Romeo and Juliet

By William Shakespeare and Paul Werstine

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud.

In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers’ final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers.

The authoritative edition of Romeo and Juliet from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-The exact text of the printed book for easy cross-reference
-Hundreds of hypertext links for instant navigation
-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
-Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently linked to the text of the play
-Scene-by-scene plot summaries
-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases
-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language
-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books
-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Gail Kern Paster

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Oct 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781476788494

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.

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Also, please keep in mind that Shakespeare wrote his plays and poems over four hundred years ago, during a time when the English language was in many ways different than it is today. Because the built-in dictionary on many devices is designed for modern English, be advised that the definitions it provides may not apply to the words as Shakespeare uses them. Whenever available, always check the glosses linked to the text for a proper definition before consulting the built-in dictionary.

THE NEW FOLGER LIBRARY

SHAKESPEARE

Designed to make Shakespeare’s great plays available to all readers, the New Folger Library edition of Shakespeare’s plays provides accurate texts in modern spelling and punctuation, as well as scene-by-scene action summaries, full explanatory notes, many pictures clarifying Shakespeare’s language, and notes recording all significant departures from the early printed versions. Each play is prefaced by a brief introduction, by a guide to reading Shakespeare’s language, and by accounts of his life and theater. Each play is followed by an annotated list of further readings and by a Modern Perspective written by an expert on that particular play.

Barbara A. Mowat is Director of Research emerita at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Consulting Editor of Shakespeare Quarterly, and author of The Dramaturgy of Shakespeare’s Romances and of essays on Shakespeare’s plays and their editing.

Paul Werstine is Professor of English in the Graduate School and at King’s University College at Western University. He is a general editor of the New Variorum Shakespeare and author of Early Modern Playhouse Manuscripts and the Editing of Shakespeare, as well as many papers and essays on the printing and editing of Shakespeare’s plays.

Folger Shakespeare Library

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is a privately funded research library dedicated to Shakespeare and the civilization of early modern Europe. It was founded in 1932 by Henry Clay and Emily Jordan Folger, and incorporated as part of Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, one of the nation’s oldest liberal arts colleges, from which Henry Folger had graduated in 1879. In addition to its role as the world’s preeminent Shakespeare collection and its emergence as a leading center for Renaissance studies, the Folger Shakespeare Library offers a wide array of cultural and educational programs and services for the general public.

EDITORS

BARBARA A. MOWAT

Director of Research emerita

Folger Shakespeare Library

PAUL WERSTINE

Professor of English

King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario, Canada

From the Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library

It is hard to imagine a world without Shakespeare. Since their composition more than four hundred years ago, Shakespeare’s plays and poems have traveled the globe, inviting those who see and read his works to make them their own.

Readers of the New Folger Editions are part of this ongoing process of taking up Shakespeare, finding our own thoughts and feelings in language that strikes us as old or unusual and, for that very reason, new. We still struggle to keep up with a writer who could think a mile a minute, whose words paint pictures that shift like clouds. These expertly edited texts are presented as a resource for study, artistic exploration, and enjoyment. As a new generation of readers engages Shakespeare in ebook form, they will encounter the classic texts of the New Folger Editions, with trusted notes and up-to-date critical essays available at their fingertips. Now readers can enjoy expertly edited, modern editions of Shakespeare anywhere they bring their e-reading devices, allowing readers not simply to keep up, but to engage deeply with a writer whose works invite us to think, and think again.

The New Folger Editions of Shakespeare’s plays, which are the basis for the texts realized here in digital form, are special because of their origin. The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is the single greatest documentary source of Shakespeare’s works. An unparalleled collection of early modern books, manuscripts, and artwork connected to Shakespeare, the Folger’s holdings have been consulted extensively in the preparation of these texts. The Editions also reflect the expertise gained through the regular performance of Shakespeare’s works in the Folger’s Elizabethan Theater.

I want to express my deep thanks to editors Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine for creating these indispensable editions of Shakespeare’s works, which incorporate the best of textual scholarship with a richness of commentary that is both inspired and engaging. Readers who want to know more about Shakespeare and his plays can follow the paths these distinguished scholars have tread by visiting the Folger either in-person or online, where a range of physical and digital resources exist to supplement the material in these texts. I commend to you these words, and hope that they inspire.

