Romeo and Juliet (Annotated by Henry N. Hudson with an Introduction by Charles Harold Herford)

By William Shakespeare

Based upon an Italian tale which was translated by 16th century English poet Arthur Brooke into the narrative poem “The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet,” Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is one of the Bard’s most popular and frequently performed plays. Romeo who is a member of the house of Montague falls in love with the beautiful Juliet, a member of the house of Capulet. The Montagues and the Capulets have been engaged in a feud for many years and as such the love between Romeo and Juliet is a forbidden one. Written near the end of the 16th century, “Romeo and Juliet,” is one of Shakespeare's earliest dramas, the story of a love that can never be truly realized and the tragedy that ensues. Regarded as one of the greatest and most tragic love stories of all time, “Romeo and Juliet” is an archetypal story of star-crossed young lovers which has inspired countless imitations on both stage and screen. This edition is annotated by Henry N. Hudson, includes an introduction by Charles Harold Herford, and a biographical afterword.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Digireads.com Publishing
• Release date: Nov 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781420952216

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) is arguably the most famous playwright to ever live. Born in England, he attended grammar school but did not study at a university. In the 1590s, Shakespeare worked as partner and performer at the London-based acting company, the King’s Men. His earliest plays were Henry VI and Richard III, both based on the historical figures. During his career, Shakespeare produced nearly 40 plays that reached multiple countries and cultures. Some of his most notable titles include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar. His acclaimed catalog earned him the title of the world’s greatest dramatist.

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ROMEO AND JULIET

By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Preface and Annotations by

HENRY N. HUDSON

Introduction by

CHARLES HAROLD HERFORD

Romeo and Juliet

By William Shakespeare

Preface and Annotations by Henry N. Hudson

Introduction by Charles Harold Herford

Print ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-6140-9

eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-4209-5221-6

This edition copyright © 2019. Digireads.com Publishing.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Cover Image: a detail of The Reconciliation of the Montagues and the Capulets over the Dead Bodies of Romeo and Juliet (oil on canvas), by Frederic Leighton (1830-96) / Private Collection / Photo © Christie's Images / Bridgeman Images.

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CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

ROMEO AND JULIET

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

THE PROLOGUE

ACT I.

SCENE I.

SCENE II.

SCENE III.

SCENE IV.

SCENE V.

ACT II.

SCENE I.

SCENE II.

SCENE III.

SCENE IV.

SCENE V.

SCENE VI.

ACT III.

SCENE I.

SCENE II.

SCENE III.

SCENE IV.

SCENE V.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

SCENE II.

SCENE III.

SCENE IV.

SCENE V.

ACT V.

SCENE I.

SCENE II.

SCENE III.

BIOGRAPHICAL AFTERWORD

Preface

First printed in 1597, but with a text very different from what we now have. That edition was unquestionably piratical; and Collier thinks that the manuscript used by the printer was made up, partly from portions of the play as it was acted, but unduly obtained, and partly from notes taken at the theatre during representation. The play was printed again in 1599, with the words, newly corrected, augmented, and amended, in the title-page. This issue bears clear marks of authenticity, and has the best text of all the old copies. It was reprinted in 1609, and again at a later period, which however cannot be ascertained, the edition being undated. The folio, though omitting several passages found in the quarto of 1609, is shown, by the repetition of certain misprints, to have been printed from that copy. How much the play was augmented appears in that the text of 1597 is less than three-fourths as long as that of 1599. And the difference of the two copies in respect of quality is still greater. For instance, the speech of Juliet on taking the sleeping-draught, and also that of Romeo just before he swallows the poison, are mere trifles in the first copy as compared with what they are in the second. The improvement in these cases and in many others is such as may well cause us to regret that the Poet did not carry his riper hand into some parts of the play which he left unchanged.

The diversities of style in this play are so great as to argue a considerable lapse of time between the writing of the first and second copies. In particular, the first three Acts are in many places sadly disfigured with forced and affected expressions, such as nothing but immaturity and the influence of bad models could well account for or excuse. These, however, disappear almost entirely in the other two Acts. The date more commonly assigned for the original form of the tragedy is 1596, which allows only a space of about two years between the writing and rewriting; and I fully agree with those editors who hold that the second issue shows such a measure of progress in judgment, cast of thought, and dramatic power as would naturally infer a much longer interval. And there is one item of internal evidence which would seem to throw the original composition as far back as 1591. This is what the Nurse says when prattling of Juliet’s age: "’Tis since the earthquake now eleven years, and she was wean’d; which has been often quoted as a probable allusion to the earthquake that happened in England in the Spring of 1580, and caused such amazedness among the people as was wonderful for the time." To be sure, arguments of this sort are apt to pass for more than they are worth; nevertheless the general style of the workmanship inclines me to think that it hits about right as to the time of the composition.

