Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet in the famous balcony scene by Ford Madox Brown

For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation).

Romeo and Juliet is a world-renowned tragedy by William Shakespeare concerning two young "star-cross'd lovers" and the role played by their tragic suicides in ending a long-running family feud. It is one of the most famous of Shakespeare's plays, one of his earliest theatrical triumphs, and is thought to be the most archetypal love story of the Renaissance and indeed the history of Western culture.

Sources

File:Verona01a.jpg

A bronze statue of Juliet below the famous balcony at Villa Capelletti in Verona, Italy

Romeo and Juliet is a dramatization of Arthur Brooke's narrative poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Shakespeare followed Brooke's poem closely but enriched its texture by adding extra detail to both major and minor characters, in particular the Nurse and Mercutio. Shakespeare also knew "The goodly History of the true and constant love of Rhomeo and Julietta", a prose retelling of the story by William Painter.

Brooke's poem was not original either, being a translation and adaptation of Giuletta e Romeo, by Matteo Bandello, included in his Novelle of 1554. This was in turn an adaptation of Luigi da Porto's Giulietta e Romeo, included in his Istoria novellamente ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti (c. 1530). This is the version that gave the story much of its modern form, including the names of the lovers, the rival families of Montecchi and Capuleti, and the location in Verona, in the Veneto. However, the earliest-known version of the tale is the 1476 story of Mariotto and Gianozza of Siena by Masuccio Salernitano, in Il Novellino (Novella XXXIII).

Bandello's story was the most famous and was translated into French (and into English by Brooke). It was also adapted by Italian theatrical troupes, some of whom performed in London at the time that Shakespeare was writing his plays. Although nothing is known of the repertory of these itinerant troupes, it is possible that they performed a version of the story.

This story of ill-fated lovers had obvious parallels with similar tales told throughout history, including those of Hero and Leander, Pyramus and Thisbe, Floris and Blanchefleur, Troilus and Cressida, Antony and Cleopatra, Layla and Majnun, Tristan and Iseult, Shirin and Farhad and Hagbard and Signy. Shakespeare was familiar with these stories, some of which were included in his other plays. The tale of Pyramus and Thisbe appears in comic mode in A Midsummer Night's Dream, while the Trojan War lovers, Troilus and Cressida, were given a history play of their own.

Date and text

Title page of the Second Quarto of Romeo and Juliet (published 1599)

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was published in two distinct quarto editions prior to the publication of the First Folio of 1623. These are referred to as Q1 and Q2. Q2's title page called the play '"The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet".

Q1, the first printed edition, appeared in 1597, printed by John Danter. Because its text contains numerous differences from the later editions, it is labelled a 'bad quarto': the twentieth century editor T. J .B. Spencer described it as "a detestable text, probably a reconstruction of the play from the imperfect memories of one or two of the actors."

The superior Q2 followed in 1599, published by Cuthbert Burby and printed by Thomas Creede. It is a much more complete and reliable text, and was reprinted in 1609 (Q3), 1622 (Q4) and 1637 (Q5). Its title page describes it as "Newly corrected, augmented and amended". Scholars believe that this text was based on Shakespeare's pre-performance draft, since there are textual oddities such as variable tags for characters and "false starts" for speeches that were presumably struck through by the author but erroneously preserved by the typesetter. Q2 contains 800 lines missing from Q1. Q2 also has an interestingly defective stage direction: it reads "Enter Will Kempe" instead of "Enter Peter" in IV,v,102.

The First Folio text of 1623 seems to be based primarily on Q3, with some clarifications and corrections possibly coming from a theatrical promptbook.

The greater part of Romeo and Juliet is written in iambic pentameter. However, the play is also notable for its copious use of rhymed verse, notably in the sonnet contained in Romeo and Juliet's dialogue in the scene where they first meet (Act I, Scene v, Lines 95-108).

Performance history

O Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? by William Hatherell

Romeo and Juliet was a popular play in Shakespeare's lifetime. Gary Taylor measures it as the sixth most popular of Shakespeare's plays, in the period after the death of Marlowe and Kyd but before the ascendancy of Jonson during which Shakespeare was London's dominant playwright.