Michael Witmore

Director, Folger Shakespeare Library

Contents

Editors’ Preface

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

Reading Shakespeare’s Language

Shakespeare’s Life

Shakespeare’s Theater

The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays

An Introduction to This Text

Characters in the Play

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

Text of the Play with Commentary

Act 1

Prologue

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Act 2

Chorus

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Scene 6

Act 3

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Act 4

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Act 5

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Longer Notes

Textual Notes

Romeo and Juliet: A Modern Perspective

by Gail Kern Paster

Further Reading

Key to Famous Lines and Phrases

Commentary

Act 1

Prologue

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Act 2

Chorus

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Scene 6

Act 3

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Act 4

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

Scene 5

Act 5

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Editors’ Preface

In recent years, ways of dealing with Shakespeare’s texts and with the interpretation of his plays have been undergoing significant change. This edition, while retaining many of the features that have always made the Folger Shakespeare so attractive to the general reader, at the same time reflects these current ways of thinking about Shakespeare. For example, modern readers, actors, and teachers have become interested in the differences between, on the one hand, the early forms in which Shakespeare’s plays were first published and, on the other hand, the forms in which editors through the centuries have presented them. In response to this interest, we have based our edition on what we consider the best early printed version of a particular play (explaining our rationale in a section called An Introduction to This Text) and have marked our changes in the text—unobtrusively, we hope, but in such a way that the curious reader can be aware that a change has been made and can consult the Textual Notes to discover what appeared in the early printed version.

Current ways of looking at the plays are reflected in our brief introductions, in many of the commentary notes, in the annotated lists of Further Reading, and especially in each play’s Modern Perspective, an essay written by an outstanding scholar who brings to the reader his or her fresh assessment of the play in the light of today’s interests and concerns.

As in the Folger Library General Reader’s Shakespeare, which this edition replaces, we include explanatory notes designed to help make Shakespeare’s language clearer to a modern reader, and we hyperlink notes to the lines that they explain. We also follow the earlier edition in including illustrations—of objects, of clothing, of mythological figures—from books and manuscripts in the Folger Library collection. We provide fresh accounts of the life of Shakespeare, of the publishing of his plays, and of the theaters in which his plays were performed, as well as an introduction to the text itself. We also include a section called Reading Shakespeare’s Language, in which we try to help readers learn to break the code of Elizabethan poetic language.

For each section of each volume, we are indebted to a host of generous experts and fellow scholars. The Reading Shakespeare’s Language sections, for example, could not have been written had not Arthur King, of Brigham Young University, and Randal Robinson, author of Unlocking Shakespeare’s Language, led the way in untangling Shakespearean language puzzles and shared their insights and methodologies generously with us. Shakespeare’s Life profited by the careful reading given it by S. Schoenbaum; Shakespeare’s Theater was read and strengthened by Andrew Gurr, John Astington, and William Ingram; and The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays is indebted to the comments of Peter W. M. Blayney. We, as editors, take sole responsibility for any errors in our editions.

We are grateful to the authors of the Modern Perspectives; to Leeds Barroll and David Bevington for their generous encouragement; to the Huntington and Newberry Libraries for fellowship support; to King’s University College for the grants it has provided to Paul Werstine; to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which has provided him with Research Time Stipends; to R. J. Shroyer of the University of Western Ontario for essential computer support; and to the Folger Institute’s Center for Shakespeare Studies for its sponsorship of a workshop on Shakespeare’s Texts for Students and Teachers (funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and led by Richard Knowles of the University of Wisconsin), a workshop from which we learned an enormous amount about what is wanted by college and high-school teachers of Shakespeare today.

In preparing this preface for the publication of Romeo and Juliet in 1992, we wrote: Our biggest debt is to the Folger Shakespeare Library: to Werner Gundersheimer, Director of the Library, who has made possible our edition; to Jean Miller, the Library’s Art Curator, who combed the Library holdings for illustrations, and to Julie Ainsworth, Head of the Photography Department, who carefully photographed them; to Peggy O’Brien, Director of Education, who gave us expert advice about the needs being expressed by Shakespeare teachers and students (and to Martha Christian and other ‘master teachers’ who used our texts in manuscript in their classrooms); to the staff of the Academic Programs Division, especially Paul Menzer (who drafted ‘Further Reading’ material), Mary Tonkinson, Lena Cowen Orlin, Molly Haws, and Jessica Hymowitz; and, finally, to the staff of the Library Reading Room, whose patience and support have been invaluable.

As we revise the play for publication in 2011, we add to the above our gratitude to Gail Kern Paster, Director of the Library since 2002, whose interest and support are unfailing (and whose scholarly expertise is an invaluable resource); to Stephen Llano, our production editor at Simon & Schuster, whose expertise, attention to detail, and wisdom are essential to this project; to Deborah Curren-Aquino, who provides extensive editorial and production support; to Alice Falk for her expert copyediting; to Mary Bloodworth and Michael Poston for their unfailing computer support; and to the staff of the Library’s Research Division, especially Christina Certo (whose help is crucial), David Schalkwyk (Director of Research), Mimi Godfrey, Jennifer Rahm, Kathleen Lynch, Carol Brobeck, Owen Williams, Sarah Werner, and Adrienne Schevchuk. Finally, we once again express our thanks to Jean Miller, who continues to unearth wonderful images, and to the ever-supportive staff of the Library Reading Room.

Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine

2011

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a world of violence and generational conflict in which two young people fall in love and die because of that love. The story is rather extraordinary in that the normal problems faced by young lovers are here so very large. It is not simply that the families of Romeo and Juliet disapprove of the lovers’ affection for each other; rather, the Montagues and the Capulets are on opposite sides in a blood feud and are trying to kill each other on the streets of Verona. Every time a member of one of the two families dies in the fight, his relatives demand the blood of his killer. Because of the feud, if Romeo is discovered with Juliet by her family, he will be killed. Once Romeo is banished, the only way that Juliet can avoid being married to someone else is to take a potion that apparently kills her, so that she is buried with the bodies of her slain relatives. In this violent, death-filled world, the movement of the story from love at first sight to the union of the lovers in death seems almost inevitable.

What is so striking about this play is that despite its extraordinary setting (one perhaps reflecting Elizabethan attitudes about hot-blooded Italians), it has become the quintessential story of young love. Because most young lovers feel that they have to overcome giant obstacles in order to be together, because they feel that they would rather die than be kept apart, and especially because the language that Shakespeare gives his young lovers is so exquisite, allowing them to say to each other just what we would all say to a lover if we only knew how, it is easy to respond to this play as if it were about all young lovers rather than about a particular couple in a very unusual world. (When the play was rewritten in the seventeenth century as The History and Fall of Caius Marius, the violent setting became that of a particularly discordant period in classical Rome; when Leonard Bernstein and his collaborators [Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim] rewrote the play as West Side Story, they chose the violent world of New York street gangs.)

Two households, both alike in dignity. (Prologue.1)

From Publius Terentius Afer, Comœdiae . . . (1496).

After you have read the play, we invite you to read A Modern Perspective on Romeo and Juliet, written by Gail Kern Paster, former Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Reading Shakespeare’s Language

For many people today, reading Shakespeare’s language can be a problem—but it is a problem that can be solved. Those who have studied Latin (or even French or German or Spanish) and those who are used to reading poetry will have little difficulty understanding the language of poetic drama. Others, however, need to develop the skills of untangling unusual sentence structures and of recognizing and understanding poetic compressions, omissions, and wordplay. And even those skilled in reading unusual sentence structures may have occasional trouble with Shakespeare’s words. More than four hundred years of static—caused by changes in language and in life—intervene between his speaking and our hearing. Most of his vocabulary is still in use, but a few of his words are no longer used, and many of his words now have meanings quite different from those they had in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the theater, most of these difficulties are solved for us by actors who study the language and articulate it for us so that the essential meaning is heard—or, when combined with stage action, is at least felt. When we are reading on our own, we must do what each actor does: go over the lines (often with a dictionary close at hand) until the puzzles are solved and the lines yield up their poetry and the characters speak in words and phrases that are, suddenly, rewarding and wonderfully memorable.

Shakespeare’s Words

As you begin to read the opening scenes of a play by Shakespeare, you may notice occasional unfamiliar words. Some are unfamiliar simply because we no longer use them. In the opening scenes of Romeo and Juliet, for example, you will find the words misadventured (i.e., unlucky), an (i.e., if), marry (an old oath by the Virgin Mary, which had by Shakespeare’s time become a mere interjection, like indeed), and soft (an interjection that means hold, enough, or wait a minute). Words of this kind are explained in notes to the text and will become familiar the more of Shakespeare’s plays you read.

In Romeo and Juliet, as in all of Shakespeare’s writing, more problematic are the words that we still use but that now have different meanings. In the opening scenes of Romeo and Juliet, for example, the word heavy has the meaning of sorrowful, the word envious is used where we would say malicious, sadly where we would use gravely or seriously, his where we would use its, happy where we would say fortunate, cousin where we would say kinsman, and still where we would say always. Such words will be explained in the notes to the text, but they, too, will become familiar as you continue to read Shakespeare’s language.

Some words are strange not because of the static introduced by changes in language over the past centuries but because these are words that Shakespeare uses to build a dramatic world that has its own space and time. Romeo and Juliet, for example, builds, in its opening scenes, a location that is characterized by specific customs and conflicts. The play creates this sense of place through references to civil blood, to maskers, to Lammastide, to bucklers, clubs, bills, and partisans. Furthermore, Romeo and Juliet introduces us to a poetic language by means of which its characters shape their world. This is the language of love poetry (spread throughout Europe in the sonnets of the fourteenth-century Italian poet Petrarch), which we hear in references to Dian’s wit, to Aurora, to Petrarch himself, to Cupid’s arrow, and love’s weak childish bow. (Gail Kern Paster’s essay, A Modern Perspective, at the back of this edition of Romeo and Juliet, discusses the impact that the world of Petrarchan love poetry has on the life and death of the young lovers.) These local references create the Verona that Juliet, Romeo, Mercutio, and their fellows and guardians inhabit; it will become increasingly familiar to you as you get further into the play.