The story which furnished the basis of the tragedy was exceedingly popular in Shakespeare’s time. The original author of the tale as then received was Luigi (la Porto, whose novel La Giulietta was first published in 1535. From him the matter was borrowed and improved by Bandello, who published it in 1554. The story is next met with in the French version of Belleforest, and makes the third in his collection of Tragical Histories. These were avowedly taken from Bandello. Some of them, however, vary considerably from the Italian; as in this piece Bandello brings Juliet out of her trance in time to hear Romeo speak and see him die; and then, instead of using his dagger against herself, she dies of a broken heart; whereas the French orders this matter the same as we have it’ in the play. The earliest English version of the tale known to us is a poem by Arthur Brooke, published in 1562. This purports to be from the Italian of Bandello, but agrees with the French in making Juliet’s trance continue till after the death of Romeo. In some respects, however, the poem has the character of an original work; the author not tying himself strictly to any known authority, but drawing somewhat on his own invention. I say known authority, because in his introduction to the poem the author informs us that the tale had already been put to work on the English stage. As the play to which he refers has not survived, we have no means of knowing how the matter was there handled. There was also a prose version of the tale, published by William Paynter in his Palace of Pleasure in 1567. Whether Shakespeare availed himself of any earlier drama on the subject is not known. Nor, in fact, can we trace a connection between the tragedy and any other work except Brooke’s poem. That he made considerable use of this, is certain from divers verbal resemblances as well as from a general likeness in the matter and ordering of the incidents.

As regards the incidents of the play, the Poets invention is confined to the duel of Mercutio and Tybalt, and the meeting of Romeo and Paris at the tomb. I must add, that in the older versions of the tale Pan’s shows a cold and selfish policy in his lovesuit, which dishonours both himself and the object of it. Shakespeare elevates him with the breath of nobler sentiment; and the character of the heroine is proportionably raised through the pathos shed round her second lover from the circumstances of his death. Moreover, the incidents, throughout, are managed with the utmost skill for dramatic effect; so that what was before a lazy and lymphatic narrative is made redundant of animation and interest. In respect of character, also, the play has little of formal originality beyond Mercutio and the Nurse; who are as different as can well be conceived from any thing that was done to the Poets hand. And all the other characters, though the forms of them are partly borrowed, are set forth with an idiomatic sharpness and vitality of delineation to which the older versions of the tale make no approach. But what is most worthy of remark on this point is, that Shakespeare just inverts the relation of things: before, the persons served but as a sort of framework to support the story; here the story is used but as canvas for the portraiture of character and life.

A great deal has been written, and written well, in praise of this tragedy; yet I can by no means rank it so high as some of the Poet’s critics have done. Coleridge has a passage which it would hardly be right to leave unquoted. The stage, says he, "in Shakespeare’s time was a naked room with a blanket for a curtain; but he made it a field for monarchs. That law of unity which has its foundations, not in the factitious necessity of custom, but in Nature itself, the unity of feeling, is everywhere and at all times observed by Shakespeare in his plays. Read Romeo and Juliet: all is youth and Spring; youth with its follies, its virtues, its precipitancics; Spring with its odours, its flowers, and its transiency: it is one and the same feeling that commences, goes through, and ends the play. The old men, the Capulets and the Montagues, are not common old men; they have an eagerness, a heartiness, a vehemence, the effect of Spring: with Romeo, his change of passion, his sudden marriage, and his rash death are all the effects of youth; whilst in Juliet love has all that is tender and melancholy in the nightingale, all that is voluptuous in the rose, with whatever is sweet in the freshness of Spring; but it ends with a long deep sigh, like the last breeze of an Italian evening. This unity of feeling and character pervades every drama of Shakespeare."

HENRY N. HUDSON

1881.

