This moment feels like the right one to re-integrate literature book clubs back into the classroom, alongside Reading Workshop, and other forms of student-centered instruction. Luckily, my English 9 colleagues here in the building have been thinking about making the same instructional adjustments next year.
We have been collaborating to build a list of robust book titles from which students can choose during the corresponding unit. Those three questions led to my simple request for a few book titles. I was hoping to get six or seven replies. I should have known better! I have received many titles in return from the Twitterverse! In sorting through all of the tweets, I had quite the English teacher moment.
Alongside the suggestions was an entire backchannel conversation between authors and teachers about how much these books mean to teachers and students. Perhaps the two lovers weren't truly in love, but their last living moments were spent believing so, so what does it matter?
How can on The people who dislike this play are the ones who view common sense over being rational, and prefer to view the world in a structured way. How can one truly know if one is in love? Is it a feeling? In that case, what is a feeling? If you believe you are in love, then you may as well be, contrary to what others might say. The argument with the 'weak' plot; Shakespeare didn't invent Romeo and Juliet. It was infact a poem which is constantly being adapted over time.
Shakespeare did add in some aspects but the meeting in the ballroom, Tybalts death, the sleeping draught and such were already in the poem. I personally love this play, purely because it's an escape from this modern world. I'm not saying I like the treatment of women, nor the fighting, but it's like a different world that i'm never going to experience, and reading it through Shakespeare's gorgeous writing makes Verona seem all the more romantic.
View all 49 comments. May 12, Bill Kerwin rated it it was amazing Shelves: tudor-drama , 16thth-c-brit. Two things struck me during this re-reading: 1 From the first scene of the play, the sexual puns are drenched in metaphorical violence drawing your weapon, laying knife aboard, forcing women to the wall, etc. Shakespeare would create many other such characters, but these three are the first. View all 29 comments. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity.
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 and , the play was first published in a quarto version in 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.
View 2 comments. It would have saved a lot of heart ache. View all 21 comments. Feb 19, Manny rated it it was amazing Shelves: why-not-call-it-poetry , life-is-shakespeare. Every emo fourteen year old's dream. So how did Shakespeare manage to Every emo fourteen year old's dream. So how did Shakespeare manage to turn this heap of crap, which even Zac Efron would think twice about, into one of the most moving stories of all time? If you still need proof that he was a genius, look no further.
View all 33 comments. It is always so satisfying to read a book you've heard so much about throughout your life. You should have seen how excited I got when Juliet started saying "Romeo, o Romeo"! View all 6 comments. Jun 12, jessica rated it it was amazing.
View all 8 comments. Dec 31, Brina rated it really liked it Shelves: romance , classics , plays , shakespearean. Happy , everyone! I thought I would get the year off on the right track by reading my first book for classics bingo in the group catching up on classics One of the squares on this year's board is to read a book published before the 18th century, and, because Romeo and Juliet is one of this month's group reads, I decided to mark off this square early.
Way back in ninth grade, I read Romeo and Juliet. I happened to have a teacher who assigned us outside of the box assignments Happy , everyone!
I happened to have a teacher who assigned us outside of the box assignments such as writing letters between the primary characters or keeping Juliet's diary. Thus, this Shakespearean tragedy remains more memorable to me than some of the other dramas I have read over the years. Yet, the play still warranted a reread through adult eyes so here I am, beginning by reading Shakespeare.
I will be the first to admit that I although I enjoy reading through modern drama, usually Pulitzer winners, Shakespeare is tough for me. The language I am able to slog through; however, most plots are dull and leave me with much to be the desired.
The only dramas I enjoy enough to want to reread is The Merchant of Venice and MacBeth for their strong, female protagonists. Which, brings me back to Romeo and Juliet.
Most people know the basis of the story, one that has been retold so many times that it is part of western vernacular. My favorite version of Romeo and Juliet is the musical Westside Story.
The song that begins "when you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way" sets the tone for the entire musical: the Jets and Sharks just flat out don't like each other but they are loyal to members of their own gang until their last dying day. This plot comes right out of Romeo and Juliet which features the Montagues and Capulets of Verona who have been feuding for time eternal. Like its more modern counterpart, the Montagues and Capulets just flat out don't like one another no matter the circumstances.
It has always been thus and no member of the leadership of either family has done anything to lessen the feud. All these feelings of ill will change on one special night when young Romeo Montague is smitten with Juliet Capulet at a masked ball. The two instantly fall in love and do everything in their power to hide their romance from their feuding family members, parents included. Combine this with the aspect of star crossed lovers who are going against the prevailing trends of society, and there are many directions that a teacher can go in while discussing this with students.
