sample book review of romeo and juliet

Romeo and Juliet

By william shakespeare.

Shakespeare creates an absolute masterpiece here with his groundbreaking ideas underpinned by his legendary writing skills. 

• The play explores universal themes that make it always relevant.
• The characters in the play are complex and relatable
• The play’s language is beautiful, moving, and powerful.
• The play is too well-known; its plot serves no surprises.
• The characters are too impulsive.
• The plot twists are a little too incredible.

Bottom Line

"Romeo and Juliet" is a timeless exploration of love, fate, and the destructive power of familial conflict, set against the vibrant backdrop of Verona. Shakespeare's richly developed characters and eloquent writing capture the intense passion and tragic consequences of young love. The play continues to resonate with audiences.

Rating [book_review_rating]

Continue down for the complete review to Romeo and Juliet

Article written by Lee-James Bovey

P.G.C.E degree.

“ Romeo and Juliet ” almost speaks for itself. However, in keeping with the other articles on Book Analysis , we will try and review it honestly. (As honest as can be from a self-proclaimed Shakespeare fanboy!)

It is well known that Shakespeare borrowed plot ideas liberally from ancient Greek plays . However, with Romeo and Juliet , he broke new ground. Of course, it wasn’t the first tragedy but the first to use love as the hero’s fatal flaw. Until this point, we had seen love in plays, but usually in comedy. It was considered not severe enough to warrant being a factor in a tragedy. The impact of this has shaped culture immeasurably.

But is the plot any good? It is not his most complex, and there are no multiple side plots. However, it is such a good story. It is timeless and has been borrowed and liberally ripped off for centuries. Personally, it is one of my favorites.

The central themes in “ Romeo and Juliet ” include love, fate, and conflict. The play’s exploration of love is multifaceted, encompassing the passionate and often irrational nature of young love and the destructive force of love that defies societal boundaries. The intense love between Romeo and Juliet challenges the longstanding feud between their families, symbolizing love’s ability to transcend hatred. However, the play also reveals the darker side of love, where impulsiveness and unchecked emotions can lead to tragedy.

Fate plays a crucial role, as the lovers are described as “star-crossed,” suggesting that their tragic end is predestined. Shakespeare weaves fate into the story’s fabric, using a series of unfortunate events to highlight the inevitability of the lovers’ demise. Conflict is omnipresent, not only between the Montagues and Capulets but also within the characters themselves as they grapple with their desires versus their obligations to family and society. This theme serves as a critique of societal structures that perpetuate violence and hatred, ultimately leading to unnecessary suffering.

Youth and impulsiveness are also key themes, as Romeo and Juliet’s headstrong nature and rash decisions are shown as both a source of their deep love and the cause of their downfall. The play contrasts youth’s passionate but often reckless nature of youth with the more measured actions of older characters and illustrates how intense emotions can inspire and destroy.

Shakespeare’s characters in “Romeo and Juliet” are richly developed, each contributing to the unfolding tragedy. Romeo is portrayed as passionate and impulsive, driven by his emotions. Juliet, though young, exhibits remarkable maturity and resolve, particularly in her willingness to defy her family for the sake of love. The supporting characters, such as Mercutio, Tybalt, and the Nurse, add depth and complexity to the narrative. Mercutio’s wit and cynicism contrast with Romeo’s romantic idealism, while Tybalt’s fiery temper escalates the central conflict. The Nurse provides a maternal figure for Juliet, though her pragmatic view of love ultimately clashes with Juliet’s idealism.

It is not as straightforward to show characters in a play. Often, the actors themselves help bring a text to life. However, having done some amateur theatre, I can categorically say that with a dull script, the talent of the actors is irrelevant. That is not an issue here. There is a range of characters, and they all feel distinct from one another.

We see a range of motivations and people adapting their behavior to suit their situation. Take for instance the character Lord Capulet who is defensive about the idea of Juliet marrying given her age. However, in the wake of Tybalt’s death and facing her showing a rebellious side, he transforms completely appearing to threaten violence against her.

There is no doubt that Shakespeare was a master of his craft. So much of what he has written has shaped and bled into modern society. He consistently did beautifully using speech patterns to denote class or changes in status. Or, in the case of Romeo and Juliet, to signify love. You know how they say when people are in love, they “complete one another.” Shakespeare subconsciously shows us that. When Romeo and Juliet first talk to one another, their words form a perfect Shakespearean sonnet. Isn’t that beautiful? Beyond that, you see the subtle difference between how Romeo describes Juliet and Rosaline.

His metaphors are all about war and misery, with Rosaline signifying his inner turmoil. His imagery, when describing Juliet, draws on religion and light. These skills, combined with the masterful use of foreshadowing and the beautifully crafted witty exchanges between Romeo and Mercutio, prove just how good the bard was. The structure of “ Romeo and Juliet” is tight and well-paced, with the action unfolding rapidly over just a few days. The play is divided into five acts, each escalating the tension and driving the plot toward its inevitable conclusion. The pacing is deliberate, with moments of intense drama balanced by scenes of fun and reflection. This careful balance keeps the audience engaged and heightens the emotional impact of the tragedy.

The play is set in Verona, Italy, during the Renaissance. The vibrant yet divided city serves as a backdrop for the intense drama of the play. The setting plays a significant role in shaping the characters’ actions and the story’s outcome, with the city’s streets, marketplaces, and grand houses contributing to tension and conflict. Verona, as depicted by Shakespeare, is a place where honor and family loyalty are paramount, creating a world where love is often overshadowed by violence and hostility.

There are many pros to Shakespeare’s superb play. The themes of love, fate, and conflict that it explores are universal, making the play relevant to audiences across generations. Also, Shakespeare’s characters are complex and relatable, each contributing to the play’s emotional depth and dramatic tension. Another fine point is the play’s language, which is both beautiful and powerful, showing Shakespeare’s genius with words and his ability to share deep emotions.

While there are many reasons to love the play, there are a few shortcomings. The first is its predictability. Given its iconic status, the plot of “Romeo and Juliet” is well-known, which might lessen the impact for some readers. But this is no inherent fault of the work. Another is the impulsiveness of the characters, particularly Romeo and Juliet, which can sometimes feel frustrating and contrived, though it is essential to the tragedy. Another fault of the work is that the plot is generally incredible, each twist a little more unbelievable than the last.

However, I do not believe you can extend that critique to Shakespeare’s works. He was ahead of his time regarding the issues he was tackling. He also consistently displayed a masterful use of language and was as good at turning a phrase as anyone who picked up a quill or sat before a typewriter. So, while I display a certain degree of bias towards Shakespeare, I still believe that “ Romeo and Juliet ” is an absolute masterpiece.