Introduction

THE first edition of Romeo and Juliet was a Quarto published in 1597, with the title:—

An | EXCELLENT | conceited Tragedie | OF | Romeo and Juliet, | As it hath been often (with great applause) plaid publiquely, by the right Ho-| nourable the L. of Hunsdon | his Seruants. | LONDON, | Printed by John Danter. | 1597. |

Two years later a second Quarto appeared, with the title:—

The | Most EX-| cellent and lamentable | Tragedie, of Romeo | and Juliet. | Newly corrected, augmented, and | amended: | As it hath been sundry times publiquely acted, by the | right Honourable the Lord Chamberlaine | his Seruants. | London | Printed by Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, and are to | be sold at his shop neare the Exchange. | 1599. |

A third Quarto was published in 1609, ‘as it hath been sundry times publiquely acted by the Kings Maiesties Seruants at the Globe’; a fourth, undated (but probably later than 1623), with the name ‘W. Shakespeare’ for the first time mentioned on the titlepage, in some copies. A fifth appeared in 1637.

The First Folio was printed from the Third Quarto, with a number of minute changes ‘some accidental, some deliberate, but all generally for the worse, excepting the changes in punctuation and in the stage directions’ which are usually for the better (Camb. edd.).

The principal textual problem of the play concerns the relation of the first two Quartos. All critics agree that the First Quarto is a pirated text, made up from notes taken in the theatre, eked out by occasional access to the MS. The great majority of its countless divergences from the other Qq can be accounted for, as the school of Mommsen would account for all, by omission, mutilation,{1} or botching.{2} Some of the most superb passages are so far preserved that we can be certain they existed entire in the play as performed in 1597. In a certain proportion of cases the First Quarto even preserves readings palpably more genuine than those of the Second, and every editor has admitted more or fewer of them into his text.{3} But a considerable residue tends to confirm the assertion of the title-page of the Second Quarto, that its text was ‘newly corrected, augmented, and amended.’ The Cambridge editors, while expressing their general accord with Mommsen’s view, yet demur in the one instance of ii. 6. 16-37,—the meeting of Romeo and Juliet at the Friar’s cell,—though they ‘know of no other passage of equal length where the same can be affirmed with certainty.’ The divergence here is indeed startling. Here are a few lines from the dialogue of the lovers in Q1:—

Jul. Romeo.

Rom. My Juliet welcome. As do waking eyes

Closed in Night’s mists attend the frolick Day,

So Romeo hath expected Juliet,

And thou art come.

Jul. I am, if I be Day,

Come to my Sun: shine forth and make me fair.

Rom. All beauteous fairness dwelleth in thine eyes.

Jul. Romeo, from thine all brightness doth arise.

Fri. Come, wantons, come, the stealing hours do pass,

Defer embracements till some fitter time.

Part for a while, you shall not be alone

Till holy Church have joined ye both in one.

Rom. Lead, holy Father, all delay seems long.

Jul. Make haste, make haste, this lingering doth us wrong.

Compare this with the later dialogue:—

Jul. Good even to my ghostly confessor.

Fri. L. Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.

Jul. As much to him, else is his thanks too much.

Rom. Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy

Be heap’d like mine and that thy skill be more

To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath

This neighbour air, and let rich music’s tongue

Unfold the imagined happiness that both

Receive in either by this dear

Reviews for Romeo and Juliet (Annotated by Henry N. Hudson with an Introduction by Charles Harold Herford)

[judithrs · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare. Folger Shakespeare Library. 1992. As I said above, this was a book club selection. Cannot remember when I last read this play, but I loved reading it this time. How can I forget how much I love Shakespeare?!! After I read the play, I found a BBC Radio production with Kenneth Branagh playing Romeo and Judie Dench playing Nurse! I really enjoyed reading along as I listened and got more out of the play the second reading. I sort of wanted to listen to it again, but instead decided to watch Zeffierlli’s movie and am so glad I did. A great way to enjoy Shakespeare!

[jonfaith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

O teach me how I should forget to think

I was prepared to be underwhelmed by a jaded near fifty return to this plethora of love-anchored verse. It was quite the opposite, as I found myself steeled with philosophy "adversity's sweet milk" and my appreciation proved ever enhanced by the Bard's appraisal of the human condition. How adroit to have situated such between two warring tribes, under a merciful deity, an all-too-human church and the wayward agency of hormonal teens. Many complain of this being a classic Greek drama adapted to a contemporary milieu. There is also a disproportionate focus on the frantic pacing in the five acts. I can appreciate both concerns but I think such is beyond the point. The chorus frames matters in terms of destiny, a rumination on Aristotelian tragedy yet the drama unfolds with caprice being the coin of the realm. Well, as much agency as smitten couples can manage. Pacing is a recent phenomenon, 50 episodes for McNulty to walk away from the force, a few less for Little Nell to die.