Boys will like enjoy the dueling between members of the Montagues and Capulets and perhaps also the innuendo imagery that Romeo uses to describe Juliet whereas, perhaps, girls will swoon over the descriptions of Romeo and how he does everything in his power to marry and be with Juliet for all eternity. Reading through adult eyes and admittedly 21st century eyes, I enjoyed the plot myself as well as descriptions of Juliet. The star-crossed lover unique aspect of this play allowed me to read it quicker than I would with other Shakespearean drama that I find tedious to get through at best.
Despite the imagery and the storyline, Shakespeare's language was still a bore for me to read. The planning and plotting and long soliloquies made for heavy reading. The story of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet and the consequences of their relationship could be completed in one to two acts.
Yet, then the story would not be a Shakespearean five act timeless classic. Perhaps because I am reading this drama during the 21st century where people need information before it happens makes plays with more speaking than action too slow at times for modern readers. Even with modern literature, unless it is quality literary fiction, I find it sluggish to get through slow moving novels with little plot movement, and prefer those novels with shorter chapters.
After rereading a number of Shakespearean plays over the past few years I have come to realize that unless there is a lot of plot development-- feuding, fighting, falling in love, illicit marriage, more fighting-- that it is a challenge for me to get through the text.
Lucky for me that Romeo and Juliet contains the elements of a quality story so it is only the text that challenges me, not the story itself. Shakespeare's story of star-crossed lovers remains timeless classic that has been redone many times over. Romeo and Juliet have made appearances in some form on Broadway plays to Hollywood movies including a modern version starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo. Without stretching one's imagination all that much, Romeo and Juliet even resurface in the Star Wars story during the prequel trilogy.
Their imagery is everywhere in modern society and by telling of two feuding groups as a backdrop, Shakespeare created a tale that could relate to people across many places and times, from school groups to rival governments. Now that I got through my first book of the year I am excited to get a jump start on bingo and my other challenges, both in groups and personal ones.
Whether I read another Shakespeare remains to be seen because at the end of the day, if there are no feuds, fights, star-crossed lovers, and other elements of a modern story, Shakespeare's long soliloquies are not really my taste.
View all 15 comments. Ultimately, the characters love does resolve the hatred, but at the price of their lives. Trusting her entire life and future to Romeo shows courage but also desperation, particularly after he killed her cousin and requires her to turn against her family. Though impulsive and immature, he shows idealism and great passion. Romeo goes to extremes to prove the seriousness of his feelings, secretly marries Juliet, kills her cousin in a duel and would rather die than live without his beloved.
Double Suicide Juliet takes a potion to appear as dead, Romeo believes her to be actually dead and kills himself with poison, Juliet awakes and stabbes herself in the heard The themes of death and violence permeate Romeo and Juliet, and they are always connected to passion, whether that passion is love or hate.
In the play, love is a grand passion, and as such it is blinding; it can overwhelm a person as powerfully and completely as hate can. The passionate love between Romeo and Juliet is linked from the moment of its inception with death. Juliets cousin determines to kill Romeo, just as he catches sight of Juliet and falls instantly in love with her.
Romeo and Juliet are plagued with thoughts of suicide, and a willingness to experience it. Romeo brandishes a knife and threatens to kill himself after he has been banished from Verona and his love. Juliet also pulls a knife in order to take her own life. Finally, each imagines that the other looks dead the morning after their first, and only, sexual experience.
This theme continues until its inevitable conclusion: double suicide. This tragic choice is the highest, most potent expression of love that Romeo and Juliet can make. It is only through death that they can preserve their love, and their love is so profound that they are willing to end their lives in its defense. In the play, love emerges as an amoral thing, leading as much to destruction as to happiness.
But in its extreme passion, the love that Romeo and Juliet experience also appears so exquisitely beautiful that few would want, or be able, to resist its power.
The enmity between their families, coupled with the emphasis placed on loyalty and honor, combine to create a profound conflict for Romeo and Juliet, who must rebel against their heritages and their Christianity. Further, the patriarchal power structure inherent in Renaissance families, wherein the father controls the action of all other family members, particularly women, places Juliet in an extremely vulnerable position. Their love gives both lovers a sense of freedom.
But no sooner are the lovers happily married than the play shifts from comedy to tragedy. Romeo, believes himself freed from the feud kills Juliets Capulet cousin, after he killed his Montague friend. Although he was provoked into the murder, and would have been killed had he not killed first, he is no longer an innocent, blameless character. It now seems unlikely that Romeo and Juliet will be able to live happily together. Romeo is banished from Verona. Before he leaves, he and Juliet spend their first—and last—night together.
Neither character can go back to who they were before they met, but the possibility of them being together is very slim. For Romeo, reality takes the form of his banishment from Verona to Mantua, for Juliet, reality is her impending marriage Paris.
