Research

The 

In the question for context, it asks us what are the main THEMES and plot explored within Romeo and Juliet. I decided to search up on Google the main themes of Romeo and Juliet and found a few sources.

This website contains main themes, motifs, and symbols. It mentions about the forbidden love which I already noticed, opposite points of views, etc.

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/themes.html

This website is from the 'Royal Shakespeare Company', which also gives themes, and motifs. And goes into a lot of detail of the themes.

http://www.rsc.org.uk/explore/romeo-and-juliet/teachers-resources/themes.aspx

This website is 'cliffsnotes' it contains more major themes, such as love, fate, value and doubleness, meaning of gender, etc.

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/r/romeo-and-juliet/critical-essays/major-themes

I saw this answer to a question of asking what is the main theme in Romeo and Juliet:

Question: What is the main theme in the play?

Answer: It describes the battle of love and hate, in which battle love is victorious. When Romeo first enters and sees the evidences of the fray between the partisans of Capulet and Montague he says: Here's much to do with hate, but more with love. This remark describes the play. 

A deadly feud had, for a long time, existed between the Montagues and Capulets. Law could not control it. Religion could not abate it. A young Montague falls in love with a young Capulet. This love is reciprocated. It is a love which is all-absorbing, overmastering. It is a love which is literally unto death. When Romeo and Juliet are laid in the tomb, the feud which, for so long a time had existed between the Capulets and Montagues, is also buried in the same tomb. This is the theme of the drama. 

I found this on: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/romeoandjuliet/questions/maintheme.html

This website included a plot overview of Romeo and Juliet: http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/summary.html

The main plot is about the two families the Capulets and the Montagues, yet despite there hatred for each other, Romeo and Juliet fall in love.  Classic story of Romeo and Juliet, set in a modern-day city of Verona Beach. The Montagues and Capulets are two feuding families, whose children meet and fall in love. They have to hide their love from the world because they know that their parents will not allow them to be together. There are obstacles on the way, like Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, and Romeo's friend Mercutio, and many fights. But although it is set in modern times, it is still the same timeless story of the "star crossed lovers". 

http://www.kidsloveshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/RJsummary.pdf / this website contains a basic summary of Romeo and Juliet. 

I watched Baz Luhrmanns version of the film and wrote notes about certain parts of the film that have changed such as themes and plots / parts of the play in general: 

Romeo and Juliet 1996:

- Modern music / clothing

- Guns instead of swords

- To introduce characters camera is zoomed in on there faces and has subtitles with there name & who they are in the play

- first fight is at a gas station

- for capulet to notice that montague bit his thumb he used a car mirror 

- fire started at gas station/police came in helicopters

- very Catholic

- lots of background music

- smoking cigarettes 

- black people in this version

- televisions used for news reports

- capulet and montagues have competing hotels 

- playing pool

- find out about capulets meal on news report

- first see Juliet in water looking pure/innocent

- can see that Juliet and her mum are not close 

- Juliet is dressed as a white angel at the feast / innocent / pure / Romeo is dressed a knight in shining armour

- mercutio dresses as a girl

- given a pull with a heart and arrow which is believed to be ecstasy

- Romeo is then seen in water 

- Romeo and Juliet meet looking through a fishtank/water symbolises a lot in this version

- Tybalt dressed as a devil

- security cameras used 

- candles are used loads

- Juliet always wears the colour white

- the ring has 'r + j' engraved and says 'I love thee' also 

- when mercutio says 'a plague on both your houses' the weather changes and supports his line

- Romeo crashes tybalts gun and shoots him/Tybalt falls in water

- Romeo is banned from Verona 

- Romeo and Juliet sleep together 

- church is covered in candles and blue LED crosses where Juliet is kept

- Romeo walks down the isle to juliets death bed 

- juliets hand moves while Romeo is there 

- she touches his face and he's already drank the poison

- Juliet shoots herself in the head and they die together 

- shows a flashback of there love after they die

- ends on a news report of the death

There was a lot of signs used in this such as water. For example, we first see Juliet in water...Romeo is seen in water after having a drug, and Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time by looking through a fishtank and etc. Baz Luhrmanns version has lots of religious iconomy, a reference to a catholic icon and the original Shakespeare also has a religious influence. In Baz Luhrmanns version, the law / law influence changes depending on time period piece is set, so in the 1996 version there is modern police. 

