Reviews - Romeo and Juliet

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7.88k reviews for:

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare

3.5 AVERAGE

hatofulbf's review against another edition

4.25

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

forgedrapids's review against another edition

3.0

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

marijeta_14's review against another edition

4.75

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

ryan_pearl's review against another edition

3.25

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

ahsendk's review against another edition

4.25

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

shakespearesgirl's review against another edition

3.0

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.