Reviews - Romeo and Juliet: Shakespeare Appreciated: SmartPass Audio Education Study Guide

7.8k reviews for:

Romeo and Juliet: Shakespeare Appreciated: SmartPass Audio Education Study Guide

William Shakespeare, Joan Walker

3.5 AVERAGE

7.8k reviews for:

Romeo and Juliet: Shakespeare Appreciated: SmartPass Audio Education Study Guide

William Shakespeare, Joan Walker

3.5 AVERAGE

colin_s's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

all_about_them_audiobooks's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

reallife_kazbrekker's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Diverse cast of characters: No

Loved the writing in this, so many pretty quotes!

Content Warnings

mmullerm's review against another edition

5.0

2023 Shakespeare Complete works challenge

#4 - Romeo and Juliet -

Read 1/17/23- 1/20/23

Rating: 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the Shakespeare play I know most about. Read the play in 9th grade English class and have read it with my kids for their school. Always a wonderful and memorable play each time I revisit it.

____jf27's review against another edition

3.0

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

shaysnotokay's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

1906ds's review against another edition

5.0

emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I have to start with how thankful I am this play exists, because of the huge amount of influence it has had on music; composers like Prokofiev, Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, Gounod, and even Beethoven have found influence from the star-crossed lovers and much of my love for this play is directly due to this music. I mean, can we imagine a world without West Side Story or Prokofiev’s enduring ballet?

For the play itself, Juliet is the star. She (even though she’s not even 14) is the voice of maturity and teaches Romeo how to cast away the cliches of love; as a cynical teenager, I first thought their love was just lust, nothing earnest or sincere. As an adult, it is hard to not believe in their love. The balcony scene of Act 2 is such a celebration of the sudden thunderbolt of true love! Juliet puts it best, in the most resonant line of the play for me: “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, / My love as deep. The more I give to thee, / The more I have, for both are infinite.” Isn’t this true love, knowing the more you give to someone, the more you have?

Other standouts are the Nurse and especially Mercutio, who seems to steal the show every time he comes on stage. No wonder he gets disappeared part way through, otherwise Shakespeare would have had to add him to the title. Now, off to watch WSS again!