Shakespeare’s Sentences

In an English sentence, meaning is dependent on the place given each word. The dog bit the boy and The boy bit the dog mean very different things, even though the individual words are the same. Because English places such importance on the positions of words in sentences, on the way words are arranged, unusual arrangements can puzzle a reader. Shakespeare frequently shifts his sentences away from normal English arrangements—often in order to create the rhythm he seeks, sometimes in order to use a line’s poetic rhythm to emphasize a particular word, sometimes to give a character his or her own speech patterns or to allow the character to speak in a special way. When we attend a good performance of the play, the actors will have worked out the sentence structures and will articulate the sentences so that the meaning is clear. When reading the play, we need to do as the actor does: that is, when puzzled by a character’s speech, we check to see if words are being presented in an unusual sequence.

Shakespeare often places the verb before the subject (e.g., instead of He goes we find Goes he). In the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet, when Montague says (1.1.140) Away from light steals home my heavy son (instead of my son steals home), he is using such a construction; Benvolio does so as well when, at 1.1.110–11, he says, "In the instant came / The fiery Tybalt, and at 1.2.89–90, when he says, At this same ancient feast of Capulet’s / Sups the fair Rosaline. Such inversions rarely cause much confusion. More problematic is Shakespeare’s frequent placing of the object before the subject and verb (e.g., instead of I hit him, we might find Him I hit). Sampson’s line to Gregory (1.1.29), Me they shall feel, is an example of such an inversion. Montague’s Black and portentous must this humor prove (1.1.144) is a variant of such a construction, this time with the predicate adjectives black and portentous preceding the subject and verb. Paris uses a similar inversion when he says, at 1.2.4, Of honorable reckoning are you both (where the normal order would be You are both of honorable reckoning), as does Capulet at 1.2.26–30, when he says, Such comfort as do lusty young men feel . . . shall you this night / Inherit at my house (where the normal order would be You shall inherit [i.e., receive] such comfort at my house as lusty young men do feel").

Inversions are not the only unusual sentence structures in Shakespeare’s language. Often in his sentences words that would normally appear together

Reviews for Romeo and Juliet

[alanwpowers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First, it’s prose, translated by multiple hands, so of course the rhythm or point to the line is lost. Montale and Ungaretti have translated individual poems, much more freely in the prior’s case.Also lost in even great translations are the puns and historic meanings, say RJ I.i, the many uses of “stand,” The 1590’s word erection—made clear in the puns on sword, “my naked tool is out.”Here, Emilio Cecchi, translator of Otello, footnotes puns, like “white” and “wight” (170). He also has a great note on “folly” as “scemenza vale lascivia.” (Cecchi also translates Iago’s epigrams into verse, so his O is more four-stars; he was a screen-writer, films until 1949.)My favorite lines, aloudread at Milanese cafe’s over a cappucio, are those which adopt some Italian priority, like food: King, “Dove Polonio?” Hamlet, “A cena.” K, “A cena! Dove?” H,”Non dove mangia, ma dove e mangiato...Vermi politici si sta occupando di lui”(126). (L. Squarzina’s translation was first performed and directed by V. Gassman —and the translator—in Fall, 1952.)Cecchi has Iago’s drinking song with Cassio, preparing him to be killed by a poorer swordsman,“Facciam tintinnare i bicchieri/ [Ripetere]La vita e un spanna,Il soldato tracanna E un uomo lui.”Of course, “cannikin” hard to render by “bicchieri.” As is “clink” by “tintinnare,” to sound or ring.Cecchi also has the gravediggers songs, and their complaint that la gente ripulita have right to drown themselves while men don’t.Hamlet jokes with Horacio about nourishing bones that could as well make dice to play skittles, birilli. The gravedigger’s refrain,Per baciare il primo che venga, hi ho hu,C’e una bocca di argilla nel suol. (140)Before this, “Una zappa e una vanga, e una vanga, hi ho hu,/ e un sudario per lenzuol,/ per baciare...”Asked how long he’s dug graves, the digger-clown answers, sineold Hamlet beat Fortibras, the same day young Hamlet was born, he who is mad and sent to Inghilterra. H, Perche? “Gli inglesi sono matti come lui.”Paola Ojetti translates RJ, but finds the bawdy puns impossible, say Romeo’s to the Nurse, “The bawdy dial of the sun stands on the prick of noon,” Perche il dito Della meridiana sta adesso Mezzogiorno.(37). But again, Italian food comes through, with “una lepre, messere, in un pasticcio di quaresima..”. This improves on “an hare in a Lenten pie.” Anyone who’s dined on home-made pasticcio would prefer it to a pub Shepherds pie.