After the theatres re-opened in the Restoration, Sir William Davenant staged a 1662 production in which Henry Harris played Romeo, Thomas Betterton was Mercutio, and Betterton's wife Mary Saunderson played Juliet. Thomas Otway's adaptation The History and Fall of Caius Marius, one of the more extreme of the Restoration versions of Shakespeare, debuted in 1680. The scene is shifted from Renaissance Verona to ancient Rome; Romeo is Marius, Juliet is Lavinia, the feud is between patricians and plebians; Juliet/Lavina wakes from her potion before Romeo/Marius dies. Otway's version was a hit, and was acted for the next seventy years. Theophilus Cibber mounted his own adaptation in 1744, followed by David Garrick's in 1748. Both Cibber and Garrick used variations on Otway's innovation in the tomb scene.

In 1750 came the so-called "Battle of the Romeos," with Spranger Barry and Susannah Maria Arne (Mrs. Theophilus Cibber) at Covent Garden versus David Garrick and George Anne Bellamy at Drury Lane. Shakespeare's original returned to the stage in 1845 in the United States (with the sisters Charlotte and Susan Cushman as Romeo and Juliet), and in 1847 in Britain (Samuel Phelps at Sadler's Wells).

Henry Irving's 1882 production at the Lyceum Theatre is considered an archetype of his "pictorial" style, placing the action on elaborate sets. Irving hmself played Romeo, and Ellen Terry played Juliet.

In one of the most notable twentieth century performances, staged by John Gielgud at the New Theatre in 1935, Gielgud and Laurence Olivier played the roles of Romeo and Mercutio, exchanging roles six weeks into the run, with Peggy Ashcroft as Juliet.

Other notable twentieth century productions include Guthrie McClintic's 1934 Broadway staging in which Katharine Cornell had a triumph as Juliet opposite Basil Rathbone as Romeo and Edith Evans (who also played the role in the Gielgud production) as the Nurse. Cornell later revived the production with Maurice Evans as Romeo and Ralph Richardson as Mercutio, both making their Broadway debuts. Franco Zeffirelli mounted a legendary staging for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1962 with John Stride and Judi Dench that served as the basis for his 1968 film.

Characters

The Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets (1854) by Frederic Leighton

Ruling house of Verona

• Prince Escalus: Prince of Verona

• Count Paris: Kinsman of Prince Escalus; desires to marry Juliet.
• Mercutio: Another kinsman of Prince Escalus; a friend of Romeo.

Capulets

• Lord Capulet: Patriarch of the house of Capulet.
• Lady Capulet: Matriarch of the house of Capulet; wishes Juliet to marry Paris.
• Juliet: Daughter of the Capulets; the female protagonist.
• Tybalt: Cousin of Juliet, nephew of Lady Capulet.

Capulet Servants

Juliet by Philip H. Calderon

• Nurse: Juliet's personal attendant and confidante: a comic figure who took care of little Juliet ever since she was an infant.
• Peter: Capulet servant, assistant to the nurse.
• Sampson: Capulet servant.
• Gregory: Capulet servant.

Montagues

• Lord Montague: Patriach of the house of Montague.
• Lady Montague: Matriarch of the house of Montague
• Romeo: Son of the Montagues; the male protagonist.
• Benvolio: Cousin and friend of Romeo.

Montague Servants

• Abraham: Montague servant.
• Balthasar: Romeo's personal servant.

Others

• Friar Lawrence: a Franciscan friar and Romeo's confidant.
• Chorus, who gives the opening prologue and one other speech, both in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet.
• Rosaline, an unseen character with whom Romeo briefly falls in love with before meeting Juliet.
• Friar John: Another friar.
• Apothecary: Druggist who reluctantly sells Romeo poison.

Synopsis

"Two Households, both alike in dignity ..."

— Chorus

Romeo and Juliet by Francesco Hayez

The play begins with a street-battle between two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The Prince of Verona, Escalus, intervenes with his men and declares that the heads of the two families will be held personally accountable for any further breach of the peace.

Later, Count Paris, a young nobleman, talks to Lord Capulet about marrying his thirteen-year-old daughter, Juliet. Capulet demurs, citing the girl's tender age, and invites him to attract the attention of Juliet during a ball that the family is to hold that night. Meanwhile, Juliet's mother tries to persuade her daughter to accept Paris' wooing during their coming ball. Juliet states that she will make an effort to love him, but will not go after what is not there. In this scene Juliet's nurse is introduced as a talkative and humourous character who has raised Juliet from infancy.

Meantime, Benvolio queries his cousin Romeo, Lord Montague's son, to find out the source of his melancholy. He discovers that it stems from an unrequited love for a girl named Rosaline. Upon the insistence of Benvolio and another friend, Mercutio, Romeo decides to attend the masquerade at the Capulet house, in hope of meeting Rosaline.