In our assessment brief it lists some thing we should consider using in our presentation and it asks if minority groups are shown in these versions. In West Side Story, the two gangs have different backgrounds...Latinos and the Americans / with some Irish background, which causes the main rivalry between the two gangs. The Latinos are a smaller group which represents a minority group. In Baz Luhrmanns version, there is a small sign of a minority group...by not having many black people in the film...only a few black people were involved. Also in this version, sexuality is a minority group as Mercutio dresses as a women in the scene when they are going to the party. I have not noticed a minority group in Shakespeare's version. They show small minority groups in Gnomeo and Juliet such as when the gnomes break there hats it could class as being disabled. All these examples show minority groups meaning they are smaller groups than others. 

There are different forms of presentation of the story in these many versions of Romeo and Juliet. Such as animation in Gnomeo and Juliet using CGI, also a musical such as west side story, film for Baz Luhrmanns version, books such as the original version by Shakespeare. And proscenium arch when performing in theatres such as the Globe theatre. 

There is technological advantages these days such as CGI and animation for Gnomeo and Juliet and filming for Baz Luhrmanns and Shakespeare's version. 

Shakespeare's theatre created in Stratford / Globe theatre / it's not Shakespeare's Globe theatre, just had loads of his plays put on there. More theatre. Rules changed by government, women was not allowed on stage / young boys usually played women. In France, two predominant theatre groups had wider theatre. England call it the mystery cycle. You was only able to perform if you had written consent from the king in England. Shakespeare murdered Marlo, there was rumours saying that apparently Shakespeare was copying Marlo so he killed him by stabbing Marlo in the eye. More theatre then came up and in the 1750's they started to allow women on stage, things were highly censored till 1960. 

The main themes and plot in Romeo and Juliet is forbidden love, rivalry/gangs, tragedy, and police. They have changed contextually like this: for example: I'm Shakespeare's version and Baz Luhrmanns version, Romeo and Juliet sleep together and get married and also have a death at the end. In Shakespeare's version, Romeo takes poison and Juliet stabs herself, Shakespeare's version is staged. In Baz Luhrmanns version, it is a film. Romeo still takes poison but Juliet shoots herself in the head. In West Side Story, it is also staged and is a musical. There are several deaths considering it has loads of gang crime, Tony dies out of the lovers but Maria does not as the writers thought it would be too many deaths so they wanted to let the audience decide what happened to Maria, also in this version Tony and Maria do not sleep together or get married. In Gnomeo and Juliet, there is no death, it is also animation, they do not get married or sleep together, there is a happy ending and there is no real law given. 

Many reasons why these versions have been made is mainly because they are in context with the time or in the situation given such as gang crimes in West Side Story. Gnomeo and Juliet have been put in a situation where there audience is children which is why it ends the way it does and is made the way it is. 

Also, other things that have changed contextually is weapons, music, language, police etc. There are swords in Shakespeare's one, clothing is old fashioned/Shakespeare's time, it is pure Shakespearian language, music is old fashioned, and the police travelled by horses. In Baz Luhrmanns version, clothing is very modern for example: Hawaiin shirts/suits/short dresses etc. Shakespeare's language was used but said more modern like. Modern music/lots of background music/repeating music for certain scenes such as whenever Romeo and Juliet are together they play 'kissing you' in the background. The police travel by cars/helicopters and wear policeman uniforms. In West Side Story, it was the first ever piece with contemporary dance, made different families different races, and not both lovers die. And in gnomeo and Juliet, the weapons are garden tools such as lawnmowers, the music is very modernised including music such as Elton John. They do not speak any Shakespearian language, it's all modern. And the police are the people who live in the houses/risk of discovery of being seen alive.