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Listen&Learn: Romeo and Juliet

Posted by: Jaksyn Peacock
The famous story of forbidden love

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • playwright: a person who writes plays
  • tragedy: a type of play that has a sad ending
  • feud: a fight that lasts a long time
  • masquerade ball: a type of party where people wear masks
  • forbidden: not allowed
  • forgive: to stop being upset with someone

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by English playwright William Shakespeare. The main of the story are two teenagers named Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Their families have an ancient feud. The two first meet at a masquerade ball, and they fall in love almost instantly. However, they later that they are members of rival families, and their relationship would be forbidden. They decide to get in secret. But Juliet’s parents want her to marry someone else, a man named Paris who is a friend of the family. Towards the end of the story, Juliet fakes her so that she doesn’t have to marry Paris. Romeo, believing that Juliet is dead, poisons himself so that he doesn’t have to live without her. When Juliet wakes up, she finds Romeo dead and kills herself as well. The story ends when the two families realize their feud has gone too far and decide to forgive each other.

Comprehension questions

[wp_quiz id=”20156″]

Discussion/essay questions

  1. Romeo and Juliet is a world-famous play that has been translated into many languages and performed many times. Have you ever seen the play? Did you enjoy it?
  2. Even before Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, the theme of forbidden love was very common in books and plays. It’s still very popular today. Why do you think people like this theme so much?

Transcript

Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy written by English playwright William Shakespeare. The main characters of the story are two teenagers named Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Their families have an ancient feud. The two first meet at a masquerade ball, and they fall in love almost instantly. However, they later discover that they are members of rival families, and their relationship would be forbidden. They decide to get married in secret. But Juliet’s parents want her to marry someone else, a man named Paris who is a friend of the family. Towards the end of the story, Juliet fakes her death so that she doesn’t have to marry Paris. Romeo, believing that Juliet is dead, poisons himself so that he doesn’t have to live without her. When Juliet wakes up, she finds Romeo dead and kills herself as well. The story ends when the two families realize their feud has gone too far and decide to forgive each other.

Written and recorded by Jaksyn Peacock for EnglishClub
© EnglishClub.com

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