points such as Abundant Splendor helped her experience the richness of earth within her spirit, and Great Enveloping was like a big hug, helping her reconnect with her own internal support. Earth is associated with late summer and the bounty of harvest. A healthy earth element enhances the ability to nourish ones self and others and to feel at home anywhere. Physically the earth element goes with the stomach and spleen. Mentally, it helps digest information. When this element is nourished, we feel relaxed, grounded, stable, and secure.

A constipated patient could not let go on any level and benefited from Great Eliminator. She also could not recognize her own value and needed Heavenly Palace, in order see the richness within herself. Metal is represented by autumn when the trees lose their leaves. Like trees, one needs to let go of past beliefs, plans, and attachments. Physically metal goes with the lungs, large Intestines and the skin. Metal represents what is valuable and precious, like the divine essence within and around us. Metal restores the ability to see beauty within and without.

Five-element acupuncture also identifies many additional points that can be used locally for pain and specific illnesses. But by treating the whole person, the positive qualities of all five elements will interact. Regular treatments of five-element acupuncture typically result in physical health, mental clarity and feelings of well-being, providing the balance needed for increased health and happiness.

Copyright 2006 LASpirit.com

Article author, Margaret Olmsted L.Ac., M.Ac., is an acupuncturest and a member of the http://laspirit.com community of healers. Margaret works with people of all ages who want to improve their health in Body, Mind and Spirit and lead healthier, happier and more balanced lives. Based in Los Angeles, LASpirit.com offers news and resources to support a holistic lifestyle.