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Romeo and Juliet- Manga Classics – by William Shakespeare, by Stacy King, Crystal S. Chan (Adaptation), Julien Choy (Art), Akanovas (Lettering), Jeannie Lee (Lettering)There is no need to go into the synopsis or plot of one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays. We all know the basics of this story by now. Many have read the play in school or have seen a stage or movie adaptation at one point. So, I think it is safe to skip the analysis. For me, Manga is something I flat out ignored for years because I presumed without ever giving it a fair chance that it would not be something I’d enjoy. Then I discovered it was often geared towards teens or young adults, which was yet another strike against it. But, by sheer accident, I discovered Manga covered a lot of areas, and was much more complex than I’d given it credit for. Having gotten to an age where I’ve dipped my toes in many different genres, and sub-genres, I find that the ‘I’ve outgrown this’ or ‘aged out of’ attitude closes off many unexplored avenues and because I like to think I’m open minded, I’ve begun to reconsider areas I’ve previously closed off. As a result, I’m having a lot of fun learning about Manga, Graphic Novels, and Comics. Much to my surprise, I’ve found a nice selection of classic stories, in Manga/Graphic Novel format. After recently reading a memoir by Olivia Hussey, the actress who portrayed Juliet in the famous Zeffirelli 1968 film, this play was on my mind quite a lot. So, when I noticed this Manga version on Netgalley, it grabbed my attention immediately. For anyone who may be thinking the dialogue is 'updated' with more modern dialect, you’d be wrong. This is the same script you’d find in the original play- except there are no stage directions. Instead, those are replaced by images, which works out much better than I’d have imagined. The artwork is spectacular, as is the adaptation. Obviously, a great deal of thought went into how to present this classic in Manga form, and I’d say it came off beautifully. Granted, I’m still a novice at this, but I was pleased with the presentation. I did have a few technical issues, since this one is not in Kindle/ MOBI format. I had to use Adobe Edition, which is a pain, and the scrolling was terrible, especially since, of course it’s back to front. Several times my screen jumped to the end of the book and caused a great deal of frustration.Shakespeare is still difficult to read and adjusting to this format made it an even bigger challenge. It took me a good long while to get through it. (If anyone has a suggestion on how to make this less daunting- please feel free to offer me some suggestions.) However, despite the heaviness of the drama, and the extra effort it required to read the book, I was impressed, and enjoyed reading this classic with the well-drawn illustrations and art work which certainly enriched and enhanced my experience.Despite the disdain of melodrama- I liked all the angst between Romeo and Juliet- but not that sad ending! It still makes a great cautionary tale- even after all these years. 4 stars

[aebert_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Romeo and Juliet is a romantic play written by the famous playwright William Shakespeare. This play shows an in-depth story about two lovers who suffer a tragic end. Their love is denied through the play because the two Montague and Capulet families are sworn enemies. This book is written from many different perspectives and characters. This book focuses on the two main characters, Romeo and Juliet, but it also focuses on many other characters; such as Friar Lawrence, Tybalt and Benvolio.Romeo and Juliet tells the tragic tale of two star crossed lovers who met by fate. Their fateful meeting was followed by a series of unfortunate events after they found out they were sworn enemies by name. The Montague and Capulet families had been fighting each other for centuries but Romeo and Juliet found each other and were united by love. Romeo hastily proposed to Juliet and they were married by Friar Lawrence. Their marriage had to be kept secret and they were in constant danger of being caught together.Romeo and Juliet is a very sad story that ends in tragedy and death. Both the main characters die at the end play after they making many bad choices and by keeping their marriage secret. This book was originated from the famous play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ which was written and directed by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare used smart writing techniques to engage the audience and readers. Romeo and Juliet’s unfortunate deaths are caused by bad choices made by close friends and enemies. Throughout the play, both Romeo and Juliet constantly tempt their fate by making bad choices, which finally ends in their unfortunate, early demise. In the end, Romeo and Juliet both suffer a painful and emotional death which was caused by bad choices and unlucky timing; this is the classic ending of William Shakespeare’s famous play ‘Romeo and Juliet’.In my opinion, I think that Romeo and Juliet is a very confusing book but it is also very exciting and enjoyable. Shakespeare indelicately uses insults and cussing in arguments instead of harsh swearing or foul language. By doing this, he makes the reader think about what the characters are saying and it makes the book much more interesting. This book has unfortunate and avoidable deaths which intensify situations and make the book more emotional. I rate this book 9 out of 10 because it was a perfectly written book over 500 years ago, and even till this day, it is still considered one of the best plays/books ever written.