Alongside his masked friends, Romeo attends the ball as planned, but instead falls for Juliet, and she with him. After discovering that the lovers are of feuding blood, Romeo and Juliet meet on Juliet's balcony. Despite their families' feud, the two declare their love for each other and their intent to marry. With the help of the Franciscan Friar Lawrence, who hopes to reconcile the two families through their children's union, the two are married secretly the next day.

All seems well until Tybalt, Juliet's hot-blooded cousin, challenges Romeo to a duel for appearing in the Capulets' ball disguised. Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt as they are now kinsmen by marriage, but Mercutio, Romeo's companion, (unaware of the marriage) is incensed by Tybalt's insolence and accepts. In the ensuing duel, Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo tries to intervene. Romeo, angered by his friend's death, pursues and slays Tybalt, then flees.

Despite his promise to call for the head of the wrong-doers, the Prince merely exiles Romeo from Verona, reasoning that Tybalt first killed Mercutio, and Romeo merely carried out a just punishment to Tybalt, although without legal authority. Meanwhile, the Capulets engage their unwilling daughter to marry Paris in three days' time, threatening to disown her if she does not. The Nurse, once Juliet's confidante, now tells her she should discard the exiled Romeo and comply. Juliet desperately visits Friar Lawrence for help. He offers her a drug which will put her into a death-like coma for fourty-two hours. She is to take it, and, when discovered apparently dead, she will be laid in the family crypt. While in her sleep, the Friar will send a messenger to inform Romeo, so that she can rejoin him when she awakes.

Romeo at Juliet's Deathbed, by Johann Heinrich Füssli

The messenger, however, does not reach Romeo. Romeo instead learns of Juliet's "death" from his servant Balthasar. Grief-stricken, he buys strong poison from an apothecary, returns to Verona in secret, and visits the Capulets' crypt. He encounters Paris, who has come to mourn Juliet privately. Paris confronts Romeo, believing him to be a vandal, and in the ensuing battle, Romeo kills Paris. Romeo says his final words to the comatose Juliet and drinks the poison in suicide. Juliet then awakes. Friar Lawrence arrives and, aware of the cause of the tragedy, begs Juliet to leave, but she refuses. At the side of Romeo's dead body, she stabs herself with her lover's dagger.

The feuding families and the Prince meet at the tomb to find three of their families' dead. In explanation, Friar Lawrence recounts the story of the two lovers. Montague reveals that his wife has died of grief after hearing of her son's exile. The families are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud. The play ends with the Prince's brief elegy for the lovers. The Capulets erect a statue of Romeo and the Montagues will erect one of Juliet. The Prince makes his parting words: "For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Adaptations and cultural references

Plays

Romeo and Juliet statue in Central Park in New York City.

Adaptations of Romeo and Juliet have used modern settings. For instance, a version of the play which had Romeo as a Palestinian and Juliet as a Jew in Israel and the Palestinian territories were made, which criticizes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Similarly, versions have also been devised dealing with apartheid in South Africa, in which Romeo is black and Juliet is white.

A Native American version called Kino and Teresa was first produced in 2005 by Native Voices at the Autry in Los Angeles. Written by James Lujan, the historical play was set in 17th Century Santa Fe, seventeen years after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and revolved around the conflict between the Pueblo Indians and Spanish colonists.

The play Shakespeare's R&J, adapted by Joe Calarco, is about a group of Catholic school boys who steal a copy of Romeo and Juliet because all of Shakespeare's plays have been banned from their school, due to their lustful content. The boys then act out the play in a basement, and the power of the love story starts to take a hold of the boys playing Romeo and Juliet. The "forbidden kiss" then takes on a new meaning for them.

Opera

The story was converted into the opera Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod in 1867 with a libretto written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré.

The Romeo and Juliet story was also the subject of Vincenzo Bellini's opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi, although Bellini and his librettist, Felice Romani, worked from Italian sources, and these were only distantly related to Shakespeare's work.

In 2004 American composer Lee Hoiby also adapted Romeo and Juliet to write an opera of the same name.

"Butterfly Lovers", a Chinese Opera, is commonly known as the Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet.

Ballet

Several ballet adaptations of the story have been made, the first written in the 18th century. The best known feature music by Sergei Prokofiev, and a variety of choreographers have used this music. The first version featuring Prokofiev's music was performed in 1938. See: Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev)

Musical

Romeo and Juliet is the basis for many famous musicals, most notably the hugely successful West Side Story

Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

The "Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture" (1869, revised 1870, 1880), by Peter Tchaikovsky, contains one of the world's most famous melodies. The tremendously famous love theme in the middle of this long symphonic poem has been used countless times in commercials and movies.

