William Shakespeare – Romeo & Juliet
Play – read as iPhone app in January 2011
- 4 nods out of 5 -
The newly released animated film, Gnomeo & Juliet, shows once again the popularity of two of Shakespeare’s most enduring characters. We never forget the balcony scene, in which Juliet cries out for her Romeo. It has been retold, upon the stage in seventeenth century England, upon black and white in Hollywood, on the silver and small screens, decade after decade.
For those (few) not acquainted with the play, it follows the secret relationship of Romeo and Juliet; both from different families who are fierce rivals in the city of Verona. As Juliet herself says, ‘My only love sprung from my only hate!’ Their search for lasting love is, as with many things of Shakespeare, cut tragically short in the play’s climax.
Despite its popularity, Romeo & Juliet is certainly not one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Both our major protagonists are dull and, despite their language, unconvincing. But for more colourful smaller roles, most notably Mercutio, the play is about the pace of the plot, with unfolding suspense taking us to the book’s brutal conclusion. And because of this, the play is a fantastic read as a book, upon the stage, or even – as recent technology allows – as an iPhone app!
It carries many of Shakespeare’s most identifiable quotes. Not just ‘Romeo, o Romeo’, but also ‘What’s in a name. That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet’; including Romeo’s honest declaration: ‘O, I am fortune’s fool!’ Whilst the lovers’ language is pure poetry, such as Juliet’s lamentation: ‘My bounty is boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.’
The moral of the story? Of course, that true love knows no limits. Yet, more than that, Shakespeare’s play is a promotion of peace between families and rivals. As the Prince of Verona concludes, ‘Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague! See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love. And I for winking at your discords too.’ It is this fierce rivalry, this intense love, that keeps Romeo & Juliet relevant to generation after generation. After an animated gnome format, what next for these two star crossed lovers?
Play – read as iPhone app in January 2011
- 4 nods out of 5 -
The newly released animated film, Gnomeo & Juliet, shows once again the popularity of two of Shakespeare’s most enduring characters. We never forget the balcony scene, in which Juliet cries out for her Romeo. It has been retold, upon the stage in seventeenth century England, upon black and white in Hollywood, on the silver and small screens, decade after decade.
For those (few) not acquainted with the play, it follows the secret relationship of Romeo and Juliet; both from different families who are fierce rivals in the city of Verona. As Juliet herself says, ‘My only love sprung from my only hate!’ Their search for lasting love is, as with many things of Shakespeare, cut tragically short in the play’s climax.
Despite its popularity, Romeo & Juliet is certainly not one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Both our major protagonists are dull and, despite their language, unconvincing. But for more colourful smaller roles, most notably Mercutio, the play is about the pace of the plot, with unfolding suspense taking us to the book’s brutal conclusion. And because of this, the play is a fantastic read as a book, upon the stage, or even – as recent technology allows – as an iPhone app!
It carries many of Shakespeare’s most identifiable quotes. Not just ‘Romeo, o Romeo’, but also ‘What’s in a name. That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet’; including Romeo’s honest declaration: ‘O, I am fortune’s fool!’ Whilst the lovers’ language is pure poetry, such as Juliet’s lamentation: ‘My bounty is boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.’
The moral of the story? Of course, that true love knows no limits. Yet, more than that, Shakespeare’s play is a promotion of peace between families and rivals. As the Prince of Verona concludes, ‘Where be these enemies? Capulet! Montague! See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love. And I for winking at your discords too.’ It is this fierce rivalry, this intense love, that keeps Romeo & Juliet relevant to generation after generation. After an animated gnome format, what next for these two star crossed lovers?