This is a slightly more complex question to answer than you might expect. Yes, Shakespeare was a phenomenal writer but not an author. You can read his works and get enjoyment from them, but honestly, to see them brought to life, I’d recommend going to the theatre and seeing them performed, and if you can’t bring yourself to do that, watch one of the movie’s adaptations. So yes, by all means, read it. But if you ever get to see it performed, do that! Especially if it is done by somebody who does it well, like the RSC in the UK.

Romeo and Juliet: Still as relevant today as it was in its day

Book Title: Romeo and Juliet

Book Description: Shakespeare's famous tale of two star-crossed lovers.

Book Author: William Shakespeare

Book Edition: Norton Critical Edition

Book Format: Paperback

Publisher - Organization: Folger Shakespeare Library

Date published: March 1, 2004

ISBN: 978-0-393-91402-5

Number Of Pages: 320

• Writing style
• Lasting effect on reader

Romeo and Juliet Review

• Impeccable use of language
• Iconic story
• The music scene near the climax is dated
• Some of the humour is lost on a modern audience
• Language can be tricky to understand

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About Lee-James Bovey

Lee-James, a.k.a. LJ, has been a Book Analysis team member since it was first created. During the day, he's an English Teacher. During the night, he provides in-depth analysis and summary of books.

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BOOK REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

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This is one of Shakespeare’s most famous works, if not the most famous love story in the history of love stories. The central challenge of this couple’s love affair isn’t the usual fare of Shakespeare’s works – e.g. unrequited love, love triangles, or class differences. [There is an issue of unrequited love early in the play between Romeo and Rosaline, but Romeo gets over that girl in a hot minute once he meets Juliet.] The problem is that he meets Juliet by crashing her father’s party while wearing a disguise (a disguise that ultimately doesn’t fool the right people,) and the reason Romeo needs a disguise is because Romeo’s father and Juliet’s father are archenemies. Otherwise, the couple meets all requirements for wooing to commence: they each have feelings for the other, and they are of similar class status. In short, they would be a marriageable couple if their families didn’t hate each other.

[Warning: My Shakespeare reviews are far more spoiler-laden than usual because the stories are well-known to most readers and some find a detailed synopsis useful to make sense of the archaic language.] After an opening that establishes the enmity between the Montagues and Capulets, Romeo and Juliet fall for each other fast and hard, and with lightening speed have wed and consummated the marriage. However, no one other than the priest who married them, Friar Laurence, knows of the wedding. They have to keep the marriage secret because it would get back to the heads of the feuding households immediately.

Soon after the wedding, Tybalt (Juliet’s hot-headed kinsman) goes out looking for Romeo. Tybalt had recognized Romeo at the party, and wanted to fight him then, but Mr. Capulet (Juliet’s father) made him chill out because he didn’t want blood spilled during his party. But the next day Tybalt goes out intent on fighting. Tybalt finds Romeo’s friend (Mercutio) and his kinsman (Benvolio,) and Mercutio ends up crossing blades Tybalt. When Romeo comes on the scene, he steps into the middle of the fray to separate the men, and Tybalt finds an opening to thrust into Mercutio. As Mercutio dies, he famously wishes a “plague on both houses” (meaning Tybalt’s Capulets and Romeo’s Montagues.) Mercutio is but one of many who are completely fed up with the feud between these two families. The Prince of Verona has had it up to his neck with the bickering.

While Romeo is generally more a lover than a fighter, he duels and kills Tybalt immediately after Mercutio’s death. After killing Tybalt, Romeo flees the scene, later to find out he’s been banished from Verona upon threat of death. (Lady Capulet petitions the Prince for Romeo to be executed but the Prince won’t go for it, figuring Tybalt got what was coming to him for picking a fight and stabbing Mercutio. Then Lady Capulet plots to have a hit put out on Romeo, but events outpace her plot.) After meeting with Friar Laurence, Romeo flees to Mantua.

When her family informs Juliet that Tybalt has been slain by Romeo, they think she is broken up about her kinsman’s death. However, she’s really worried about her husband Romeo (who, of course, none of the family knows she’s married to.) When it seems like Juliet’s sadness for Tybalt has gone on long enough, her father sets a post-haste wedding date between Juliet and County Paris (the young man that Capulet favors for his daughter.) This is a problem for Juliet because: a.) she’s already married; and, b.) she deeply loves Romeo and finds Paris sort of Meh! She gets into a tiff with her father who thinks she’s an ungrateful whelp. [In Shakespeare’s day, the debate was whether a girl’s feelings about to whom she should be wed should be empathized with or ignored altogether. The idea that her feelings should be a major consideration was deemed laughable. Her mother comes down on the former side, but Lady Capulet accepts her husband’s conclusion of the alternative.]

Juliet goes to see Friar Laurence, who is a botanical mad scientist on the side. The Friar develops an elaborate scheme. Juliet is to go home, apologize to her father for not jumping on board the marriage train with the boy that her father so dearly loves (but to do so without sarcasm,) and then before going to sleep she will take a potion. This potion, not uncommon in Shakespearean works, will make her appear dead for a time, and then she’ll wake up perfectly fine. The family will take her to their crypt, pending the funeral. Friar Laurence sends a note to Romeo explaining the plan. Romeo is to meet Juliet when she wakes up, and they can then flee to Mantua — their families none the wiser.

Up to this point, this play could be a comedy just as easily as it is a tragedy. Sure, there have been a couple stabbing fatalities, but that’s actually pretty calm stuff compared to some of the comedies. (The dead are secondary characters.) What makes it a tragedy, is that Friar Laurence’s messenger can’t get through to deliver the memo in time because of some Black Death scare. Instead, Romeo’s (the Montague family’s) servant gets there first, and, because he’s not in on the Friar’s plot, tells Romeo the truth as he understands it – i.e. that Juliet is dead. Romeo sneaks back to the Verona cemetery with some poison he got at a shady apothecary on the way. Friar Laurence doesn’t know Romeo didn’t get the priest’s message until Romeo is already rolling up on the crypt, intent on dying with is beloved and so Laurence is late arriving to the scene.

To add to the tragedy, Paris is visiting Juliet’s grave and thinks Romeo is a villain. Romeo and Paris battle it out, and Romeo kills Paris. Romeo – knowing that Paris was betrothed to Juliet but without knowledge of Romeo and Juliet’s marriage – places Paris in the crypt near Juliet. But then he takes up position immediately beside her, and drinks the poison. As soon as Romeo dies, Juliet regains consciousness. She finds Romeo dead, and discovers that there’s not enough of the poison left for her. She tries kissing some poison off him, but when that doesn’t work, she plunges a dagger into her own chest.

