If anyone else had written a play about two dumbass hormonal teenagers and their “true love at first sight” shenanigans I probably would have one-starred it. Somehow, though, Shakespeare makes it work, even if there's waaaaaaay too much talk of thirteen-year-old Juliet's “maidenhead.” Four stars.

This is overrated. A bit. Just a tiny bit.

Never have thirteen year olds sounded so elegant and poetic yet acted like the biggest dumb dumbs

Teenagers are wild
And yet I wish but for the thing I have:
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.

This is the first William Shakespeare I've read and it was interesting how the conclusion is literally in line 6 of the prologue.

It really isn’t easy English to read, very indirect sentences, although at time the dialogue and wit is razor sharp. For instance near the end Romeo takes a shot at capitalism in a few sentences:
The world is not thy friend, nor the world’s law;
The world affords no law to make thee rich;
Then to be not poor, but break it, and take this.
My poverty, but not my will, consents.

The drama and everything coming together conveniently (including a sudden outbreak of the plague) is quite reminiscent to Victor Hugo his writing much later.
Overall the writing is very filmic, you can see every scene before your eyes while reading and there's so much drama and tight packed events clustered into this, with a lot of violence and death.
For instance the father of Juliet responds as follows on the unfortunate infatuation of his daughter:
My fingers itch. - Wife, we scarce thought us blest
That God had sent us but this only child;
But now I see this one is one too much

There is some criticism to be given from a modern reader perspective.
Nowhere do we really get to know why Romeo and Juliet love each other, they are hardly fleshed out characters besides him apparently being an excellent swordsman. And the whole family feud is nowhere clarified or charged with some kind of background.
And why would a friar have a magical potion (and if he hadn’t facilitated the kids every step along the way I think they’d be less spoiled and dead set on getting what they want)?

What I also found very funny, beside Romeo being compared to a dishcloth when rated against another suitor of Juliet, was how multiple characters comment on how only last week Romeo was in “love” with Rosaline.
That Juliet is only 13 (and already overdue in getting married according to her parents) does not help in taking the whole plot and emotions felt by Romeo and Juliet very serious, despite the grim ending.
A quick and quite fun classic, about maybe more the dangers of teenage overdramatic tendencies than true love persé.

ACT 5. S CENE 1.
M ANTUA .
A STREET .
[ Enter ROMEO]

Now is Romeo where I am.
Yesterday was I where Romeo was.

Started this on the train from Mantua to Verona yesterday, continued on the way back to Mantua, and finished it today on the train from Mantua to Parma. This is perfect reading for a train trip, the rhythm of the words goes well with the rhythm of the train...

I particularly love the verbal jousting:
'Why, then is my pump well-flow’red.'
'Well said! Follow me this jest now till thou hast worn out thy pump, that, when the single sole of it is worn, the jest may remain, after the wearing, solely singular.'
'O single-soled jest, solely singular for the singleness!'
'Come between us, good Benvolio! My wits faint'.
'Swits and spurs, swits and spurs! or I’ll cry a match.
'Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, I have done; for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?'
'Thou wast never with me for anything when thou wast not there for the goose.'

More anon..

n  n
Romeo and Juliet is an enduring tragic love story between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet written by William Shakespeare. It is also a story of the family feud between the Montagues and Capulets and how it affects the romance between Romeo and Juliet. The story is set in Verona and Mantua in Italy.

I have more than a dozen friends who love to read works with romance as the central theme. I was surprised to see that most of them haven't read this masterpiece yet. If you are an ardent fan of romance or William Shakespeare, you should never miss the opportunity to read this book.

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n  n    “My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.”n  n

n  n    “Don't waste your love on somebody, who doesn't value it.”n  n

mercutio was THAT bitch

needs more smut

Romeo and Juliet = The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, written by William Shakespeare early in his career, about two young star-crossed lovers, whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families.

Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity.

The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567.

Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris.

Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597.

