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Romeo & Juliet (Short Classics) Review

Two teenagers from rival families fall in love, marry secretly, and take their own lives rather than live without each other. Despite the teenage melodrama, "Romeo and Juliet" remains one of Shakespeare's most enduring and popular plays, even if it wasn't his best -- lots of death, teen lovers and enchanting dialogue.

In the city of Verona, the Montagues and Capulets are locked in a deadly feud. Then a Montague teen named Romeo, infatuated with a Capulet girl named Rosaline, sneaks into a party to see her.... but instead encounters another Capulet girl named Juliet, and the two immediately fall in love. Since their families hate each other, their love must be expressed in secret.

Hoping to unite the two families, the kindly priest Friar Lawrence assists the two in marrying in secret. But then Juliet's cousin Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel, leading to the death of two men -- and Romeo's exile from Verona. Even worse, the Capulets have decided to marry Juliet to Count Paris -- leading to a desperate plan that goes horribly awry.

"Romeo and Juliet" is a play that is hard to pin down -- some see it as the poetry-laden embodiment of romantic love, while others view it as Shakespeare's witty jabs at fickle teenage infatuation and how melodramatic the kids are (Juliet is only thirteen!). But whatever you think it is, it's undeniable that it's a beautifully written, often-wrenching story.

Despite the simplicity of the story, Shakespeare spins it in a silken web of lush poetry ("O swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon/That monthly changes in her circled orb") and the famous speeches where Romeo and Juliet speak at night on a balcony. The mostly romantic play takes a dark turn towards the end, when only a few minutes might have changed the fates of "Juliet and her Romeo."

And Shakespeare seems rather fond of his characters here, depicting Romeo as a passionate young boy and Juliet as rather sweetly insecure young girl; there's also a fairly good cast of young men whose spirits are more elevated than their brains, and the kindly friar who rather naively hopes to use the kids to create peace.

But Shakespeare was also clearly aware that passionate teenage love is not necessarily the truest love ("Young men's love then lies/Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes"), and leaves you wondering what might have happened if Romeo and Juliet had lived.

Whether a gentle mockery of young love or a passionate, idealized romance, "Romeo and Juliet" is a timeless and lovely little play. Not the best of the Bard, but still quite good.

Romeo & Juliet (Short Classics) Overview

This innovative edition of one of Shakespeare's most beloved plays offers modernized texts not only of the 1599 quarto but also of the short, or "bad" quarto of 1597, regarding each as witness to a "mobile text" which changed in composition as Shakespeare wrote it and which has continued to evolve throughout its richly varied history, both in the theatre and in film, television, opera, and ballet. The more familiar 1599 text is accompanied by a detailed explanatory commentary. The Introduction traces the Romeo and Juliet narrative from its origins in myth through its adaptation in the novella, and shows how Shakespeare's transmutation of the story reflects contemporary concerns with love, death, adolescence, and patriarchism.

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Customer Reviews

have not received my order - Lori L. Moores - Texas
I have this recording on audio cassette, and I was very excited to find the same version on CD. However, after a month of waiting, I still have not received my order. I was not notified by the company in any way that the order had been back-ordered, but they certainly did not hesitate to go on and take the money out of my bank account. I thought that normally when items were backordered, they waited to charge your account once the product was en route. I only discovered the backordered status after I contacted the company to ask where my order was located. I am sure that if I ever receive the product I will be quite pleased with it, but I am incredibly impatient, and I would have at least liked to have received a courtesy email detailing the delay. I don't think that is too much to ask.

My "Romeo and Juliet" personal opinion - Night Wisher - Argentina
We like and sometimes didn't like this book. "Romeo and Juliet" is based in an "impossible " love. We recommend you not reading this book if you don't like romantic stories.
Also this book didn't like us because it was boring and very difficult to read. I understand that was Shakespeare language but for these new generations is very difficult. In the other way, we like it because the characters did everything for completing their dreams. We could see that Romeo did every thing for being with Juliet.
Thank you for giving us this place for expressing our ideas.

Romeo & Juliet - Juan Alvarez - cordoba
Romeo & Juliet takes place in Verona in Feudal times. In that times women weren't given any rights. They couldn't hold property or discuss with their husband. This is shown during the whole book. Another thing different from nowadays was the language. Shakespeare uses a language, which I can't understand. So, in some parts were I don't know what a word means, the book becomes boring. Shakespeare, in a way, wrote female characters more intelligent and reflective than male, which in those times, women were objects. The story has different little stories in it. For example; the quarrel between the Capulet's gang and the Montague's; the impossible love between Romeo and Juliet; the trouble that Romeo has in Verona after killing Tybalt; Juliet has to marry Paris but she doesn't want and discusses bravely against her father; these make the story more interesting and it attracts the reader until the end.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 20, 2010 03:57:04

Children's Books

Friday, August 20, 2010