Shakespeare offers insights on loyalty and human frailty as well as the Edenic cursing of naming in some relative ontology. Would Heidegger smell as sweet? My mind's eye blurs the poise of Juliet with that of Ophelia; though no misdeeds await the Capulet, unless being disinherited by Plath's Daddy is the road's toll to a watery sleep. The black shoe and the attendant violent delights.

[sdtaylor555 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm not a big Shakespeare fan, so I won't rate any of his works very high

[df5b_roberts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ah, my favorite classic.

[dukefan86 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful language, classic Shakespeare.

[katieloucks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

great classic

[oscarwilde87_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things.Some shall be pardoned, and some punishèd.For never was a story of more woeThan this of Juliet and her Romeo."So ends the play Romeo and Juliet which is probably the most popular play by William Shakespeare. You will have a hard time finding someone who has never heard of its plot. It is a timeless tragedy of two star-crossed lovers finding eternal love in death. While it is one thing to read the script on paper, it is a truly amazing experience to see it performed on stage. The play explores themes that will never be out of date: friendship, love, family rivalry, desperation, and mourning, to name but a few. It is well worth having a closer look at Romeo's relation to love and whether he is really in love with Rosaline or Juliet or just in love with the feeling of being in love. Then there is Romeo's unlikely friendship to Mercutio, two very different characters. Generally, there are many aspects to explore and with every new reading I discover yet another one. You might want to watch the 2014 Broadway performance with Orlando Bloom as Romeo. At least I enjoyed it very much. 5 stars. A true masterpiece.

[meandmybooks-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sigh. Well, another time through, and I still don't care for Romeo and Juliet. I've been a silly teenager, and I have silly teenagers, I have parents who have been wrong-headed, and I am a parent who is sometimes wrong-headed (some say “frequently”), and I still find the characters here utterly unsympathetic and annoying. In large part, I think, the idea of “love at first sight” just irritates me so much that all the stupidities that follow are just icing on the cake, and that's coming from someone who married her husband after two weeks' acquaintance, so I believe I can claim some experience in the area of efficient assessment of compatibility.. While I fully sympathize with those who find extended dating wearisome, Romeo and Juliet spend so little time in conversation – one joint sonnet does not a relationship make – that their “love” never appears to move beyond hormone crazed obsession. The most tragic aspect of the story is that the nurse and the friar, foolishly indulgent, assist these ridiculous kids in their melodramatic stunts.As with the other plays I've read so far in this “year of Shakespeare,” I read Garber's chapter on “Romeo & Juliet,” from her wonderful Shakespeare After All, before reading the play. Her analysis did improve my reading, but, sadly, recognition of artistic merit does not always translate into real appreciation. When Juliet wails that she'd rather her parents and everyone else she knows were dead than that the boy she's met just the day before was banished, and, across town, Romeo is lying on the floor of the friar's cell, howling and kicking his heels because there was a consequence for killing Tybalt (who'd have thought?), the play seems to me to shift, not as Garber suggests, from comedy to tragedy, but, rather, into the realm of farce. Overwrought teenagers yowling like a pair of sex crazed alley cats because their romantic evening plans have been overturned hardly qualify as tragedy, and the nurse's eager plan to accommodate them with one night of passion (her enthusiasm for the deflowering of the thirteen year old girl she's raised is just creepy) doesn't help. The “tragedy” is that, instead of sensible friends, these youngsters, deranged with sudden infatuation and lust, have dimwitted adults to encourage and pander to them in their harebrained schemes.The poetry is lovely, the literary and dramatic effects are masterful, but I just don't care for the story. The final couplet, “For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo,” leaves me not with any feelings of sorrow for these violent, petulant brats, but simply disgust.For this reading I used the Updated Folger Shakespeare Library edition, which is nicely formatted with notes opposite each page of text, and read along with the audio recording by L.A. Theatre Works (2012) starring Calista Flockhart, Matthew Wolf, etc. While I rate this play at three stars for my enjoyment of the story, the dramatic performance by Flockhart and Co. is really superb! Definitely a five star production. So maybe I should rate the play at four stars? (I notice that I previously rated it at four.) Still, my “inner teen” stamps her foot and pouts, and I stick with my emotion-guided three star rating.*Okay. I forgot LT allows half stars. Three and a half, then.