The text of the first quarto version was of poor quality, however, and later editions corrected the text to conform more closely with Shakespeare's original.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «رومئو و ژولیت»؛ «رومئو و جولیت شعر عربی ترجمه علی احمد باکثیر»؛ «رومیو و ژولیت»؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1977میلادی

عنوان: رومئو و ژولیت؛ ویلیام شکسپیر؛ مترجم علی اصغر حکمت؛ مقایسه با لیلی و مجنون نظامی، تهران، در 248ص؛ 1332؛ در سال 1333 و سال1335خورشیدی با عنوان پنج حکایت؛

عنوان: رومئو و ژولیت؛ ویلیام شکسپیر؛ مترجم: هدایت کاظمی؛ تهران، نشر هنر، سال 2536 = 1356؛ در 225ص؛ موضوع نمایشنامه های نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 16م

مترجم: علاء الدین پازارگادی؛ تهران، علمی و فرهنگی، 1375؛ در 223ص؛ چاپ دهم 1385؛ شابک 9789644451676؛ چاپ چهاردهم 1392؛

مترجم: فواد نظیری؛ تهران، نشر روایت، 1375؛ در 191ص؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، ثالث، 1377، شابک 9646404332؛ چاپ بعدی 1380، چاپ هفتم 1394؛ در 191ص؛ شابک 9789646404335؛ چاپ هشتم 1395؛

مترجم: هوشنگ آزادی ور؛ نشر مرداد، 1379؛ در نه و 147ص؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، رشدیه؛ 1395؛ در 184ص؛ شابک 9786009168576؛

مترجم: مریم رسولی؛ تهران، اردیبهشت، 1390؛ در 223ص؛ شابک 9789641710882؛

مترجم: مریم نظری؛ مصطفی اکبری؛ قم، نوید ظهور، 1393؛ در 144ص؛

مترجم: شیما طیبی جزایری؛ تهران، گیسا، 1393؛ در 82ص؛ برای نوجوانان

مجله فرهنگی «بهار»، که در سال 1328خورشیدی توسط «یوسف اعتصامی (ملقب به اعتصام‌الملک پدر پروین اعتصامی)» منتشر میشد، در شناساندن «شکسپیر» جایگاه ویژه‌ ای داشت؛ در یکی از نخستین شماره‌ های آن ماهنامه، نخستین بیوگرافی کامل درباره ی «شکسپیر» منتشر کرده، و از «شکسپیر» به عنوان «یکی از اعاظم شعرا و اساتید ارباب نظم و نثر» یاد نموده است؛ «اعتصام‌الملک» که به زبان‌های «عربی» و «فرانسه» تسلط داشتند، افزون بر اشعار، به نمایشنامه‌های «شکسپیر» نیز توجه نشان دادند، و برخی از آنها را، با نامهای «افسانه لیر (شاه لیر)» و «ای محبوبه من رومیو و ژولیت)» به فارسی برگرداندند

ترجمه های بسیاری با عنوان «رومئو و ژولیت» چاپ شده، که بازنگاری نویسندگان، از اثر: «ویلیام شکسپیر» است، که به فارسی برگردان شده اند

تراژدی «رومئو و ژولیت»، روایت داستان دو دلداده ی عاشق، و از نخستین آثار استاد سخن «ویلیام شکسپیر» است؛ ایشان کششی به آثار عاشقانه دوران باستان داشتند؛ درونمایه، براساس داستانی «ایتالیائی» است، که به صورت شعر، و با عنوان «تاریخ باستانی رومئو و ژولیت»، اثر «آرتور برووک»، در سال 1562میلادی، و به صورت نثر، در سال 1591میلادی، توسط «ویلیام پینتر»، نوشته شده اند؛ «شکسپیر»، در نگارش اثر خویش، از هر دو اثر سود برده، و شخصیتهای «مرکوشیو» و «پاریس» را نیز دیگر کرده، اثر ایشان، نخستین بار در سال 1597میلادی، به چاپ رسیده است؛

چکیده: قهرمانان نمایشنامه، دختر و پسری، از دو خانواده ی بزرگ و رقیب، در شهر «ورونا» هستند، که با یکدیگر دشمنی، و اختلاف دیرینه دارند؛ «رومئو»، که از خاندان «مونتگیو» است، به امید دیدار با «رزالین»، دختری که «رومئو» دلباخته اش شده، به ضیافت «لرد کپیولت» می‌رود؛ آنجاست که «رومئو»، دختر «لرد کپیولت»، «ژولیت» را دیدار، و «رزالین» را فراموش می‌کند و ...؛ ...؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 28/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 11/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

TW: suicide, death

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Disclaimer: While I agree with my past opinion of liking this play, I would definitely have a much deeper and more appreciative opinion if I had read it now, as my tastes have definitely matured since then. I was a 14-year-old hater when I wrote this and I really didn’t understand the purpose and significance of this play.