In a desperate attempt to escape her forced marriage, Juliet fakes her own death, using a sleeping potion. When Juliet finds Romeo dead, she stabs herself with his dagger. By killing themselves, the lovers accept that they are trapped by their fate. At the same time, they are freed from the world that has kept them apart. Are Romeo and Juliet really in love? Do they truly love each other, or has Romeo merely a teenage crush and Juliet sexual desire, fear of being married to a stranger and a possible way out?
Romeo begins the play claiming to be passionately in love with another woman, Rosaline. When he sees Juliet, he abandons Rosaline before he has even spoken to his new love, which suggests that his feelings for both women are superficial. Juliet, meanwhile, seems to be motivated by defying her parents. When they are together, Romeo and Juliet create a shared vocabulary. As their relationship develops, they use less rhyme, which has the effect of making their language feel less artificial.
Those who rush stumble and fall. For Romeo finding Juliet dead means that he became a murderer and was banished from his city for no reason. He betrayed his families alliance by marring the daughter of the enemy and thereby lost their sympathies and his home. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is not the power of their love, but that the lovers never get the chance to see if their love will grow into a mature, enduring relationship, that would have saved them. View all 27 comments.
Nov 19, Maureen rated it really liked it. Read this one many years ago so it was time for a reread. Witty, sarcastic, and sad, enjoyed it all over again.
Dec 05, Emily May rated it really liked it Shelves: plays , classics. In terms of language and style, Romeo and Juliet might possibly be the best of all Shakespeare's work. It's crammed full of some of the most beautiful poetry I've ever had the pleasure of reading. But the story of lust-filled teens sacrificing themselves because of an extreme burst of instalove? Never really been my cup of tea.
View all 13 comments. Apr 11, Henry Avila rated it it was amazing. The ultimate love story, years old, you may ask why? William Shakespeare's narrative , the poetry, a tragic saga drenched in beauty, the words are magical , a reader will be entranced by its imagery , no one could be better The "Never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo " The short but interesting lives, young marriages and early exists, the atmosphere thick with unseen calamities Romeo , a Montague, loves Juliet, a Capulet Hate is not them, passion is Romeo had gone with his friends to a perilous, masquerade party given annually by Juliet's father, at his house, the sumptuous feast is strictly off -limits to their archenemies the Montagues, of course this makes for a rather tantalizing challenge, brave or moronic , the youths want some excitement The Montague stranger immediately falls in love with this supposedly loathsome girl , of the rival evil clan, the daughter of the leader , the couple are smitten Then reality sets in Mercutio a good friend of Romeo's, is slain in a tawdry street brawl, by Tybalt Juliet's cousin Now what Juliet must decide, stay loyal to the family or continue to be a wife, their secret marriage performed by Friar Lawrence, he naively believed the joining of the two would end the foolish conflict Nevertheless blood flows again, even the Prince in the city cannot stop the animosity, his threatened harsh penalties, including death, does nothing to calm the situation.
Romeo is banished forever from town, the distraught daughter of a Capulet is told to marry Count Paris a relative of the ruler Prince Escalus How can a year-old girl, not quite a woman, cope. Her adoring servant, who raised her, yet an uneducated nurse, tells Juliet to marry Paris and forget her first wedding Will she Friar Lawrence has a dangerous plan A story that will be read again and again View all 18 comments.
I can't believe I've waited so long to read this classic play! I know about the disastrous duels, the secret marriage, the surprise suitor and the botched plan; and then there's the fatal ending And, when I shall die Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night And pay no worship to the garish sun.
Unforgettable read! Update: March, Oh Boy! View all 44 comments. Jan 07, James rated it really liked it Shelves: 1-fiction , 3-written-preth-century. Review As I looked over my previously read books and searched for one that was missing a review, Romeo and Juliet stood out to me. But then I thought about it Who hasn't read it in school sometime in the past?
Who hasn't watched a movie version or seen some sort of take on the classic tortured romance story? And why on earth would anyone care to read another review, let alone my review, on it? And I'm not that funny to even make reading my opinions worth it. That said Parents exist to torture their children. It's a simple fact. Love will always end in disaster. Don't attempt it without proper back-up.
Even though someone looks dead, they probably aren't. Kill them again just to be sure. Your bros or girls don't always have your back. Magic powders are the cure for everything. Always trust what you don't understand. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Lombardi, Esther. Romeo: Shakespeare's Famous Doomed Lover.
What Is Drama? Literary Definition and Examples. Juliet's Monologues From Shakespeare's Tragedy. What Is a Foil Character in Literature? Key 'Romeo and Juliet' Quotes. A Timeline of William Shakespeare's Life.
Power Couples of the Dark and Middle Ages. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.
These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. Why does Mercutio fight Tybalt? How does Romeo convince the reluctant Apothecary to sell him poison?
Who seems less impulsive and more realistic—Romeo or Juliet? Why does Friar Lawrence decide to marry Romeo and Juliet? Why does Romeo fight Tybalt? Is there a villain in the play, and, if so, who is it?
0コメント