Immortally Challenged

        The wretched beast called death claimed the lives of Juliet and Romeo. A love so fierce, that death brought them closer to each other than they were alive. I think that the end of the play shows how crucial communication is. One letter could have changed the entire outcome of this play. The fact that Romeo and Juliet killed themselves shows that their love was way more than a flirtatious fling. There’s no way anyone would voluntarily kill themselves for another person if they didn’t feel in their heart that they loved someone. From the outside looking in, it may seem that they don’t know each other or are being extremely spontaneous, but to them, they are their one true love.

        It’s been said that death brings people closer together. As with Nelson Mandela’s death, a service was held where people who hated and loved him came together to celebrate the life he lived and what he stood for. But, while he was alive neither side could get along. It’s sad and confusing that in order to stop the negativity and the feud, people have to die like Romeo and Juliet. We have no idea how long the feud between the Capulet’s and Montague’s has been going on for, but we do know that people have been dying before the death of Romeo and Juliet. So, what about their death is so special?

        Rash decisions, love, anger and mixed emotions are all a part of being a hormone raging teenager. I think that it’s impossible to want Romeo and Juliet to have followed their parent’s wishes because neither do teens today. Can anyone honestly say they haven’t disobeyed their parent’s wishes at least once? It’s something that’s bound to happen sooner or later, but for Romeo and Juliet, it just happened to lead to their untimely death even though they had the guidance of an adult figure.

        In the show, The Bachelorette, countless men are vying for the affection of one woman. Over 10+ men are all over one woman like white on rice. In the end, she has to choose who she likes the most. Much like Juliet’s case, she has her pick of who she wants. The fight between Romeo and Paris was inevitable because when two alpha males want the same thing, there is only one solution. This play makes Romeo seem like quite the fighter because he never gets injured and is always the one killing people. In the end, Romeo and Juliet get to be together even if they are dead.  

And Then Everyone Dies

          We’ve finally made it to the inevitable end of the play where pretty much everyone has died. First, I think that it was ridiculous for Romeo and Juliet to kill themselves for each other after only knowing one another for a couple of days at the most. How much can you really know about a person after only a couple of days?? It reminds me of reality TV shows like Married at First Sight where literally the first time they are seeing their spouse is when they are at the altar. Not surprisingly, a lot of these marriages don’t end well because they are complete strangers, pretty much just like Romeo and Juliet. At least on the TV show they have a bunch of professionals to help guide them through the process. Romeo and Juliet pretty much just had Friar Lawrence. I don’t think their marriage had high chances of making it that long had they actually managed to stay alive, simply because they didn’t know each other. For all Juliet knew, Romeo could have been a serial killer.   

What Romeo could have been 

          So much heartache could have been avoided had Romeo and Juliet just listened to their parents in the first place and also if it weren’t for Friar Lawrence. In the face of crippling parental control over their lives, Romeo and Juliet turned to Friar Lawrence who I have come to see as the well-meaning cool uncle. You know, the one who lets you do stuff your parents would normally never let you do. He also kind of reminds of Regina George's mom in Mean Girls just a little more grounded.

Despite his good intentions, he had a direct role in Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. When coming up with such an elaborate plan that deals with “death” it’s probably best that both parties are made a
ware of the plan at the same exact time. He should have known that Romeo’s dramatic reaction to everything probably would have made this plan a horrible idea if the tiniest thing went wrong. I get that he was trying to be sympathetic to their cause but as the only adult they really trusted in the situation, I think he could have come up with a better plan or at least have given better advice.

It’s kind of ridiculous how easily the Capulet’s and Montague’s long family feud is remedied in just 10 lines of dialogue. It took their children DYING to finally come to their senses?? If they could forgive each other that easily, why didn’t they just forgive each other a long time ago? Absolutely ridiculous.

The Montague's and Capulet's today

         

Romeo and Juliet Acts 1 & 2

Romeo and Juliet is fine, I think it has some funny moments, and, obviously, it is a real tragedy, but I would hardly consider it one of my favorites, or even something I’d read, or watch, for fun. I think a lot of people have said this, but it really isn’t apparent at all why the Montagues and the Capulets are fighting, which is an example of one of the problems I have with the book- it’s like Shakespeare just needed them to not like each other for the story, without coming up with a reason why. 

I think people are really hard on Romeo and Juliet (the people- not the play). They are extremely immature, Romeo especially. He seems very in love with the idea of loving Juliet, before he even really knows her. I think eventually the way he speaks about her reflects genuine feelings, but, at first, it sounds like he’s just excited to love someone, and it doesn’t really matter if it’s Juliet or not. But they’re young! Really young! I think it’s to be expected that they are immature and inexperienced.