[wealhtheowwylfing · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Note: this is only four stars compared to other Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet is not the best play he ever wrote, but it is far and away better than almost anything else in the English language.

[lhlogan1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's a classic, but not really a favorite of mine.

[junesong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such a beautiful and tragic story. One of Shakespeare's best.

[fufuakaspeechless_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Shakespeare has a nice writing style, but Romeo and Juliet were really stupid, so I'm feeling this was just okay. It wasn't true love as much as it was infatuation.

[sweetsarah_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I just love this play it is so romantic and yet it is very sad at the same time. i had to read it for school and i was saddened when i got my copy and it was an abriged version but one of these days i will read an unabriged version adn cry my eyes out when Romeo and Juliet die because they are in love.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As long as you remind yourself that this is teen melodrama and not tragedy the essential vapidity of the central relationship and the frustratingly buried deeper and more complex relationships--actually all Romeo's, with Mercutio but also Benvolio, Tybalt, the priest--don't get in the way of good tawdry enjoyment. Now I think about it, Romeo's like a cryptohomoerotic sixteenth-century Archie.

[delta351 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This updated Folger's edition is very readable, yet still contains all of the explanatory picture from the previous editions.I sometimes was able to read several pages without referencing the footnotes on the left page. I also thought the suggested books for further reading were helpful, as they highlight major themes of this classic.

[floratina · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

READ IN ENGLISH

I suppose this is an absolute must-read for everyone who has ever been to high school. I read it in my fifth year and actually I really couldn't understand what gave this story it's marvelous reputation.

May Contain Some Spoilers!

Maybe it was more normal in those days, as I'm not the slightest a professor when it comes to both English Literature/Plays and English History, but it seems at least a bit weird, to run away and kill yourself over someone you've only just met and everything. Yes, there is of course a lot of drama in it, and presumably it is better to see it on stage than to read it, but I had expected more from this story, as it is so extremely famous!

[andreablythe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The more I read Romeo and Juliet the more I enjoy it. And I've had to read it many times -- for acting classes and teaching it to freshmen. I love the romantic poetry, but even more than that I love the fact that it's got some rather raunchy comedy to it. I mean, really, sexual refferences, booze, violence -- how can you go wrong?

[agdbk · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I love Shakespeare. I simply detest this play.

[barb_h_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listened to an audiobook version by the BBC. It was very well done and a pleasure to listen to. It was also very short, only about 3 hours long. I enjoyed the story and am glad that I have finally experienced it. Would like to see the play performed live some day.

[seraphinac.b4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the book Romeo and Juliet, two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, who are worst enemies, try to discourage the love between their children Romeo and Juliet. Things only get worse when Romeo kills one of the Capulet’s kinsmen, Tybalt, in a duel. Romeo is banished and Juliet is broken hearted when she finds out that she will have to marry Paris. To get rest and pass the time, she drinks a vile which will make her appear dead. After she drinks the vile she is pronounced dead and put into a charnel house. Word reaches Romeo that Juliet is dead so he buys a bottle of poison and drinks it next to Juliet’s body. When Juliet wakes up and sees Romeo dead, she takes his dagger and stabs herself. This book was a page-turner! I think it was so exciting because it had just the right amount of romance. It was also a little sad because death could have been prevented. A lesson I have been reminded of is think before you act. I look forward to reading another Shakespeare book. This edition was useful because it had a vocabulary list for some of the Old-English. In my opinion this is a must read.

[rinny_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Romeo and Juliet is a huge tragedy. It is a good romance novel though. I liked reading it because I was able to understand all of those classic lines used in the novel. like romeo oh romeo where for out thou romeo.

[richestgirls-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I give this book 5 stars because it uses creative and expresses a true form of writing that makes you want to read more until you've read the whole book!!

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just cultural literacy alone demands you read this play; which I actually think is among Shakespeare's most readable and lyrical, with indelible, lovely lines. It ranks among my favorite of his because of the way he both expresses the beauty of young love as well as the potential destructiveness of adolescent passions in which, unfortunately, Romeo and Juliet are well-matched. I remember a teacher once explaining how character propels plot through Shakespeare plays. If Othello had been inserted into Hamlet's plot and vice versa there would have been no tragedy. Othello wouldn't have hesitated to destroy Claudius and Hamlet would have thoroughly investigated before killing Desdemona. In this play Romeo and Juliet each pull each other towards the tragedy, their immaturity and overwhelmed emotions as much the linchpin as their family's feuds. Of course, there's nothing like seeing this dramatized. I rather love the 1968 film directed by Franco Zeffirelli. A traditional approach with actors of the right ages to fit their roles.