- - -

I do not care about this book or anyone in it at all. We've been reading it in school for two months now, and for the life of me, I never enjoyed reading it once. Not even when I was assigned to read as the Nurse, which was actually kind of agonizing. Everyone in my English class would be assigned to read for a specific role in each class, and we all hated it. No one in my class liked this book. I understand that it's a ClAsSiC so I should appreciate them...but no. I don't see why I should have to slave through Old English and the troubles of an instalovey forbidden romance plot. Please.

Romeo and Juliet, as everyone should know by now, is a tragedy by Shakespeare that illustrates the forbidden love between Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. The Montague and Capulet families have personal vendettas against each other, as has been going on for centuries, but after Romeo sneaks into a Capulet party to find his rejected love, Rosaline, he sets his sights upon Juliet instead, and they instantly fall in love. It's also so dramatically boring. If you just read my plot summary and thought this would interest you, it probably wouldn't.

Normally, I'd continue this negative review by saying something I enjoyed about it...but I genuinely can't think of anything. I've rated it two stars because I didn't think it matched the level of The Catcher in the Rye or The Old Man and the Sea, but there was still nothing good about this book at all. The characters were all bland, the romance was stale, and I couldn't comprehend the writing. If you feel like you should respond to that by saying, "yOu'Re sO iMmAtUrE, iT's ShAkEsPeArE aNd OlD EnGlIsh," then I'll say, yes. That's true. And? Just because it was written in the 1500s doesn't mean I have to appreciate it, or try understanding the Old English, or think that because it's an old book, I shouldn't need to love the plot or characters the same way I do with the typical books I read. I know the writing is outdated, and if it's outdated, then why are we even reading it?

Romeo and Juliet were not in love, I'm sorry to say. I'm pretty sure the point of Romeo and Juliet is to differentiate between love and infatuation, but I feel the need to come out and say that because my friend loved this book because of the romance. Romeo and Juliet met when they were teenagers and made out within thirty seconds of meeting each other. Then they fell "in love" and got married within the week. The whole book was some sort of instalove fantasy. I'm sorry, but I really don't see how this sort of plot appeals to people. When I read about romance, I want the storylines to feel real. Even if the point of this story was to illustrate that they weren't really in love, the way it was written was made to seem as if Shakespeare wanted everyone to believe they were in love. There didn't seem to be anything ironic about it.

The fact that my English teacher wanted us to interpret certain scenes as comedic relief was actually funny to me. No matter what context, a man celebrating his daughter's arranged marriage is not funny. A priest ordering around his servants is not funny. Either way, how am I supposed to find something funny if I can barely understand it? Are there some sort of medieval sex jokes that I'm missing or is Shakespeare just a terrible comedian?

I was so frustrated with most of these characters too. Romeo was impulsive and stupid, Juliet was a wet rag, Friar Laurence was a manipulative failing grade, the parents were all possessive, Paris and Tybalt were possessive, and the Nurse was annoying. Why couldn't Mr. William Shakespeare give me a break to enjoy the story for a second? I legitimately wanted nothing to do with any of these characters, and whenever someone would die, I seriously wouldn't care.

In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet is a dry toerag of a book with no personality and a boring plot. I guess it does kind of teach a lesson...don't commit suicide for a man you just met. I'm sorry, I just can't stand behind dusty old classics that I can't understand, which therefore have no meaning to me. "aNdReA, yOu'Re YoUnG...ToO yOuNg tO UnDeRsTaNd tHeSe dEeP MeAnInGs...iT'S a BriLlIaNt BoOk...". Thank you very much, I don't think anyone with a perfectly functioning brain should be forced to like a book with outdated themes and language that they can't understand.

I saw this book/play described as "A love affair between a 17 year old and a 13 year old that left 6 people dead". Good description.