 One thing I really liked is that when Paris wanted to marry Juliet, her dad agreed, but only if Paris can get Juliet to agree. I guess back then the girls didn’t really have a choice who they wanted to marry, and I think “it’s fine with me, if it’s fine with them,” is an appropriate response if anyone ever asks anyone else’s parents permission to marry their child (which is weird a gross and a tradition I hope dies). However, it wasn’t really like he was giving Juliet a choice, because he doesn’t really want her to make any decisions for herself, and, also, obviously, business is more important to him than his own child’s wellbeing. And, Capulet pretending that he wants his daughter to marry someone she loves, and he wants it to be her choice, is his only slightly redeeming moment as a father. Juliet’s mom was also very young when she got married and had Juliet, shown when she said “Well, think of marriage now; younger than you… I was your mother much upon these years…” Also, Capulet shows that the age gap between them has caused some problems when he said “too soon married are those so early made,” when he was talking to Paris about Juliet being too young to get married. However, you’re the one who decided to marry a prepubescent girl, buddy. I really hate Capulet and I think he’s a horrible father. 

Rebelling Traditions

Hello all! This will be my first ever blog post (both for Dr. MB’s class and in general), so bear with me if it’s not as informal as most others will be. Shakespearian plays have always had an impact in my life. From reading Romeo and Juliet during middle school (or high school, one of the two) to listening to Hamlet and watching the five-hour long movie to studying King Lear… Basically a Shakespearian-heavy education for me, minus Othello and Macbeth; no complaints here, though, as I’ve come to appreciate Shakespeare’s impact on culture in hindsight. That doesn’t justify it as something I’d do in my spare time, mind you.

The first two acts of Romeo and Juliet (while attempting not to spoil later acts, not that I remember) pretty much sum up the unintended notion of “rebelling” against older traditions. In this case, imminent disagreements and “flourishes…[of blades]…in spite of me” (15) with little to no explanations combined with the occasional young love connection—“‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy” (71)—set up unpromising circumstances. What is the acceptableness boundary of defying tradition? And can love overpower it?

Given the era (16^th century…? I’m terrible with dates), I believe the answer is no, likely not. Romeo and Juliet are both situated within wealthy families, and in Juliet’s case also an arranged marriage. However, the modern era shows the transformation of relationship-type traditions, some broken and questioned with others changed into a normality. The case between Romeo and Juliet might’ve been tolerated within today’s standards but still dependent on the families’ values.

Divorce, for example, was a significant term growing up. And through various school novels featuring 16^th century impressions on divorce as a sin surprised me, while at the same time not at all, at the rising divorce rates within the modern times and how it’s become a “standard”, in a sense. I’m not saying anything good or bad about marriage and divorce, just that it’s the couple’s decision and has gotten to the point of acceptance.

Romeo and Juliet almost immediately mentioned marriage, which was probably not any different from the potential arranged marriage between Juliet and Paris. The term marriage has evolved into a very sensitive term. Of course it represents the successor to a successful relationship and something one should ponder about once-in-a-while (do I see a future with this person?). But at the same time marriage carries the connotation of a heavy commitment and greater responsibility, of which for some is frightening.

Marriage in the 16^th century was seen as a method of maintaining royalty and wealthy statuses; marriage in the current era is a sign of greater commitment between two people but may not be as significant simply from the abundance of divorces (not discounting it for some couples, just as a whole). And I’ve wondered about the tradition of marrying before living together: how would one grasp the significant other’s lifestyle? Maintaining homework under the parents’ roof is much different than maintaining homework or a job under one’s own rented apartment, shared apartment, etc… 

Romeo and Juliet

I am not going to sit here and front like this is my favorite Shakespeare play. To be honest nothing from Shakespeare is my favorite. I don’t actually enjoy Romeo and Juliet. Why? There are so many other ways to be together, other than killing yourselves, if your families are sworn enemies. I’ve never even read the play before being in this class, it doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest. It still doesn’t appeal to me but I’m reading it for the purpose of this assignment.

Love stories are not particularly my favorite, especially one that ends in death of the lovers. A good love story would have been finding a way to be together, alive no matter what. Like in my favorite rendition of Romeo and Juliet, Romette and Julio by Sharon M. Draper. The two lovers started a relationship but everyone around them were against it because he was Hispanic and she was African American. They didn’t let other people opinions stop them from being alive and together. It is a great read, by an amazing author. I recommend it!