After Juliet dies, authorities arrive on the scene having been summoned by a person who heard the duel between Romeo and Paris. The Prince arrives and calls for the heads of the Montague and Capulet households so that they can see what tragedy their feud has caused. The sight of the two dead star-crossed lovers (plus Paris, whom Capulet seemed to love) moves Montague and Capulet to end hostilities.

This is a must read for all readers.

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1 thought on “ BOOK REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare ”

I’ve been a Shakespeare fan since high school and have played a witch in Macbeth. It helps to learn the old English language and the history to really understand him and his humor. If more folks would do so they would love his work so much more than they do.

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BOOK REVIEW : Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare

A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Although it was first performed in the 1590s, the first  documented  performance of Romeo and Juliet is from 1662. The diarist Samuel Pepys was in the audience, and recorded that he ‘saw “Romeo and Juliet,” the first time it was ever acted; but it is a play of itself the worst that ever I heard in my life, and the worst acted that ever I saw these people do.’

Despite Pepys’ dislike, the play is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved and most famous, and the story of Romeo and Juliet is well known. However, the play has become so embedded in the popular psyche that Shakespeare’s considerably more complex play has been reduced to a few key aspects: ‘star-cross’d lovers’, a teenage love story, and the suicide of the two protagonists.

In the summary and analysis that follow, we realise that Romeo and Juliet is much more than a tragic love story.

Romeo and Juliet : brief summary

After the Prologue has set the scene – we have two feuding households, Montagues and Capulets, in the city-state of Verona; and young Romeo is a Montague while Juliet, with whom Romeo is destined to fall in love, is from the Capulet family, sworn enemies of the Montagues – the play proper begins with servants of the two feuding households taunting each other in the street.

When Benvolio, a member of house Montague, arrives and clashes with Tybalt of house Capulet, a scuffle breaks out, and it is only when Capulet himself and his wife, Lady Capulet, appear that the fighting stops. Old Montague and his wife then show up, and the Prince of Verona, Escalus, arrives and chastises the people for fighting. Everyone leaves except Old Montague, his wife, and Benvolio, Montague’s nephew. Benvolio tells them that Romeo has locked himself away, but he doesn’t know why.

Romeo appears and Benvolio asks his cousin what is wrong, and Romeo starts speaking in paradoxes, a sure sign that he’s in love. He claims he loves Rosaline, but will not return any man’s love. A servant appears with a note, and Romeo and Benvolio learn that the Capulets are holding a masked ball.

Benvolio tells Romeo he should attend, even though he is a Montague, as he will find more beautiful women than Rosaline to fall in love with. Meanwhile, Lady Capulet asks her daughter Juliet whether she has given any thought to marriage, and tells Juliet that a man named Paris would make an excellent husband for her.

Romeo attends the Capulets’ masked ball, with his friend Mercutio. Mercutio tells Romeo about a fairy named Queen Mab who enters young men’s minds as they dream, and makes them dream of love and romance. At the masked ball, Romeo spies Juliet and instantly falls in love with her; she also falls for him.

They kiss, but then Tybalt, Juliet’s kinsman, spots Romeo and recognising him as a Montague, plans to confront him. Old Capulet tells him not to do so, and Tybalt reluctantly agrees. When Juliet enquires after who Romeo is, she is distraught to learn that he is a Montague and thus a member of the family that is her family’s sworn enemies.

Romeo breaks into the gardens of Juliet’s parents’ house and speaks to her at her bedroom window. The two of them pledge their love for each other, and arrange to be secretly married the following night. Romeo goes to see a churchman, Friar Laurence, who agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet.

After the wedding, the feud between the two families becomes violent again: Tybalt kills Mercutio in a fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt in retaliation. The Prince banishes Romeo from Verona for his crime.

Juliet is told by her father that she will marry Paris, so Juliet goes to seek Friar Laurence’s help in getting out of it. He tells her to take a sleeping potion which will make her appear to be dead for two nights; she will be laid to rest in the family vault, and Romeo (who will be informed of the plan) can secretly come to her there.

However, although that part of the plan goes fine, the message to Romeo doesn’t arrive; instead, he hears that Juliet has actually died. He secretly visits her at the family vault, but his grieving is interrupted by the arrival of Paris, who is there to lay flowers. The two of them fight, and Romeo kills him.

Convinced that Juliet is really dead, Romeo drinks poison in order to join Juliet in death. Juliet wakes from her slumber induced by the sleeping draught to find Romeo dead at her side. She stabs herself.

The play ends with Friar Laurence telling the story to the two feuding families. The Prince tells them to put their rivalry behind them and live in peace.

Romeo and Juliet : analysis

How should we analyse Romeo and Juliet , one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frequently studied, performed, and adapted plays? Is Romeo and Juliet the great love story that it’s often interpreted as, and what does it say about the play – if it is a celebration of young love – that it ends with the deaths of both romantic leads?

It’s worth bearing in mind that Romeo and Juliet do not kill themselves specifically because they are forbidden to be together, but rather because a chain of events (of which their families’ ongoing feud with each other is but one) and a message that never arrives lead to a misunderstanding which results in their suicides.

Romeo and Juliet is often read as both a tragedy and a great celebration of romantic love, but it clearly throws out some difficult questions about the nature of love, questions which are rendered even more pressing when we consider the headlong nature of the play’s action and the fact that Romeo and Juliet meet, marry, and die all within the space of a few days.

Below, we offer some notes towards an analysis of this classic Shakespeare play and explore some of the play’s most salient themes.

It’s worth starting with a consideration of just what Shakespeare did with his source material. Interestingly, two families known as the Montagues and Capulets appear to have actually existed in medieval Italy: the first reference to ‘Montagues and Capulets’ is, curiously, in the poetry of Dante (1265-1321), not Shakespeare.

In Dante’s early fourteenth-century epic poem, the  Divine Comedy , he makes reference to two warring Italian families: ‘Come and see, you who are negligent, / Montagues and Capulets, Monaldi and Filippeschi / One lot already grieving, the other in fear’ ( Purgatorio , canto VI). Precisely why the families are in a feud with one another is never revealed in Shakespeare’s play, so we are encouraged to take this at face value.

The play’s most famous line references the feud between the two families, which means Romeo and Juliet cannot be together. And the line, when we stop and consider it, is more than a little baffling. The line is spoken by Juliet: ‘Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’ Of course, ‘wherefore’ doesn’t mean ‘where’ – it means ‘why’.

