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Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s Reviews > Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
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True confessions time: I've read Romeo and Juliet at least once, maybe more (probably it was in one of my college English courses) and mostly thought, great poetry, but GAH! silly kids! idiotic people! I've seen it on stage once or twice -- one production cast Romeo's family entirely with black actors and Juliet's family with white ones, to bring the feuding a little closer to home, I guess. It was interesting, but still, didn't really move me. I'm sure I teared up during the final scene, but I'm easy to manipulate emotionally that way. Books and movies make me cry All. The. Time. It's not a major achievement.
And then I saw the movie Shakespeare in Love (on cable TV, years after it was in the theaters). The movie has Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow doing numerous scenes from R&J together, not to mention a little Dame Judi Dench on the side, which always helps, and I totally ate it up. The actors were amazing, and it hit me right in the heart.
So all of that is to say that yes, Shakespeare is a genius, but sometimes it just takes the right set of actors in one of his shows to make you love it emotionally as well as intellectually. Which reminds me of my favorite actors ever in a Shakespeare production, Oberon and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream ... but that's a different story.
And then I saw the movie Shakespeare in Love (on cable TV, years after it was in the theaters). The movie has Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow doing numerous scenes from R&J together, not to mention a little Dame Judi Dench on the side, which always helps, and I totally ate it up. The actors were amazing, and it hit me right in the heart.
So all of that is to say that yes, Shakespeare is a genius, but sometimes it just takes the right set of actors in one of his shows to make you love it emotionally as well as intellectually. Which reminds me of my favorite actors ever in a Shakespeare production, Oberon and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream ... but that's a different story.
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James
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rated it 4 stars
May 03, 2017 04:52PM
Great points. Adored Shakespeare in love.
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I love Shakespeare, but this is not my favorite play. It was actually written very early in his career!
I am always soooo torn about this. The writing is superb as always but I just HATE Romeo and Juliet and the events in this because of all the stupidity and hypocrisy (had Romeo lived, he would have never been faithful and yet the girl died for him)!*lol*
Sorry, I'm gonna cut this rant short now. Great review though.
I'm currently reading No Bed for Bacon, which apparently served as the basis for Shakespeare in Love. I'm really enjoying it--despite being written in 1941, it does not feel dated at all.
I've never heard of No Bed for Bacon, Wanda. Sounds interesting!Trish, that's an interesting thought, that Romeo never would have been faithful if he had survived. He did kill himself for Juliet, but of course he was young and impulsive. So you could be right.
Wanda wrote: "I'm currently reading No Bed for Bacon, which apparently served as the basis for Shakespeare in Love. I'm really enjoying it--despite being written in 1941, it does not feel dated at all."I'm going to check this one out.
This could be my favourite Shakespeare work. My favourite staging was the old Olivia Hussey one - my first avatar on here was Olivia in this role.
Doesn't every teen girl looovvee this play? I did. The Zefferelli film is beautiful. The Baz Lurman version... not so much. I let my little sister talk me into taking her and while she loved it, I thought it was weird.
i Do not think that their love is stupid and childish because lets say you were in love but you were forbidden to see them or love them because you family are not friend or their enemies. I think their true love because they die together but the only thing their love did was kill people only because they inter fried but their love is true.
Yes I agreed with you because I get it that Romeo was desperate for Juliet and they were just some silly kids. Yes the scenes were really intresting and the author does get your attention.
yes i agree because this book is more about love and hated.we see that romeo and Juliet are just kids they don´t know what is love
I have to say I’ve come to view Romeo and Juliet in much the same way! And I also agree that live versions make a huge difference, it’s how Shakespeare’s meant to be experienced. Even then, I find the comedies much more accessible - have seen some fantastic versions. The tragedies, hmmm....less so.
I'm with you on the play versus what great actors and adaptors can do with it! The thing that made the tears gush for me in Shakespeare in Love was the lovely poetic bit at the end that sounds like a quote from Twelfth Night but is actually pure Tom Stoppard. Have you seen Baz Luhrmann's movie Romeo + Juliet? For me, Luhrmann's only really effective movie (sorry, Moulin Rouge left me cold), and it made wonderful use of Prince's music.
I’ve heard of Romeo + Juliet but never watched it, but you’ve convinced me I need to. :)