West Side Story

In 1957, the musical West Side Story debuted on Broadway, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. This version of "Romeo and Juliet" updated the setting to mid-20th century New York City and the warring families to ethnic gangs. West Side Story opened on the West End in London in 1958 and then was released as a film in 1961.

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

In 1999, Terrence Mann's rock musical William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, co-written with Jerome Korman, premiered at the Ordway Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was not a critical success.

Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour

Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour, a musical by Gérard Presgurvic, premiered on January 19, 2001 in the Palais de Congrès in Paris, France. By 2005, it had already attracted some six million people.

Once on This Island

"Once on This Island" is another musical adaptation that takes on the Romeo and Juliet theme. These star crossed lovers, Ti Moune and Daniel, were fated to love one another even with the pressures of their class and ethnic backgrounds upon them. However, it was only through death that they could be together.

Film

See also Shakespeare on screen (Romeo and Juliet)

Film performances

There have been over forty movie versions of the tale, with the first made in France in 1900. Some of the more notable adaptations include:

1908 - Romeo and Juliet, a silent film made by Vitagraph Studios.

The first American production, it was directed by J. Stuart Blackton, the film starred Paul Panzer as Romeo and Florence Lawrence as Juliet.

1936 - Romeo and Juliet, produced by Irving Thalberg and directed by George Cukor

The 1936 screen version was one of the more notable of Classical Hollywood. Thalberg spared no expense, and showcased his wife, Norma Shearer, in the lead role. Romeo was played by Leslie Howard, John Barrymore was Mercutio, and Andy Devine was Peter, the servant to Juliet's nurse. However, the film was criticized because Howard and Shearer were both considerably older than the scripted roles.

Academy Awards nominations:

• Best Picture - Irving Thalberg, producer
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Basil Rathbone - as Tybalt
• Best Actress - Norma Shearer
• Best Art Direction - Cedric Gibbons, Fredric Hope and Edwin B. Willis

1954 - Romeo and Juliet directed by Renato Castellani.

A notable British/Italian production with a colourful setting. The cast includes Laurence Harvey as Romeo, Susan Shentall as Juliet, Flora Robson as the Nurse and Mervyn Johns as Friar Laurence.

1968 - Romeo and Juliet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli

Filmed in Italy, the performance of the young Olivia Hussey as Juliet is a defining feature. It won Oscars for best cinematography and best costume design, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Picture. It also starred Leonard Whiting as Romeo - he was seen as 'the next big thing' in film at the time, but his career did not match up to expectations.

1978 - Romeo and Juliet, directed by Alvin Rakoff

for the BBC Television Shakespeare series. This production is generally unregarded due to its inexperienced stars and low production values, although Alan Rickman's Tybalt is notable.

1983 - Romeo and Juliet, directed by William Woodman

This film features an excellent set of costumes. The cast includes Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, Esther Rolle, Dan Hamilton, and Frederic Hehne.

1996 - Romeo + Juliet, directed by Baz Luhrmann

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles, Luhrmann gave the famous tale a modern setting. The production uses Luhrmann's signature flamboyant color and stylization. Besides the modernization it is notable for significantly tweaking the ending, so that Romeo and Juliet get a final scene alive together.

At the Berlin International Film Festival 1997, it won:

• Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio)
• Alfred Bauer Prize

Academy Awards 1996 nominations:

• Best Art Direction and Set Decoration (Catherine Martin and Brigitte Broch)

1996 - Tromeo and Juliet, directed by Lloyd Kaufman

The Troma team put their own inimitable spin on the story, setting it in Manhattan in a punk milieu. Lemmy from Motörhead narrates.

2000 - Romeo Must Die, directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak

With Jet Li as Han Ling (the Romeo of the story) who is out to avenge his brother's murder. He meets and eventually falls in love with Trish O'Day (the Juliet of the story, played by Aaliyah) who is the daughter of a rival American mob boss. Apart from the main characters being the son and daughter of bitter rivals, the plot has practically nothing to do with Romeo and Juliet the play.

2005 - Romeo & Juliet directed by Dave LaChapelle

Featuring Tamyra Gray as Juliet, Gus Carr as Romeo, and Mary J. Blige, this is a 10-minute promotional advertisement for the H&M clothing company. Released in September 2005, this commercial was shown online (H&M website) and during the trailers of certain theatrical films, and featured the new "&denim" selection. In this musical remake which features background music provided by Tamyra Gray and Mary J. Blige (both songs are from the musical Dreamgirls), Romeo is gunned down in a drive-by shooting and Juliet sings over his body while he bleeds to death on the street. Due to complaints that the commercial glamorized gang violence and was H&M's attempt to use gun culture to sell their jeans to teenagers, H&M subsequently withdrew the ad from Canadian & U.S. markets and issued an apology.