But that doesn’t exactly clear up the whys and the wherefores. The question still doesn’t appear to make any sense: Romeo’s problem isn’t his first name, but his family name, Montague. Surely, since she fancies him, Juliet is quite pleased with ‘Romeo’ as he is – it’s his family that are the problem. Solutions  have been proposed to this conundrum , but none is completely satisfying.

There are a number of notable things Shakespeare did with his source material. The Italian story ‘Mariotto and Gianozza’, printed in 1476, contained many of the plot elements of Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet . Shakespeare’s source for the play’s story was Arthur Brooke’s  The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet  (1562), an English verse translation of this Italian tale.

The moral of Brooke’s tale is that young love ends in disaster for their elders, and is best reined in; Shakespeare changed that. In Romeo and Juliet , the headlong passion and excitement of young love is celebrated, even though confusion leads to the deaths of the young lovers. But through their deaths, and the example their love set for their parents, the two families vow to be reconciled to each other.

Shakespeare also makes Juliet a thirteen-year-old girl in his play, which is odd for a number of reasons. We know that  Romeo and Juliet  is about young love – the ‘pair of star-cross’d lovers’, who belong to rival families in Verona – but what is odd about Shakespeare’s play is how young he makes Juliet.

In Brooke’s verse rendition of the story, Juliet is sixteen. But when Shakespeare dramatised the story, he made Juliet several years younger, with Romeo’s age unspecified. As Lady Capulet reveals, Juliet is ‘not [yet] fourteen’, and this point is made to us several times, as if Shakespeare wishes to draw attention to it and make sure we don’t forget it.

This makes sense in so far as Juliet represents young love, but what makes it unsettling – particularly for modern audiences – is the fact that this makes Juliet a girl of thirteen when she enjoys her night of wedded bliss with Romeo. As John Sutherland puts it in his (and Cedric Watts’) engaging  Oxford World’s Classics: Henry V, War Criminal?: and Other Shakespeare Puzzles , ‘In a contemporary court of law [Romeo] would receive a longer sentence for what he does to Juliet than for what he does to Tybalt.’

There appears to be no satisfactory answer to this question, but one possible explanation lies in one of the play’s recurring themes: bawdiness and sexual familiarity. Perhaps surprisingly given the youthfulness of its tragic heroine, Romeo and Juliet is shot through with bawdy jokes, double entendres, and allusions to sex, made by a number of the characters.

These references to physical love serve to make Juliet’s innocence, and subsequent passionate romance with Romeo, even more noticeable: the journey both Romeo and Juliet undertake is one from innocence (Romeo pointlessly and naively pursuing Rosaline; Juliet unversed in the ways of love) to experience.

In the last analysis, Romeo and Juliet is a classic depiction of forbidden love, but it is also far more sexually aware, more ‘adult’, than many people realise.

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4 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet”

Modern reading of the play’s opening dialogue among the brawlers fails to parse the ribaldry. Sex scares the bejeepers out of us. Why? Confer “R&J.”

It’s all that damn padre’s fault!

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111 Book Review: Romeo & Juliet

Bryce W. Merkl Sasaki

Eleventy-One

Romeo & Juliet

by William Shakespeare

If you read this one in high school, you were most certainly being trolled.

Filled with fickle romances, schoolyard gangs, and questionable decisions by emo teenagers, Romeo & Juliet is a play about high school.

It’s no wonder then that English teachers bite their thumb at millions of freshman students every year, trolling them with a play that mocks their shallow teenage emotions, begging them to look into the text and see their own reflection. Willie Shakes himself must have been in on it too: the whole “love” story takes place over only two days, trolling even harder at the end .

Well played, Mrs. Smith from second period English class. Well played.

TL;DR: High School Musical meets Game of Thrones . Wait, that’s just Mean Girls . Is Romeo & Juliet just a Mean Girls rip-off?

My rating: 7 out of 11 Bitten Thumbs, But Not At You, Sir.

Get it here:

• IndieBound (print, U.S.)
• Better World Books (print, worldwide)
• Project Gutenberg (electronic, free)
• Apple Books (electronic)
• Google Play Books (electronic)
• LibriVox (audio, free)
• Scribd (audio)

Oh, you liked it? Well then, try: At the Sign of the Cat & Racket (tragic romance), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (less-tragic romance)

Written by Bryce W. Merkl Sasaki

Writer. Aspiring Polymath. Wizard-Errant.

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Book Reviews on...

Romeo and juliet, by william shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet  is one of his most popular plays, a tragic love story set in the Italian city of Verona. “ Romeo and Juliet gives a wonderful exploration of young love, of first love, of romantic attitudes to love.” Stanley Wells , Shakespearean scholar

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Titus andronicus (arden shakespeare) by jonathan bate & william shakespeare, all the sonnets of shakespeare by paul edmonson, stanley wells & william shakespeare, the art of shakespeare's sonnets by helen vendler & william shakespeare, shakespeare's sonnets by katherine duncan-jones & william shakespeare, illustrated stories from shakespeare by anna claybourne, rosie dickins & william shakespeare, hamlet by william shakespeare, our most recommended books, on liberty by john stuart mill, middlemarch by george eliot, war and peace by leo tolstoy, nineteen eighty-four by george orwell, frankenstein (book) by mary shelley, the confessions by augustine (translated by maria boulding).

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Romeo and Juliet

William shakespeare.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Romeo and Juliet: Introduction

Romeo and juliet: plot summary, romeo and juliet: detailed summary & analysis, romeo and juliet: themes, romeo and juliet: quotes, romeo and juliet: characters, romeo and juliet: symbols, romeo and juliet: literary devices, romeo and juliet: quizzes, romeo and juliet: theme wheel, brief biography of william shakespeare.

Historical Context of Romeo and Juliet

Other books related to romeo and juliet.

• Full Title: Romeo and Juliet
• When Written: Likely 1591-1595
• Where Written: London, England
• When Published: “Bad quarto” (incomplete manuscript) printed in 1597; Second, more complete quarto printed in 1599; First folio, with clarifications and corrections, printed in 1623
• Literary Period: Renaissance
• Genre: Tragic play
• Setting: Verona, Italy
• Climax: Mistakenly believing that Juliet is dead, Romeo kills himself on her funeral bier by drinking poison. Juliet wakes up, finds Romeo dead, and fatally stabs herself with his dagger.
• Antagonist: Capulet, Lady Capulet, Montague, Lady Montague, Tybalt

Extra Credit for Romeo and Juliet

Tourist Trap. Casa di Giulietta, a 12-century villa in Verona, is located just off the Via Capello (the possible origin of the anglicized surname “Capulet”) and has become a major tourist attraction over the years because of its distinctive balcony. The house, purchased by the city of Verona in 1905 from private holdings, has been transformed into a kind of museum dedicated to the history of Romeo and Juliet , where tourists can view set pieces from some of the major film adaptations of the play and even leave letters to their loved ones. Never mind that “the balcony scene,” one of the most famous scenes in English literature, may never have existed—the word “balcony” never appears in the play, and balconies were not an architectural feature of Shakespeare’s England—tourists flock from all over to glimpse Juliet’s famous veranda.