[antao-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Teenage Proclivity for Conjugation: "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, J.A. Bryant Jr. Published 1998.

Upon each re-reading I always wonder why Shakespeare does not reveal the reason that the families hate each other. We are told that the households are alike in dignity (social status). We are even provided with a "spoiler alert" when we learn that the "star crossed lovers" will commit suicide, resulting in a halt to the feuding between the two families. In addition, we receive the clue that the feud has gone on for a long time (ancient grudge) However, the omission of the reason for the feud leaves us wondering and imagining a variety of scenarios--just as Shakespeare must have intended. I think it is important for an author to leave a mystery for the reader to explore. In Star Wars there was a sense of mystery about the Force, what was it. Are there any reasons needed, ever? The humankind's history is filled with feuds which are completely pointless... "Ancient grudge", servants' street fight -- and general desire to feel better than someone else. Isn't this very pointlessness that Shakespeare intended the viewers to see?

The rest of this review can be read elsewhere.

[mendoza_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy this story because of the language. Half of the enjoyment is in reading and getting the double meanings and picking up the slang and language of a time long ago.Other than that though I find Romeo and Juliet to be the utmost in TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) hero/heroines - and indeed they are the ultimate TSTL as well, they don't live in the end.To go on shaky misinformation and non communication to decided to kill yourself? Talk about a couple of idiots.

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

While designing a board game based in Verona, Italy in the 1400's, I ended up reading the play 14 times. It stands up very well. If you're looking for a brilliant treatment in a film, the Francesco Zefferelli version is near perfect. Try to get a version that doesn't edit the Tibault/Mercutio sword-fight, a magnificent dramatic sequence. But for reading aloud in an evening, this is a great experience as well. Should I tell you that the male brain isn't fully matured until the age of 26? It is germane to the plot.

[newskepticx · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is a tragedy in the sense that Shakespeare did so much better with his other plays. This one is weak. The amount of coincidence is down right ridiculous, Shakespeare plays way too much into the "love" for a tale that is supposed to be cautionary(or so I think it might've been senseless fighting between two families led to tragic deaths, never really capitalizes on it til the end). It's also the standard for classic love story although it is nothing of the sort. I despised it.

[tadad_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is not my favorite of the tragedies...perhaps too much memory of Ninth Grade English cramming comparisons of it and West Side Story down my throat. Seriously though, while I've reread it twice and can love the language, I can't overlook the essential silliness of the whole situation.Recommended because there's no Shakespeare I've yet read that I wouldn't recommend, I don't think it's the most enjoyable thing he's written.

[zodrowk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What can I say about Romeo and Juliet that hasn't already been said? Nothing...but I'll still tell you what you've already heard. Romeo and Juliet is one of the most tragic love stories ever written. The love between Romeo and Juliet is so beautiful because it is immediate and forbidden. Isn't that intriguing? Yes. We all want what is forbidden and we all want a love that doesn't ask why, it just is. Unfortunately, the tragic part must be there too because if this love were to last longer than it had, those questions why would have popped up and ended this great love affair. Romeo and Juliet is the classic love story because its timing is right on mark. The love is immediate in two young characters, that love is only experienced for a short period of time and the death comes before any one or any thing can make them no longer be in love.

[ablueidol · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Yes studied at school but I have seen it at Stratford with my wife on a wedding anniversary. I had the pleasure of criticising the production and performance and then seeing this confirmed by the theatre critics in the serious papers-evidence that some of the reading and study has sank in!

[unkletom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This review is for the 2012 edition of The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet as annotated by Demitra Padadinas, founder and producing art director of the New England Shakespeare Festival.I’ve been a big fan of Shakespeare ever since high school when a clever English teacher pointed out that, in his day, Shakespeare was looked on as anything but high-brow. His audiences were more likely to consist of pickpockets, tavern-goers and whores than fine lords and ladies. Consequently, his scripts had to be snappy and laced with bawdy humor and innuendo to keep the audience coming back. While some of Shakespeare’s double entendres have survived the editors’ quills over the centuries, most of what we see in the editions taught in schools is muted and laced with safe footnotes that do more to conceal Shakespeare’s intent than to illuminate it. As an example, in Act 1 scene 3, the nurse, a comic character known for her bawdy humor, swears by “by my holidam” which Folger describes as referring to a holy relic while Papidinis explains that what she was swearing on was her “holy place”, an oath that, if accompanied by appropriate body language from the performer, could have an entirely different meaning.This version of Romeo and Juliet is as it appeared when the First Folio was first published in 1623 so its spelling and punctuation is a little more challenging to read than the modernized versions. It doesn’t take long, though, for the reader to catch on that, if read phonetically, such lines as “sailes upon the bosome of the ayre” are easily understood.I also like that Papadinis carries on the format seen in Folger editions of putting the text of the play on the left page and the annotations on the right. This makes it a lot easier to read the annotations and still keep you place.*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review copy of this book was obtained from the publisher via the LibraryThing Early Reader Program.