[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.

[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.

[agdbk · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I love Shakespeare. I simply detest this play.

[hopingforchange · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Classic story of love and loss. ;) It's Shakespeare, and it's beautiful.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Publiekslieveling, maar ik vond het niet altijd overtuigend, soms zelfs stroef. Bevat uiteraard weergaloze passages. Vertaling van Komrij.1595, bekend verhaal, midden XV², maar wel afstand van moralistische behandeling,exuberante poêzie, evolutie van romantische komedie naar tragedie, maar heel vlot alsof het door Shakespeare zelf niet serieus werd bevonden. Twee stijlen: hoogdraven-maniëristisch en rijper en sober. Thema is de roekeloze hartstocht; daarom een noodlottragedie: ondergang buiten hun wil om (bij de andere tragedies komt de ondergang door een tekort aan krachten of een gebrek).Huis van Montague tegen het huis van Capulet in Verona. Julia is 14 jaar.Boodschap van de prins tegen geweld I,1 (“Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace…, p 1012); omschrijving liefde I,1 (“Love is a smoke rais’d with the fume of sighs:/Beining purg’d, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;/Being vex’d, a sea nourish’d with lovers’ tears:/What is it else? A madness most discreet,/A choking gall and a preserving sweet.”, 1013)Hoogtepunt: de dialoog Romeo-Julia II,2 en III,5Vlottere taal dan de vorige, maar toch ook stroeve delen; opvallend korte, komische entractes.

[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.

[papercrystals · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This review is for the Frankly Annotated First Folio Edition, with annotations by Demitra Papadinis.The layout of the book is fantastic, making it easy to keep your place in the play when checking on the notes. The notes themselves are fantastic, going in depth and not leaving out the dirty jokes. A thoroughly enjoyable and educational edition!

[literate0ninja · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Easily one of my least favorite of The Bard's works. Reading this in high school very nearly put me off Shakespeare for good. One of the first books I ever remember reading that made me want to smack both main characters upside the head and ask them "What the heck are you thinking?!"

[ctpress_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.Reading a Shakespeare-play and seeing one is two entirely different things. Having been to the Globe in London and experienced the magic of an evening with Shakespeare it seems a dry thing to "just" read the play. Still, reading it offers time to stop and contemplate and enjoy and savour all the famous quotes and lines of poetry.In this romantic tragedy there's plenty of over-the-top emotions, frantic pace, overwhelming love-songs and declarations of eternal bliss or eternal sorrow - it's just a thing you accept coming to Shakespeare. This is his world and it's just for us to drink it in.And although it's exaggerated the theme is eternal and universal - love - mixed with infatuation and madness - it's a force too powerful to be kept down - and it's explosive in the midst of a feud between two families. This emotional tour de force between Romeo and Juliet is something to be appraised and lamented at the same time. I'm not sure what Shakespeare does most. But both things are there. The admiration of such head-over-the-heels love and the warning against it's power to overwhelm and blinding the persons involved. Good Night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow

[lhlogan1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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

[eric_cheuk-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

overly compressed, beautifully-written play in which two teenagers fall in love, marry, fuck, and die, all in the span of three days. concessions should be made to late 16th century literary convention, but still...

[ajaygx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Classic... what else is there to say?