But for real in reality who falls in love that fast? My mans Romeo more than likely had skeletons in his closet Juliet didn’t know what she was getting into. When her mother first asked the first time if she was ready to start thinking about marriage, she said no. She should have stayed with that answer; relationships are stressful especially at that age. She’s not even grown yet!  

Juliet needed a strong independent black woman in her life. To tell her marriage was not the moves at the young age of 14. Now my mother didn’t even allow me to have a boyfriend at the fragile age of 14, yet alone marry someone. Someone needs to talk to her mother because it’s not okay.

I’m pretty sure the only thing I am really enjoying about this play is the fact that it’s always a fight on sight. Act 1 starts off with a fight. You can tell they are real enemies, usually everyone is all talk and no action. I hate that about people, I mean if you’re really “down each other’s throats” then there should be some actions to back up your words. Am I right? Believe me I’m all for an action scene especially in situations like this. It still confuses me as to why they are enemies, but for the most part I don’t really care because they fight. 

Romeo and Juliet Act's 1 & 2

           For starters, I have never read any of Shakespeare’s pieces, but I am obviously familiar with “Romeo and Juliet”. It’s a classic. I was never assigned to read it in my previous English courses. I’ve never had any interest to read it to be completely honest, but I do believe it’s good to read it at least once. From what I’ve heard from others that have read it-it sounds like a typical romance story between two people that fall deep in love and can’t stay away from each other (although Romeo and Juliet aren’t very close in age).

            In today’s society many people would explain their relationship as pedophilic because of their difference in age. I know people say “age is just a number”, but the relationship could potentially get complicated when both lovers start to get older. Many parents today don’t want their child dating someone who is at least two years older than they are. Then the parents end up judging the other parents because it “wasn’t right of them to let their child fall in love with someone so young” and vice versa. That can also relate to why Romeo and Juliet’s families hate each other, but I’m not really sure why their families have so much hatred for one another. It doesn’t really state why in the first act. I’m just assuming that the Capulets and Montagues families weren’t really at peace with each other because of money or power because that was really important back then (and it’s still important to some people today).  

            At some point in a teenagers’ life, a situation like “Romeo and Juliet” happens, but it’s ever rare that something that bad ends up happening to both lovers (at least I hope), for those of you who have read the book and knows what happens at the end, know what I’m talking about. Teenagers get into a relationship with someone they have started dating for a year or so and just assume they’re going to spend the rest of their lives with that person because they’re “madly in love” with him/her. Love is blind and it causes people to make decisions they’re not quite ready for, especially marriage. 

            Act's one and two were confusing for me to comprehend and process because I’m not familiar with Shakespeare’s way of writing. I’m hoping to catch on to his “lingo” and phrases. For example:

People say this quote from the book all the time and I have no clue what it means. Many people still speak like this today. Overall, I hope to have an understanding of what the book is really about because everyone describes the plot differently. I can’t really say I enjoy the book so far and I also can’t say I hate it because I just started it. I’ll just have to wait and see if/when the book gets interesting.

What's in a name? Meaningless Labels

The first time that I read Romeo and Juliet, I was a freshman in high school. I hated it, and my teacher hated it just as much. Unfortunately, it was a part of the curriculum, so it had to be taught. I remember my teacher stressing over and over again, the small details about the play that proved that it wasn't a love story, as well as the great comical moments. The most memorable comical scene is actually the opening altercation of the play between Abram, Sampson, and Gregory. I know that this is such a small section of the play (it doesn't even take up an entire scene), but it's importance is obvious simply because of its position at the opening of the play. So, for this post, I'm going to break down the first eight pages of the play and show why everything we possibly need to know about this play is right there.

Before I begin, I would like to say that I came into this assignment greatly distracted by the current political climate. I have said multiple times in the last two weeks that I was going to step away from social media, especially Facebook, because, too often, I was finding myself in frustrating comment exchanges where I was trying my best to remain calm and logical while the people on the other end had decided that they didn't like me from the moment they deemed me a "liberal." As a result, I began reading Romeo and Juliet through a lens of uneducated hatred.

I believe it was Sean that asked in his post, "why are the Montagues and Capulets even fighting?" I think this is an important question, but I think another question that rises from that is, "why do individuals from each of the families decide that they hate other individuals based solely on their name?" We are told in the prologue that the quarrel between the families is an "ancient grudge," so it's a fair assumption that nothing done by anyone living, from either of the families, could have been the cause of the feud (I.Prologue.3). That being said, the hatred portrayed over and over is simply the hatred of a name--a combination of meaningless letters that these characters deem positive or negative.

