There's not much I can say about a timeless classic like this. I do appreciate this version, the footnotes were certainly helpful in understanding some of the language and puns. There are also multiple articles included that bring a better understanding to the background of the play, how it was written and the different versions and changes that have occurred to the text per the years ( )

The Norton Critical edition - [Romeo and Juliet]
The BBC production - Romeo and Juliet 1978

Hot bloodied Italians Punished.

The first time I read Romeo and Juliet was as a teenager in school and I read it again a couple of times later in life. It has never been my favourite Shakespeare play although it had spawned two great films that I like very much: Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet and Baz Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet and then of course there is West Side Story. The popularity of this so called tragic love story is reflected in it being placed at 99 in LibraryThing's list of popular reads. Reading it again last week I had many of the themes buzzing around in my head. The chorus which opens the quarto 2 version lays out the plot in fairly simple terms and the reader is on safe ground here, but act 1 scene 1 has minor characters talking about coals and colliers, collars and choler and suddenly there is deluge of puns and word play, which can wrong foot the reader who might have been expecting a more easy ride through the play. It is not until Prince Escalus appears some 80 lines later to stop the fighting that a more orderly language is resumed. The surprises kept coming.

The machismo language of the opening scene and the casual word play is in contrast with the dreamy love sick Romeo (not love sick for Juliet when we first meet him, but for the unattainable Rosaline) and his language of the sonneteer. The death of Mercutio in act 1 of scene 3 starts the series of events the lead to the deaths of most of the younger major characters, but by this time we have already had the now famous love sonnet played in tandem, between Romeo and Juliet. The words and language of courtly love, where the only tragedy is to the imagined feelings of the poet is in sharp contrast to the murder and mayhem that unfolds in this play. This is a balancing act that would have appealed to the more educated audience in Elizabethan times, but may not be noticed so easily by a modern audience. I wonder if Shakespeare had his tongue in his cheek with some of this writing, because by 1595/6 when this play first appeared the writing of love sonnets had reached a stage where the popularity of the form had resulted in some pretty awful poetry, everyone seemed to want to have a go at writing it and Shakespeare at this time was probably more famous as a sonneteer than a playwright.

Another surprise for me was the repeated statement and references to the age of Juliet. She is still only 13 when she meets Romeo and is dead some four days later, never seeing her fourteenth birthday. Characters remark on Juliets age, but then again agree that it is not too early for a young girl to be married. This is emphasised and yet this would seem unnecessary for an Elizabethan audience, who would not have found this unusual. The plays action is telescoped into a mad period of time, everyone is in a hurry. Capulet wants his daughter married on Thursday to Paris and at the last moment brings it forward to Wednesday, summoning Paris from his bed. Romeo sees Juliet for the first time at a dance and she can't wait to be married the next day. This mad rush of events fits with the impetuousness of youth, there is hardly time to think, which may account for the tragic events that unfold. It is the elderly nurse and Friar Lawrence that have longer speeches and slow the play down. I had not realised previously the pace of this whirlwind romance leading to death, but then again this was Italy and the popular conception at the time was that Italians were hot-bloodied. Thinly disguised racism?

The themes of parental control and the fathers right to manage his daughter's life may have more of an impact on a modern audience. Juliet rebels against her fathers wishes, but her rebellion leads to a very early death. The homosociality of the fighting men in the first part of the play comes to an abrupt halt with the death of the perhaps homoerotic Mercutio. Romance and heterosexual relationship then takes centre stage with Romeo and Juliet. The County Paris also declares his love for Juliet, but in many ways appears little more than a plot device. There is certainly a lot going on in this play, more than I originally thought which is maybe why I found it a little uneven.

The central character's parts are difficult to play: To play a 13 year old girl as precocious and as sexy as Juliet's character demands is difficult for an older actress (this would not have been a different problem in Shakespear's time as the part would have been played by a young boy). Romeo as the dreamy passionate lover who is powerful enough to kill two men in combat and yet will die for the love of a young girl is also a bit of a stretch and calls for an actor who can have an immediate impact. The BBC production that I watched failed pretty miserably in the casting of Patrick Ryecart as Romeo, he looked too old and lacked any presence and Rebecca Saire as Juliet who was 14 at the time, had the youthful presence and a little steel about her, but was lacking in showing any eroticism or sexual desire. It was left to Celia Johnson as the Nurse, Michael Horden as Capulet and an edgy Alan Rickman as Tybalt to give the play any character. The Production followed pretty accurately the text of the play, which brought home to me the need for a director to pick and choose lines/speeches in order to shape the play in accordance with chosen themes, as it seems to me you can't have it all.

I read the Arden Shakespeare edition which has a good introduction that features a history of the performance of the play. I also read the Norton Critical edition which gives examples of Shakespeare's sources and plenty of latter day criticism. It also has essays by the actress Niamh Cusak on playing Juliet and David Tennant on playing Romeo. there are also articles on Franco Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet.

There are wonderful things in this play, the celebrated lines of love and romance, the Queen Mab speech by Mercutio and the numerous puns and wordplay dotted here and there. The plot ties up the loose ends and with the death of Mercutio moves on apace. The tragic and desperate ending is quick and efficient and there is a morale for those that like their tragedy bitter sweet. It is a good story which Shakespeare adapted in his own inimitable way. A masterpiece of course, but a play that I would like to see reviewed before I bought my ticket. 5 stars. ( )

Depois de viver uma temporada na cidade, uma família de pardais volta para mata. Apesar dos perigos que passaram, eles sentem saudades do sobradinho em que moraram. Numa visita ao Dr. Coruja, eles ficam sabendo que não estão vivendo em seu hábitat e que sempre haverá perigos a superar. Mudam-se com seus filhos para o Vale dos Pardais e, em contato com seus iguais, vão entender o que significa usar a "força da fraqueza".

Depois de viver uma temporada na cidade, uma família de pardais volta para mata. Apesar dos perigos que passaram, eles sentem saudades do sobradinho em que moraram. Numa visita ao Dr. Coruja, eles ficam sabendo que não estão vivendo em seu hábitat e que sempre haverá perigos a superar. Mudam-se com seus filhos para o Vale dos Pardais e, em contato com seus iguais, vão entender o que significa usar a "força da fraqueza".

Romeo y Julieta
William Shakespeare
Publicado: 1597
Teatro Drama Infantil Juvenil

Una tragedia de amor juvenil, apasionado y sin límites. Su autor, William Shakespeare, nos presenta a dos familias —los Montesco y los Capuleto— grandes enemigos desde hace años.
Romeo Montesco conoce a Julieta en una fiesta organizada por su familia, los Capuleto. Romeo, que acude a la fiesta enmascarado, se acerca a Julieta. Surge entonces un amor apasionado entre los jóvenes de las dos familias rivales. El amor que dará lugar a un conflicto de fatales consecuencias para los amantes.