Love Language. While much of Shakespeare’s later work is written in a combination of verse and prose (used mostly to offer distinction between social classes, with nobility speaking in verse and commoners speaking in prose), Romeo and Juliet is notable for its heady blend of poetic forms. The play’s prologue is written in the form of a sonnet, while most of the dialogue adheres strictly to the rhythm of iambic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet alter their cadences when speaking to each another, using more casual, naturalistic speech. When they talk about other potential lovers, such as Rosaline and Paris, their speech is much more formal (to reflect the emotional falsity of those dalliances.) Friar Laurence speaks largely in sermons and aphorisms, while the nurse speaks in blank verse.

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Romeo and juliet.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 1 Review
• Kids Say 32 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Tragic teen love story stands the test of time.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Romeo and Juliet is often the first Shakespeare play that middle- or high-school students read. It's a tragic, romantic story about two young lovers who get caught in the crossfire of their parents' conflict. Shakespearean language can be challenging to read, especially at first, and…

Why Age 13+?

In the first scene in the play, Capulets and Montagues goad each other into a fi

Shakespeare's clever wordplay often includes references to body parts and sex ac

There are a couple of references to drinking wine.

Any Positive Content?

Romeo and Juliet is often the first Shakespeare play that young people read, and

Many lives are lost because the Montagues and Capulets can't settle their differ

Friar Lawrence is a kind friend who wants to help Romeo unite with his beloved J

Violence & Scariness

In the first scene in the play, Capulets and Montagues goad each other into a fierce sword battle. Later, after Capulet's cousin Tybalt argues with and stabs Mercutio, Romeo is baited into an argument with Tybalt and kills him with his sword. At the end of the play, there are two more sword deaths and a suicide by poison.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Shakespeare's clever wordplay often includes references to body parts and sex acts -- the words "maidenhead" and "whore" are used creatively, for example. This bawdy language is often highlighted with physical gesturing when the play is staged, but the book is more clever than suggestive. Actual sex, other than kissing, takes place "off-screen," in that we only know Romeo and Juliet spend one night together as husband and wife because we see them part early the next morning.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Educational Value

Romeo and Juliet is often the first Shakespeare play that young people read, and it's an excellent introduction to the language and rhythm of his works. Also, Shakespeare's plots, and many of his lines, reappear across many generations of literature; reading Shakespeare is part of a great foundation for further study.

Positive Messages

Many lives are lost because the Montagues and Capulets can't settle their differences in a civilized manner. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet shows how innocence and love can become casualties of hatred.

Positive Role Models

Friar Lawrence is a kind friend who wants to help Romeo unite with his beloved Juliet, and Juliet's nurse is likewise devoted to her young mistress, but both provide more help than guidance. Capulet and Montague are loving parents, but set a very poor example with their incivility. Romeo and Juliet risk their lives and familial relationships for love, which is admirable in a way, but it can't be ignored that they have only just met.

Parents need to know that Romeo and Juliet is often the first Shakespeare play that middle- or high-school students read. It's a tragic, romantic story about two young lovers who get caught in the crossfire of their parents' conflict. Shakespearean language can be challenging to read, especially at first, and newcomers would do best with a well-annotated edition that explains difficult words and constructions. Romeo and Juliet includes little inappropriate sexual content or profanity, but there are a few very violent scenes in which major characters are run through with swords. Director Franco Zeffirelli's beautiful 1968 film version is very true to the play, and well worth seeing. A much more modern and artful, but brutal, film starring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio was well received when it came out in 1996. It's also worth checking out the 1961 musical film West Side Story , which was based on this timeless play.

Where to Read

Parent and kid reviews.

• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (32)

Based on 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona, Italy, where the houses of Capulet and Montague are in conflict. Each of these older men commands the loyalty of numerous friends and family members, and the factions battle in the city streets. The town is ruled by Prince Escalus, who warns the citizens that he will not tolerate any further bloodshed and mayhem from the opposing factions. Capulet's daughter, Juliet, and Montague's son, Romeo, meet at a feast held by Capulet and fall in love. The two are sweethearts are determined to be together despite the division between their families, and they secretly marry. Romeo is later goaded into fighting with Capulet's cousin Tybalt, who is stabbed and killed. Romeo is then banished from Verona. Meanwhile, Capulet wants Juliet to marry another man, and Juliet knows she can't tell her parents whom she has already married. She conspires with the friar who married them to deceive her family so that she can steal away and be with Romeo. It's not until that plan ends tragically that the two families realize how foolish they have been.

Is It Any Good?

Not surprisingly, Romeo and Juliet has it all: clever dialogue, passionate romance, violent conflict, and plenty of poetry. Modern readers might have to suspend their disbelief to accept Romeo and Juliet's grand passion, but with a little patience, readers will be transported by the epic beauty of one of the world's best-loved plays.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the love between Romeo and Juliet -- two tenagers who have known each other for only about one day. Is this love at first sight? Is their love heightened by the obstacles they face?

The Capulets and Montagues hate each other, but we don't know why. Does it matter?

Do you think Shakespeare's play glamorizes suicide?

Why do you think this play is considered a classic and is often required reading in school?

Book Details

• Author : William Shakespeare
• Genre : Literary Fiction
• Topics : History
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Simon & Schuster
• Publication date : January 1, 2004
• Number of pages : 336
• Last updated : June 9, 2015

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What to read next.

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Romeo and Juliet

by William Shakespeare

Critical Evaluation

This story of star-crossed lovers is one of William Shakespeare’s tenderest dramas. Shakespeare is sympathetic toward Romeo and Juliet, and in attributing their tragedy to fate, rather than to a flaw in their characters, he raises them to heights near perfection, as well as running the risk of creating pathos, not tragedy. They are both sincere, kind, brave, loyal, virtuous, and desperately in love, and their tragedy is greater because of their innocence. The feud between the lovers’ families represents the fate that Romeo and Juliet are powerless to overcome. The lines capture in poetry the youthful and simple passion that characterizes the play. One of the most popular plays of all time, Romeo and Juliet was Shakespeare’s second tragedy (after Titus Andronicus of 1594, a failure). Consequently, the play shows the sometimes artificial lyricism of early comedies such as Love’s Labour’s Lost (pr. c. 1594-1595, pb. 1598) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (pr. c. 1595-1596, pb. 1600), while its character development predicts the direction of the playwright’s artistic maturity. In Shakespeare’s usual fashion, he based his story on sources that were well known in his day: Masuccio Salernitano’s Novellino (1475), William Painter’s The Palace of Pleasure (1566-1567), and, especially, Arthur Brooke’s poetic The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562). Shakespeare reduces the time of the action from the months it takes in Brooke’s work to a few compact days.