2005 - O Casamento de Romeu e Julieta, directed by Bruno Barreto.

This is a Brazilian adaptation of the text that is actually a romantic comedy set amid a bitter soccer rivalry. It is about two rival soccer clubs, the Palmeiras and the Corinthians. It is set in Sao Paulo with various twists and divergences from the original Romeo and Juliet story. Directed by Bruno Barreto and starring Brazilian actress/model Luana Piovani and Marco Ricca.

2006 - Romeo and Juliet, directed by Yves Desgagnés.

This is a Canadian, Québecois adaptation. The two principal roles are played by the newly discovered actors Thomas Lalonde and Charlotte Aubin, who were both chosen during auditions. It was due for release on 15 December 2006.

2008 - Gnomeo and Juliet, currently in pre-production. Directed by Kelly Asbury.

A version of Shakespeare's play, set in the world of warring indoor and outdoor gnomes. Starring: Kate Winslet voicing Juliet and Ewan McGregor as Gneomeo along with Judi Dench as Nurse and Greg Ellis as Tybalt.

Film adaptations

The film West Side Story was released in 1961 following the success of the musical on stage in New York and London. It was set in a 1960s New York City gang culture and was loosely based on the story of Romeo and Juliet, with the Montagues becoming the Jets and the Capulets becoming the Sharks. This film also resulted in another adaptation, West Bank Story, a musical comedy which was set, unsurprisingly, in the contemporary West Bank. West Bank Story won the 2006 best Live Action Short at the Academy Awards (Oscars).

The film Shakespeare in Love is a fictional account of how Shakespeare writes the play against the clock inspired by his love for a noble woman. The movie also describes the start of Twelfth Night, inspired by the same woman's ultimate fate. The film won Best Picture at the 1999 Academy Awards. Another film, Love Is All There Is, staring Angelina Jolie and Lannie Kazan, is a comedic take on the tragic story. It takes place in the Bronx, New York and involves two Italian immigrant families who own opposing restaurants. The two families hate each other and have tried to run each other out of business for years. When their children secretly fall in love, the families are forced to deal with it. Instead of the tragic Shakespearean ending, the movie makes the story a bit more light-hearted.

Television

Many television adaptations have also been made. The Canadian-produced animated television special Romie-0 and Julie-8 (1979) is a science fiction adaptation of the play, recasting the lead characters as robots. The 2005 television movie "Pizza My Heart" is also based on Romeo and Juliet. This story takes place in Verona, New Jersey and is centered around the lives of two feuding pizzeria owners, the Prestolanis and the Montebellos. In Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo the characters (Romeo and Juliet and Admira and Boško) simply want to live their lives and be allowed to love one another, yet are tragically prevented from doing so, instead succumbing to an untimely death. Disney's High School Musical began as a made-for-tv Disney movie and was subsequently turned into a live stage musical and touring concert. Said executive producer Bill Borden, "Our story line is maybe not the most original or creative, but it's Shakespearean," said Borden, who described the plot as a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. "We took from the best." In the show, the two young love interests, Troy and Gabriella, are from rival cliques, not rival gangs.

Even anime has managed to produce its own adaptations. Sea Prince and the Fire Child (1981), an anime movie by Sanrio (based on a story by Sanrio founder, Shintaro Tsuji), was inspired by Romeo & Juliet (the main characters are from different races, sea spirits and fire spirits). The Japanese animation studio Gonzo adapted Romeo and Juliet into an anime television series entitled Romeo x Juliet. Set in a dystopian world on a supernatural, aerial city known as Neo Verona, the series premiered April 2007.

External links

• Romeo and Juliet - plain vanilla text from Project Gutenberg
• Romeo and Juliet - Free downloadable audio reading of the play from LibriVox
• Romeo and Juliet - HTML version at MIT
• Romeo and Juliet - Full text with audio.
• Il Novellino, Novella XXXIII, by Masuccio Salernitano - The electronic text in Italian of the original story (requires free registration)
• Arthur Brooke's Romeus and Juliet
• A history of the Italian sources of Romeo and Juliet
• Essay: How Romeus Became Romeo Comparing Brooke's work with Shakespeare's
• Analysis of Romeo and Juliet at Theatrehistory.com
• Lesson plans for teaching Romeo and Juliet at Web English Teacher