Scan barcode
rydr's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
judy_jj_07's review against another edition
3.0
3/5 ☆
"These violent delights have violent ends" - literally the only good quote!
I had to read this for school, so it's automatically not a good book
"These violent delights have violent ends" - literally the only good quote!
I had to read this for school, so it's automatically not a good book
thaurisil's review against another edition
5.0
Shakespeare is a genius.
That's the feeling I got when I first read R&J for school, and that's the feeling I still get now.
The love of Romeo and Juliet is famous, but less noticed is how Shakespeare brings this love out through contrast. Not just the contrast of love with hate between the two families, but also the contrast of true love with other views of love. Mercutio's view of love is sexual, Benvolio's is practical, the Nurse's is both sexual and practical, Lord and Lady Capulet's is about reputation, and even what Romeo intiallt thinks is love is really infatuation. Against this backdrop, Shakespeare makes the all-consuming, self-sacrificing love between Romeo and Juliet even more striking.
People complain that the story is about two kids who met, married and killed themselves over four days - what a ridiculously short period of time for a ridiculous series of events to occur. But the shortness of the time is one of the most brilliant aspects of the play. R&J is a play that builds up in tension. It starts off slow and cheerful, but when Mercutio, the funnyman, dies in Act 3, scenes get grimmer, death is foreshadowed more often, love gets more passionate, characters develop faster, and the action in general speeds up towards the final climax. By increasing the urgency of the action, through Romeo being banished, Lord Capulet bringing the wedding day forward, and Romeo arriving too early at Juliet's tomb, Shakespeare causes the already building tension to escalate. What I feel - and what I imagine any audience watching the play would feel - is a sense of excitement, and my feelings deepen together with the lovers' passion and despair, such that their deaths feel tragic.
The tension is increased by the depth of the young lovers' passion, again highlighted through contrast with Friar Lawrence's calm and reason. Shakespeare makes no excuse for their impulsivity which leads to their deaths. It is an unfortunate characteristic, bred of youth and oppression, and though it leads to tragedy, it also enhances every emotion and every colour.
In another one of Shakespeare's genius momemts, he announces at the start that the two die. We are left to think about why they die, and it is clear that impulsivity alone did not kill them. Fate had a hand as well. For all the criticisms of the Friar's plan, it might actually have worked, if the wedding had not been brought forward, if Romeo did not have access to a desperate apothecary, if Friar John was not quarantined, if Romeo had arrived at Juliet's tomb half an hour later or the Friar half an hour earlier, or if Romeo had realised that the reason Juliet looked alive was that she was alive. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. The tragedy was so unneeded.
Another common complaint is that Romeo is a whiny little boy and Juliet a princessy little girl. But the characters develop so much. As her father, mother, and Nurse abandon her, Juliet grows from being submissive to becoming independent, and we can see her backbone growing as she overcomes her fears for what she values most. Romeo takes a little longer, but eventually grows from a boy who threatens to kill himself with tears, wailing and self-pity to a man approaching his death with a grim calm and even hope. The other characters are well-developed too. None are all bad without reason, and neither are any all good. As the Friar says, "Virtue itself turns vice being misapplied, / And vice sometime's by action dignified."
As with all Shakespeare, the language is wonderful. It's amazing how anyone can say so much with so little.
I read a student edition, and I am glad I did. Among the things I would have otherwise missed was how Prince Escalus, a symbol of justice and order, appears at the start, middle and end, bringing order to chaos. There are also parallels between Veronese and Asian societies, including the patriarchal society, arranged marriage and the wise herbalist as a religious leader.
That's the feeling I got when I first read R&J for school, and that's the feeling I still get now.
The love of Romeo and Juliet is famous, but less noticed is how Shakespeare brings this love out through contrast. Not just the contrast of love with hate between the two families, but also the contrast of true love with other views of love. Mercutio's view of love is sexual, Benvolio's is practical, the Nurse's is both sexual and practical, Lord and Lady Capulet's is about reputation, and even what Romeo intiallt thinks is love is really infatuation. Against this backdrop, Shakespeare makes the all-consuming, self-sacrificing love between Romeo and Juliet even more striking.