In addition to following the conventional five-part structure of a tragedy, Shakespeare employs his characteristic alternation, from scene to scene, between taking the action forward and retarding it, often with comic relief, to heighten the dramatic impact. Although in many respects the play’s structure recalls that of the genre of the fall of powerful men, its true prototype is tragedy as employed by Geoffrey Chaucer in Troilus and Criseyde (c. 1382)—a fall into unhappiness, on the part of more or less ordinary people, after a fleeting period of happiness. The fall is caused traditionally and in Shakespeare’s play by the workings of fortune. Insofar as Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, it is a tragedy of fate rather than of a tragic flaw. Although the two lovers have weaknesses, it is not their faults, but their unlucky stars, that destroy them. As the friar comments at the end, “A greater power than we can contradict/ Hath thwarted our intents.”

Shakespeare succeeds in having the thematic structure closely parallel the dramatic form of the play. The principal theme is that of the tension between the two houses, and all the other oppositions of the play derive from that central one. Thus, romance is set against revenge, love against hate, day against night, sex against war, youth against age, and “tears to fire.” Juliet’s soliloquy in act 3, scene 2 makes it clear that it is the strife between her family and Romeo’s that has turned Romeo’s love to death. If, at times, Shakespeare seems to forget the family theme in his lyrical fascination with the lovers, that fact only sets off their suffering all the more poignantly against the background of the senseless and arbitrary strife between the Capulets and Montagues. For the families, after all, the story has a classically comic ending; their feud is buried with the lovers—which seems to be the intention of the fate that compels the action.

The lovers never forget their families; their consciousness of the conflict leads to another central theme in the play, that of identity. Romeo questions his identity to Benvolio early in the play, and Juliet asks him, “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” At her request he offers to change his name and to be defined only as one star-crossed with her. Juliet, too, questions her identity, when she speaks to the nurse after Romeo’s slaying of Tybalt. Romeo later asks the friar to help him locate the lodging of his name so that he may cast it from his “hateful mansion,” bringing a plague upon his own house in an ironic fulfillment of Mercutio’s dying curse. Only when they are in their graves, together, do the two lovers find peace from the persecution of being Capulet and Montague; they are remembered by their first names only, an ironic proof that their story has the beneficial political influence the Prince, who wants the feud to end, wishes.

Likewise, the style of the play alternates between poetic gymnastics and pure and simple lines of deep emotion. The unrhymed iambic pentameter is filled with conceits, puns, and wordplay, presenting both lovers as very well-spoken youngsters. Their verbal wit, in fact, is not Shakespeare’s rhetorical excess but part of their characters. It fortifies the impression the audience has of their spiritual natures, showing their love as an intellectual appreciation of beauty combined with physical passion. Their first dialogue, for example, is a sonnet divided between them. In no other early play is the imagery as lush and complex, making unforgettable the balcony speech in which Romeo describes Juliet as the sun, Juliet’s nightingale-lark speech, her comparison of Romeo to the “day in night,” which Romeo then develops as he observes, at dawn, “more light and light, more dark and dark our woes.”

At the beginning of the play Benvolio describes Romeo as a “love-struck swain” in the typical pastoral fashion. He is, as the cliché has it, in love with love (Rosaline’s name is not even mentioned until much later). He is youthful energy seeking an outlet, sensitive appreciation seeking a beautiful object. Mercutio and the friar comment on his fickleness. The sight of Juliet immediately transforms Romeo’s immature and erotic infatuation to true and constant love. He matures more quickly than anyone around him realizes; only the audience understands the process, since Shakespeare makes Romeo introspective and articulate in his monologues. Even in love, however, Romeo does not reject his former romantic ideals. When Juliet comments, “You kiss by th’ book,” she is being astutely perceptive; Romeo’s death is the death of an idealist, not of a foolhardy youth. He knows what he is doing, his awareness growing from his comment after slaying Tybalt, “O, I am Fortune’s fool.”

Juliet is equally quick-witted and also has early premonitions of their sudden love’s end. She is made uniquely charming by her combination of girlish innocence with a winsome foresight that is “wise” when compared to the superficial feelings expressed by her father, mother, and Count Paris. Juliet, moreover, is realistic as well as romantic. She knows how to exploit her womanly softness, making the audience feel both poignancy and irony when the friar remarks, at her arrival in the wedding chapel, “O, so light a foot/ Will ne’er wear out the everlasting flint!” It takes a strong person to carry out the friar’s stratagem, after all; Juliet succeeds in the ruse partly because everyone else considers her weak in body and in will. She is a subtle actor, telling the audience after dismissing her mother and the nurse, “My dismal scene I needs must act alone.” Her quiet intelligence makes the audience’s tragic pity all the stronger when her “scene” becomes reality.

Shakespeare provides his lovers with effective dramatic foils in the characters of Mercutio, the nurse, and the friar. The play, nevertheless, remains forever that of “Juliet and her Romeo.”

Cite this page as follows:

"Romeo and Juliet - Critical Evaluation." Critical Survey of Literature for Students, edited by Laurence W. Mazzeno, eNotes.com, Inc., 2010, 10 Sep. 2024 <https://www.enotes.com/topics/romeo-and-juliet/critical-essays/critical-evaluation>

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Critical Context

• Annotated Full Text
• Literary Period: Renaissance
• Publication Date: 1597
• Flesch-Kincaid Level: 11
• Approx. Reading Time: 2 hours and 6 minutes

Romeo and Juliet

Set in Verona amidst a brutal blood feud between the Capulets and Montagues, Romeo and Juliet presents titular-characters Romeo and Juliet as they fall in love at first sight despite their parents’ hatred. The tension between this pure love and the rage that surrounds them ultimately results in the lovers’ deaths, which are able to resolve their families’ bitter enmity. Romeo and Juliet is regarded as an early demonstration of Shakespeare’s innovative take on dramatic structure. He expands subplots to underscore the main plot, develops minor characters, switches back and forth between comedy and drama to create believable tension and sympathetic characters, and he repurposes the then popular sonnet form to indicate character growth and the immediate connection between the lovers. It was one of his most popular plays during his time, and it remains one of the most performed Shakespeare plays today. Shakespeare’s representation of these star-crossed lovers has become the quintessential representation of the beauty in tragic love and the power language has to describe it. As the play itself concludes, “never has there been a story of more woe, than that of Juliet and her Romeo.”

