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1906ds 's review for:
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
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!
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!