[nolabelsunleashed · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of my favorite writes by William Shakespeare, along with Julius Caesar and The Merchant of Venice. Forbidden love, yet desire to be together. An elaborate plan that would have worked, had one been a little more patient as it pertained to Juliet waking up. The epitome of a romantic tragedy but not without lessons. The main one being that some feuds should be squashed.

[mrsdanaalbasha · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The play, set in Verona, begins with a street brawl between Montagues and Capulets who are sworn enemies. The Prince of Verona intervenes and declares that further breach of the peace will be punishable by death. Later, Count Paris talks to Capulet about marrying his daughter, but Capulet is wary of the request because Juliet is only thirteen. Capulet asks Paris to wait another two years and invites him to attend a planned Capulet ball. Lady Capulet and Juliet's nurse try to persuade Juliet to accept Paris's courtship.

Meanwhile, Benvolio talks with his cousin Romeo, Lord Montague's son, about Romeo's recent depression. Benvolio discovers that it stems from unrequited infatuation for a girl named Rosaline, one of Capulet's nieces. Persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the ball at the Capulet house. However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet. After the ball, in what is now called the "balcony scene", Romeo sneaks into the Capulet courtyard and overhears Juliet on her balcony vowing her love to him in spite of her family's hatred of the Montagues. Romeo makes himself known to her and they agree to be married. With the help of Friar Laurence, who hopes to reconcile the two families through their children's union, they are secretly married the next day.

Juliet's cousin Tybalt, incensed that Romeo had sneaked into the Capulet ball, challenges him to a duel. Romeo, now considering Tybalt his kinsman, refuses to fight. Mercutio is offended by Tybalt's insolence, as well as Romeo's "vile submission," and accepts the duel on Romeo's behalf. Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo attempts to break up the fight. Grief-stricken and wracked with guilt, Romeo confronts and slays Tybalt.

Montague argues that Romeo has justly executed Tybalt for the murder of Mercutio. The Prince, now having lost a kinsman in the warring families' feud, exiles Romeo from Verona and declares that if Romeo returns, "that hour is his last." Romeo secretly spends the night in Juliet's chamber, where they consummate their marriage. Capulet, misinterpreting Juliet's grief, agrees to marry her to Count Paris and threatens to disown her when she refuses to become Paris's "joyful bride." When she then pleads for the marriage to be delayed, her mother rejects her.

Juliet visits Friar Laurence for help, and he offers her a drug that will put her into a death-like coma for "two and forty hours." The Friar promises to send a messenger to inform Romeo of the plan, so that he can rejoin her when she awakens. On the night before the wedding, she takes the drug and, when discovered apparently dead, she is laid in the family crypt.

The messenger, however, does not reach Romeo and, instead, he learns of Juliet's apparent death from his servant Balthasar. Heartbroken, Romeo buys poison from an apothecary and goes to the Capulet crypt. He encounters Paris who has come to mourn Juliet privately. Believing Romeo to be a vandal, Paris confronts him and, in the ensuing battle, Romeo kills Paris. Still believing Juliet to be dead, he drinks the poison. Juliet then awakens and, finding Romeo dead, stabs herself with his dagger. The feuding families and the Prince meet at the tomb to find all three dead. Friar Laurence recounts the story of the two "star-cross'd lovers". The families are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud. The play ends with the Prince's elegy for the lovers: "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

[shawnd_72 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant. I am not a fan of love stories or romances or even stories of betrayal and family dynamics. However, this is a stunning book, one of the best ever written I suppose. (I also liked the movie with Leonardo di Caprio and John Leguizamo by this name. It seemed to have all the original writing or a good chunk of it in a modern movie which I've never seen done well before -- I liked it much better than the Liam Neeson ones). The story is basic compared to many of his other books but the writing's as good or better.

[mrs5williamsclass · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Romeo and Juliet has got to be one of my favorite stories. Even though i don't understand most of the language since it is hundreds of years old. It really makes me think about what they're trying to say in the sonnets and other poetry Shakespeare had put in this story. Other than the word choice the author uses, the plot catches my attention almost every scene. It's like there's one problem right after the other. But not of the small conflicts in the story could compare to what happened to the end. Even though i never like stories with bad endings, this has got to be my favorite.