Table of Contents

• Dramatis Personae
• The Prologue
• Act I - Scene I
• Act I - Scene II
• Act I - Scene III
• Act I - Scene IV
• Act I - Scene V
• Act II - Prologue
• Act II - Scene I
• Act II - Scene II
• Act II - Scene III
• Act II - Scene IV
• Act II - Scene V
• Act II - Scene VI
• Act III - Scene I
• Act III - Scene II
• Act III - Scene III
• Act III - Scene IV
• Act III - Scene V
• Act IV - Scene I
• Act IV - Scene II
• Act IV - Scene III
• Act IV - Scene IV
• Act IV - Scene V
• Act V - Scene I
• Act V - Scene II
• Act V - Scene III
• Character Analysis
• Foreshadowing
• Historical Context
• Literary Devices
• Personification
• Quote Analysis
• Rhetorical Devices

Study Guide

• William Shakespeare Biography

Teaching Resources

• Romeo and Juliet Act III, Scene V Dialogue Analysis Activity Worksheet
• Romeo and Juliet Character Analysis Lesson Plan
• Romeo and Juliet Literary Devices Lesson Plan
• Romeo and Juliet Teaching Guide

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Swearing, rants, reviews, on every level, book review – romeo and juliet by william shakespeare.

I’m a fan of Shakespeare. I think he’s way more accessible than people give him credit for. I can also understand why so many people don’t get along with him. For me, it all comes down to how you first experience him. For most of us, we’ll come across our first Shakespeare play at school. If you go through this with the right teacher then he you’ll be able to embrace the Bard fully. If you don’t have the right teacher then you’ll just think he’s old and boring. Thankfully, the first play that I studied was Macbeth and it ended up being a lot of fun. Then I got stuck into Othello , Hamlet and King Lear . By the time I was 16, I was already pretty hooked on old Willy. Although, I’ve never been a big fan of a couple of his most popular plays. Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Nights Dream tend to be ones that most people are willing to watch. I guess they’re more like traditional romantic comedies, so they might be easier for modern audiences to get behind. Really, I don’t know why people love these plays so much. For me, they’re two of his most tedious plays. And, yes, I have studied the histories. Certainly in the case of Romeo and Juliet . I just think it’s stupid.

But, last month, I decided to read the story of the star-crossed lovers in fair Verona. I guess I wanted to see if my opinion had changed over the years. Spoiler alert: it hadn’t. I still think this play is terrible. It’s based on a very childish and unrealistic version of love. I’d also argue that it doesn’t actually offer any real insight into human existence. I don’t understand why there is still such a fascination with this play. I don’t see what appeal there is in deciding to put on this play. It’s just not interesting. This is one of the main reasons that modern productions take so many liberties with the setting. Would Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation have been quite so successful had it not been set in contemporary America? Was it not the fact that Romeo and his chums brandished guns instead of actual swords? I doubt it.

That’s the main problem with this play. On its own, it really isn’t that exciting. That’s why you need to rejig is to include gangsters or rival football teams or whatever. You need an added context to really make it work. As it stands, the play does little to establish itself or its context. It doesn’t really care. We just know that these families are at war. Do we need to know why? Not according to Shakespeare. It’s just way to increase the melodrama and give these teens something to really get upset about. There’s such a lack of depth within this play. It focuses on the scenes between the two lovers and throws in a few fight scenes for good measure. What else is there? Not much, It’s just an overly simple narrative and very little character development.

Speaking of which, I read an article that suggested we hate this play because society hates young women. But how can we hate Juliet when we know nothing about her? All we really know is that she’s 13 because Shakespeare is super keen that we never forget that fact. I’m not suggesting that Romeo is a very developed character, but we do get to know more about him. He’s a feminine youth who is mocked for believing in love so much. That’s not so much of a problem but it could have been taken further. It’s difficult to believe in this love when we, the audience, don’t know anything about these two kids. Is it any wonder that so many people think their love is superficial?

And their love really is superficial. I’m not saying that all teenage love affairs are superficial but this one is. I’ve read an argument that suggests the play isn’t a warning about teenage love but is a warning not to underestimate teenagers. That the play is showing us that teenagers are mature adults capable of making their own decisions. It also had the gall to suggest that Juliet’s death is empowering. That her only alternative is being married off to someone she doesn’t love. That death is her only way to find freedom. Now, I’m sorry but if you think that is a positive message then I’m worried about you. Taken in this light, the play is just another teen drama that is advocating death as the ultimate resolution. Not only does Juliet not have to marry Paris but their families magically stop fighting. Forgive me if I don’t praise a play for encouraging young girls in arranged marriages to just end their lives. That’s not feminism.

This is a play that is so popular because people obsess about their teenage years. That’s why shows like The OC, Dawson’s Creek and Riverdale keep getting made. They’re written by people in the 30s and 40s who think that these were the best years of their lives. That the love between two teenagers is passionate and magical. Teenagers tend to be avid believers in love at first sight but, for the most part, this is an idea that we grow out of. Cause let’s be honest, teenagers are idiots. Romeo and Juliet are definitely idiots. The fact that they don’t take a second to think before acting is proof that they’re idiots. Whether you believe that their love is real or not, you have to admit that they’re both drama queens. They’ve known each other for a matter of days, secretly got married and then killed themselves. A 13-year-old and a 17 (ish) year old boy end up dead and, because we idolise teenagers, it has become one of the most celebrated love stories of all time. How is it possible?

To really believe that this is a love story, you have to believe that the pair would have stayed together forever. I mean, had they not got caught up in the drama and killed themselves. There is absolutely no evidence that the pair would have had a long and happy marriage. Their relationship is based on looks and a desire to escape their fates. There is no deep, emotional connection. Juliet is young and Romeo is a hopeless romantic. Given a few years and a couple of babies, I reckon the star-crossed lovers would be in terrible shape. Juliet looking after two young Montague’s while her husband is off writing poetry to whichever young thing he’s obsessed with at that time. Maybe there is something weirdly romantic about young love dying together. It’s like the thing with Disney movies. We’re told they lived happily ever after but we never see it. In Romeo and Juliet , we never see the reality of their decision. But, put them in the real world and I doubt these two would have lasted long.

