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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
boring and confusing. watch the movie instead.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve heard a lot about this story, as I’m sure everyone in the “west” has, but it was surprisingly different than I expected. I actually enjoyed this one unlike most of Shakespeare’s other works and I’m fascinated that people lay such blame on two teenagers when everyone around them sucks so badly.
Heads up; this is gonna be a bit of a rant
For a few days now, I've seen a lot of teenagers romanticising this book and it's just here we fucking go again. This book isn't romantic.
If Shakespeare was trying to be romantic then he's a g-damn fucking idiot. There is so much in this that could have been changed.
First of all - The Montagues and the Capulets. Dudes grow up. "We're the two richest families here so instead of letting Romeo and Juliet marry and join our massive wealths and become an unstoppable force, we're gonna fight like children and see who's dick is bigger".
Second of all - "I'LL NEVER SEE ROMEO AGAIN, I'M GOING TO KILL MYSELF!!!!!"
WHY NOT JUST TAKE AS MUCH MONEY AS YOU'RE BOTH ENTITLED TO FROM YOUR FAMILIES AND FUCK OFF TO ANOTHER TOWN OR ANOTHER COUNTRY??? Seriously I read this back in Year Nine when I was heavily suicidal and dear g-d the amount of times I threw this book in anger or slammed it shut. I think one time I walked out of the fucking classroom it made me so angry. And why are people romanticising this crap? You'd rather die with some guy you met when you're 15 instead of moving on and finding a new guy?
Shakespeare massively missed it with this one. This book fucks me off so much I can't even put it into a review.
This isn't romantic. This isn't a tragedy. It's downright fucking ridiculous. Everything in this book could have actually been sorted out like damn kids stop being idiots and think outside the box a little bit.
challenging
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can't actually review this book--or, play--because I find it very hard to critique something that has historical and cultural value as well as literary value, but I will just say that reading the play this time reminded me just how verbose and linguistic Shakespeare was. I also noticed a few interesting lines that Shakespeare rephrases and reuses in 12th Night and The Tempest. I think his view of love as well as the way he talked about it changed dramatically over the course of his life, and that's actually surprisingly evident in the way he handles his romances.
For instance, Romeo has a line in this play where he comments that women aren't capable of love in the same capacity as men (I interpreted the line to be an off-hand comment that men are more constant and love longer while women are fickle, but I may be wrong about that one; this is also extremely ironic, as Romeo has just dumped his love for Rosaline for Juliet). Years later, near the end of his career, he wrote 12th Night, where Count Orsino has the immortal line "There is no woman's sides can bide the beating of so strong a passion as love doth give my heart [. . .] But mine is all as hungry as the sea and can digest as much." Viola immediately corrects this notion, though, and if my interpretation is correct, this is extremely interesting. In Romeo and Juliet, the author's voice is most noticeable and strong when he writes Romeo, but in 12th Night, the author's voice is strongest when he writes Viola. So, if the author's opinions really are reflected from the character he writes the strongest, there's been a complete shift in how Shakespeare thinks of love--from something flip and trivial that burns bright and hot then flames out into something long and sustained, that has to be nurtured and worked at and sometimes suppressed.
Anyway, I don't have the time or space to really do justice to this observation, but I thought I'd put a foreshortened version of it out there anyway. Just because.
For instance, Romeo has a line in this play where he comments that women aren't capable of love in the same capacity as men (I interpreted the line to be an off-hand comment that men are more constant and love longer while women are fickle, but I may be wrong about that one; this is also extremely ironic, as Romeo has just dumped his love for Rosaline for Juliet). Years later, near the end of his career, he wrote 12th Night, where Count Orsino has the immortal line "There is no woman's sides can bide the beating of so strong a passion as love doth give my heart [. . .] But mine is all as hungry as the sea and can digest as much." Viola immediately corrects this notion, though, and if my interpretation is correct, this is extremely interesting. In Romeo and Juliet, the author's voice is most noticeable and strong when he writes Romeo, but in 12th Night, the author's voice is strongest when he writes Viola. So, if the author's opinions really are reflected from the character he writes the strongest, there's been a complete shift in how Shakespeare thinks of love--from something flip and trivial that burns bright and hot then flames out into something long and sustained, that has to be nurtured and worked at and sometimes suppressed.
Anyway, I don't have the time or space to really do justice to this observation, but I thought I'd put a foreshortened version of it out there anyway. Just because.