People complain that the story is about two kids who met, married and killed themselves over four days - what a ridiculously short period of time for a ridiculous series of events to occur. But the shortness of the time is one of the most brilliant aspects of the play. R&J is a play that builds up in tension. It starts off slow and cheerful, but when Mercutio, the funnyman, dies in Act 3, scenes get grimmer, death is foreshadowed more often, love gets more passionate, characters develop faster, and the action in general speeds up towards the final climax. By increasing the urgency of the action, through Romeo being banished, Lord Capulet bringing the wedding day forward, and Romeo arriving too early at Juliet's tomb, Shakespeare causes the already building tension to escalate. What I feel - and what I imagine any audience watching the play would feel - is a sense of excitement, and my feelings deepen together with the lovers' passion and despair, such that their deaths feel tragic.
The tension is increased by the depth of the young lovers' passion, again highlighted through contrast with Friar Lawrence's calm and reason. Shakespeare makes no excuse for their impulsivity which leads to their deaths. It is an unfortunate characteristic, bred of youth and oppression, and though it leads to tragedy, it also enhances every emotion and every colour.
In another one of Shakespeare's genius momemts, he announces at the start that the two die. We are left to think about why they die, and it is clear that impulsivity alone did not kill them. Fate had a hand as well. For all the criticisms of the Friar's plan, it might actually have worked, if the wedding had not been brought forward, if Romeo did not have access to a desperate apothecary, if Friar John was not quarantined, if Romeo had arrived at Juliet's tomb half an hour later or the Friar half an hour earlier, or if Romeo had realised that the reason Juliet looked alive was that she was alive. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. The tragedy was so unneeded.
Another common complaint is that Romeo is a whiny little boy and Juliet a princessy little girl. But the characters develop so much. As her father, mother, and Nurse abandon her, Juliet grows from being submissive to becoming independent, and we can see her backbone growing as she overcomes her fears for what she values most. Romeo takes a little longer, but eventually grows from a boy who threatens to kill himself with tears, wailing and self-pity to a man approaching his death with a grim calm and even hope. The other characters are well-developed too. None are all bad without reason, and neither are any all good. As the Friar says, "Virtue itself turns vice being misapplied, / And vice sometime's by action dignified."
As with all Shakespeare, the language is wonderful. It's amazing how anyone can say so much with so little.
I read a student edition, and I am glad I did. Among the things I would have otherwise missed was how Prince Escalus, a symbol of justice and order, appears at the start, middle and end, bringing order to chaos. There are also parallels between Veronese and Asian societies, including the patriarchal society, arranged marriage and the wise herbalist as a religious leader.
rickymatt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.75
ettieluva4eva's review against another edition
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
christin3vans's review against another edition
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
empresso35's review against another edition
3.0
Not a love story...a tale of what happens when young adults are left to their own devices without occasional adult supervision (the nurse and priest don't count as sane persons).
viryr's review against another edition
3.0
Una historia que plasma y trasmite la esencia de amar. Quizás una de las obras mas famosas de William Shakespeare.
Plasma el amor como algo inmutable, algo sublime que no le importa apellidos, clase social, formas de pensar y llevado con una historia en una época donde aun existía la caballerosidad, el respeto, el honor, las buenas costumbres, la lealtad familiar, etc. Un amor tan real, fuerte, que te hace mejor persona, que te mantiene enamorado pese a todas las circunstancias y que sería imposible sobrevivir sin ese amor, sin esa persona como ir a cielo y visitar la luna o las estrellas, la sensación de estar completos. Y el dolor que causa perderlo.
“Ven, dulce noche; ven, noche amorosa de cejas negras;
Dame mi Romeo; y, cuando muera,
tómalo y córtalo en pequeñas estrellas,
y él hará que el rostro del cielo sea tan hermoso
que todo el mundo estará enamorado de la noche...”
Plasma el amor como algo inmutable, algo sublime que no le importa apellidos, clase social, formas de pensar y llevado con una historia en una época donde aun existía la caballerosidad, el respeto, el honor, las buenas costumbres, la lealtad familiar, etc. Un amor tan real, fuerte, que te hace mejor persona, que te mantiene enamorado pese a todas las circunstancias y que sería imposible sobrevivir sin ese amor, sin esa persona como ir a cielo y visitar la luna o las estrellas, la sensación de estar completos. Y el dolor que causa perderlo.
“Ven, dulce noche; ven, noche amorosa de cejas negras;
Dame mi Romeo; y, cuando muera,
tómalo y córtalo en pequeñas estrellas,
y él hará que el rostro del cielo sea tan hermoso
que todo el mundo estará enamorado de la noche...”
vickie05's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0