The opening of act 1 scene 1 introduces us, first, to two fairly unimportant characters, Sampson and Gregory of house Capulet. For no given reason, they begin gossiping about their hatred for the Montagues, and some of the things that they say are quite concerning. The most alarming thing is said by Sampson in regards to the women of the Montague house:

Sampson: 'Tis all one. I will show myself a tyrant.
When I have fought with the men, I will be civil
with the maids; I will cut off their heads.
Gregory: The heads of the maids?
Sampson: Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maiden-
heads. Take it in what sense thou wilt. (I.i.22-27).

While Sampson threatens physical violence to the Montague men, he is threatening rape against the Montague women--all of these threats are based solely on a family name. These threats and words of hatred seem to be very reminiscent of the feelings of animosity that are filling the air between political parties right now. While many have been peaceful, there have been outbursts of violence or threats of violence simply based on ideas or the labels of liberal or conservative. In direct relation to to the above quotation in the play, I have seen rape threats from both sides. Feminists have received rape threats for words that have been perceived to be against men, while conservative women have received rape threats by people who think it will make them more inclined to support some of the "liberal" causes.

Back to Romeo and Juliet, we soon see these simple words evolve into an actual fight in the streets of Verona between multiple members of both families, even the heads of each household. Even the civilians choose sides in the quarrel, for reasons unknown. The entrance of Prince Escalus is a breathe of fresh air in the midst of the hatred. The Prince is level headed, and, to relate him to my political commentary, he might be considered a centrist since he chooses neither side in the feud. While the entire exchange passes quickly, it gives us everything we need to know about the characters in the play. Their feud exists only in theory. They have been taught to hate each other for no reason other than a name, very much like those who hate others based solely on the assignment of a political label. The only admirable characters are those that acknowledge the futility of hatred (I know this is a stretch considering Romeo and Juliet's annoying naiveté, but that is beside the point).

To conclude, I think that the monologue of Prince Escalus is a perfect call to action for everyone in these divided times:

Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbor-stainèd steel--
Will they not here?--What ho! You men, you beasts,
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage
With purple fountains issuing from your veins:
On pain of torture, from those bloody hands
Throw your mistempered weapons to the ground (I.i.83-89).

If I'm going to get political, I think we should take the prince's message to heart: perhaps it is time to drop these meaningless political titles that divide us and actually try to do some good for our country, in the same way Prince Escalus wants the people of Verona to drop the empty feud between the Montagues and the Capulets and actually think of the city as a whole.

LUV SUX

I am unsure if I have ever read Romeo and Juliet before. I feel like I might have read an excerpt it in high school, but if so, obviously I did not get much from it. TBH I did not care for the two acts we have read so far. This is probably because between rereading lines and lines of old English, and defining what words mean, I lost my momentum. I want so desperately to be one of those intellectuals that have a wealth of knowledge, all because they are so well read. With that said, although I did not fall in love with the play thus far, I can appreciate the writing, and acknowledge that everyone should have some background on Shakespeare’s most famous work. I look forward to being smarterer after this tragedy (i.e. the branch of drama and my pathetic interpretation).

Romeo and Juliet was written in a very different time, about a very different time, so it is hard to critique the validity of these possibly prepubescent youngster’s
love. BUT, as some of my classmates have already pointed out before me, the story is somewhat far fetched. This play is the definition of love at first sight

.

The play in a lot of ways demonstrates the excitement of young (foolish) love. It introduces Romeo as a love struck lad “friendzoned” by the beautiful Rosaline, but as soon as he laid his eyes on Juliet...lets just say Rosaline must not have had “Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear”. Romeo’s love seems very juvenile, which is to be expected considering his age. I believe Romeo’s infatuations and rebound to Juliet has made the story relevant over the years, because young, lusty love is a milestone of everyone’s teen years.

I understand the story is intended to be romantic, because their love escalates so quickly, and we already know it is so strong it leads to their demise, but I find that underwhelming. If I really believed they loved each other maybe I would be more invested in their courtship, but dare I say Shakespeare needed more plot development. I DARE NOT HE IS SHAKESPERE….but if I was feeling crazy I might I suggest Act 1, scene 6 in which Romeo and Juliet go on a date where Juliet says more than 5 lines to Romeo.  The couples first encounter only lasted a grand total of one page, and Romeo is already talking about marriage. Is he loosing his mind? Yes.

One last thought…Although literally everyone knows Romeo and Juliet die at the end, I think it’s super lame it is literally stated in the prologue.