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‘Romeo and Juliet’ Review: The A.R.T. Keeps It Classic

Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is popular. By some accounts, it’s the second-most-performed Shakespeare play in the United States, and to many Americans who are used to high school English class, it’s synonymous with the Bard. Making this well-known work feel new or relevant today is therefore a daunting challenge, but the American Repertory Theater’s latest production of the tragedy revitalizes the play’s relatability and excitement. Although the play has some purported aims that don’t feel fully realized, the A.R.T’s production of “Romeo and Juliet’ is nonetheless entertaining and lively, retaining its classic beauty while imbuing it with imaginative choreography.

Amy Rubin’s set design is bare-bones, making the audience focus on Shakespeare’s words instead of extensive scenic design. Most of the props are formed from a single wooden cube that shifts about the stage, serving as Juliet’s balcony, the Capulets’ tomb, and the lovers’ deathbed at various points of the production. This set makes it clear that the play is not attempting to place Romeo and Juliet in a radically new environment. Rather, the production underscores the timeliness of Shakespeare’s script by emphasizing that the star-crossed lovers could be in any location or society; their experiences feel universalized by a stage that requires the audience to use their imagination and project their own experiences.

The most alluring feature of “Romeo and Juliet” is its choreography. The movement director and choreographer, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, brings an original, funny, and almost cinematic feel to the production. Key moments are highlighted through an engaging slo-mo effect, reminding its audience of the importance of certain scenes. For example, when Romeo (Rudy Pankow) meets Juliet (Emilia Suárez) at the Capulet celebration, the dancers — including Juliet — slow while Romeo glides through the party at a normal pace, eyes trained on his new love as a heartbeat sound effect rings out. As Romeo’s speech turns to Juliet’s beauty, we also see through the direction that his attention is trained on her.

Cherkaoui plays with the actors’ movements in other ways as well, capitalizing on the Bard’s lack of stage directions in the original script to give the production unique twists. A notable pantomime is added where Friar Laurence (Terrence Mann) tells Juliet his feigned suicide plan. As he whispers in her ear, a pre-recorded version of his idea echoes across the stage, and Juliet moves away from his mouth to act out an idealized version of the final act’s events. This direction perfectly marries creative sound design (Daniel Lundberg) with fresh choreography to make the old play feel exceedingly new.

While the various technical aspects of the production are well-done and make the beloved tale of Romeo and Juliet feel engrossing, the intended vision of the show’s director muddies the classic feel of the production to some degree. In the show’s program, the Tony Award-winning director of the show, Diane M. Paulus ’88, states that she wants to reframe Romeo and Juliet not “as a story about hate, but rather as a story about love.” According to this overall concept, the audience is meant to focus on the love blooming between the teenagers at the show’s heart instead of the hate that controls fair Verona. In some ways, the play aligns with this vision through Emilio Sosa’s costuming: The Capulets and Montagues’ modern outfits are not distinguished from one another in any meaningful way, shying away from a tendency to dress the houses in opposing colors. Yet some directorial choices seem to actually highlight the hateful effects of Romeo and Juliet’s love. The death of Mercutio (Clay Singer) is dramatic and bloody, with his screams of “A plague o’ both your houses” feeling bitter and resentful. Additionally, when Juliet feigns death, her family’s shadows are projected upon a white sheet. Their writhing figures screech in harrowing pain, making her plans with Romeo feel twisted instead of beautiful. These choices indeed heighten the emotional core of the play, but are confusing when paired with Paulus’ vision of a love-centered “Romeo and Juliet.”

The play’s vision is perhaps weakened most by its modified ending, which departs from Shakespeare’s script. In the original finale, Lord Capulet (Bradley Dean)and Lord Montague (Terence Archie) join hands and agree to raise a monument to their children in order to break away from their ancient grudge. A.R.T.’s “Romeo and Juliet” replaces this scene with another silent pantomime in which both families plant a garden together while the shades of Romeo and Juliet embrace at the center of the stage. The symbolism of regrowth is clear but also somewhat cheesy, as if the production does not trust the audience to understand the Lords’ peace agreement without in-your-face visuals — strangely, this is the first time in the play’s minimalistic staging that extensive props are used.

Despite some creative shortcomings, the A.R.T.’s production of “Romeo and Juliet” understands the entertainment value that Shakespeare’s work provides and supplements the emotional power of its tragedy with fantastic choreography. When the show doesn’t dwell on its director’s grand aims, it feels the most true to itself and the play’s original feel. Overall, the A.R.T’s take on the work is classic yet exciting and will remind audiences of the spell that Shakespeare’s work still casts upon us to this day.

“Romeo and Juliet” runs at the Loeb Drama Center through Oct. 6.

—Staff writer Hannah E. Gadway can be reached at [email protected] .

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Book Review: Romeo and Juliet

As is likely the case with many readers, I was assigned to study the play "Romeo and Juliet" in a high school English class. While it's true that I was led on to read the book out of obligation, I ended up forming some pretty spirited opinions on the novel. I definitely was not engaged in this read, but even still, am able to respect its excellence in the context of Shakespeare's time.

As a reader, you can tell that the language used is vastly different from that of the common, English vernacular. For this reason, it can sometimes be a challenge to understand what is going on in the plot, especially since the story is told through the lens of a play. Before attempting this read, I would certainly brush up on some basic play terms, to grasp a better understanding of the composition of such a work.

Another factor contributing to the difficulty of this read is Shakespeare’s use of Iambic Pentameter, a rhyming scheme ideal for sonnets where three sets of rhyming quatrains and two lines of rhyming couplets are alternated. I found it truly impressive that Shakespeare manages to devise these rhymes with so much detail and insight. To go through with reading this novel, I would have to suggest to understand the rhyming scene of Iambic Pentameter, as doing so allows you to come to terms with a greater appreciation for Shakespeare’s work.

I found the plot itself to be a bit too inconstant. While at first the novel seems somewhat believable, the ending turns totally wild and unpredictable. I don’t mean to critique Shakespeare’s work, as his play was truly revolutionary for its time, but to a 21st century teen, this novel may not be the most enjoyable.

In terms of the themes, the novel excels with powerful and proactive lessons. Reflecting on the plot, and Shakespeare’s use of literary devices such as foreshadowing, can lead to meaningful conversations and analyses about life, love, and happiness. Overall, I would pin my recommendation on this book, but only if you take the time to understand the niche delicacies of Shakespeare’s writing. At face value, the novel may not seem the most exciting or engaging to the reader, but by appreciating the literary masterpiece found in Shakespeare’s work, you’ll definitely enjoy the read!

Reviewer’s Grade Level: 10