[currerbell-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Romeo and Juliet is fairly far down on my list of Shakespeare's plays (compared, say, with The Tempest, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night at the top), so my five***** rating of this book (ISBN 978-0786447480) is not for the play itself but for the editorial work. I snagged Demitra Papadinis's "Frankly Annotated First Folio Edition" as an Early Reviewer, and after browsing it I've definitely wish-listed her similar edition of As You Like It (ISBN 978-0786449651, which I didn't win as an Early Reviewer) as well as her pre-order edition of Macbeth (ISBN 978-0786464791).I was particularly curious to see how Papadinis's "Frankly Annotated" editions would stack up versus the Norton Critical Editions (generically, that is, because there is no NCE of Romeo and Juliet to the best of my knowledge). There is simply no comparison between the two, and I say this in praise of both Papadinis and NCE. The strength of NCE is in its supplementary materials, which are completely lacking to Papadinis, while the strength of Papadinis is in her highly detailed line-by-line annotation. Papadinis and NCE, in other words, complement rather than compete with each other.Papadinis's annotation is highly detailed and presented in facing-page format, with the play's text on the left-hand page and the corresponding annotation on the right. What this means is that some left-hand text pages may contain only four or five lines while a corresponding right-hand annotation page will be completely filled, so that Papadinis's "Frankly Annotated" editions are not for a newcomer or casual reader, who will most likely find the design cumbersome and the trade paperback edition's price higher than a beginner would like. (Leaving out introduction and bibliography, both quite short, Papadinis's text/annotations for Romeo and Juliet run from pages 28 through 447 inclusive.)Another Early Reviewer has expressed some objection that these annotations represent a "tendentious study of the vulgar in Shakespeare's play." In reality, though, Romeo and Juliet (like Twelfth Night) in fact is one of Shakespeare's most bawdy plays, so I have to object to such a criticism. On the other hand, I also have to admit that I have not studied Papadinis's annotations that comprehensively, considering the time limit in posting an Early Review. In fact, this is not the kind of book that you are likely to read cover-to-cover, but rather one that you'll browse through, maybe just a scene (or even a few lines) at a time to savor the wealth of annotation that Papadinis provides. For that matter, I'm not such a Shakespeare specialist that I'd necessarily pick up on small annotational glitches anyway, so here's hoping some other ER can comment with more specificity on this subject.Papadinis's "Frankly Annotated" editions are available in both trade paperback and Kindle, but this does not seem like the kind of text that could be properly formatted for eBook reading, given the need for facing-page capability. I did download a Kindle sample, but it was too short (it included only some of the introduction, with none of the facing-page text/annotation) to be sure of this, but I'd definitely recommend the trade paperback edition. It's a bit pricey but worth it, though not recommended for a first-timer to the play.

[la12hernandez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Found this very easy to use and understand. I think my family is tired of me quoting the play then explaining it according to the book. As a theater major I found this book fascinating.

[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.

[summer_missfictional · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm giving Romeo and Juliet 3 stars because the writing was brilliant. I must admit, Shakespeare was a master in this aspect; in others, not so much. Oh how much I loathe the characters of Romeo and Juliet. But Mercutio was pretty awesome.

[katie1802 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely love this! Romeo can be an idiot sometimes, their families are jerks and the Friar seriously screwed up but you have to love it all.

Favourite Quote ;

Oh she doth teach the torches to burn bright, it seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear, beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.

[epenton-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bruce Colville’s retells Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in story form. It includes a narration of the major plot points in a clear and easy to follow language that is appropriate for younger children (as early as third grade or so). The book also contains beautiful pictures that capture the important parts of the story and help to tell the story. What I like most about this book is that it incorporates quotes from the play itself. The way that it is mixed in with the easy-to-follow narration of the book would, I believe, help children develop a basic understanding of Shakesperian language that will be helpful to them as they advance into higher grades. This book could also be useful to students in middle and high school. This book could be helpful to me in my current situation as a high school English tutor: Many of the students I tutor are completely thrown off by the language that Shakespeare uses, which inhibits their understanding of the entire story. Supplementing a lesson on Romeo and Juliet with this book would be a good way to get students to grasp the basics of the play and also to ease them into the complex language of the play. Great Book!

[keksfan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Bekannte Geschichte.Junge trifft Mädchen und sie verlieben sich. Eltern sind dagegen. Tragisches Ende. Der Stoff aus dem heute noch jeder dritte Liebesfilm besteht.

[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.

[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.

[tiffanyak_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great romantic tragedy, which I had to read for my Intro. to Drama class. This is one of those works of Shakespeare that has been done in a multitude of forms and variations, so it is quite likely that everyone has a rough idea of the story. Still, you really cannot replace the original. There is a lot of unbelievable story to it, which can overdo it to the point of being distracting, but overall the language and story are so supremely memorable that it automatically qualifies as a must-read. As to the edition itself, I found it to be greatly helpful in understanding the action in the play. It has a layout which places each page of the play opposite a page of notes, definitions, explanations, and other things needed to understand that page more thoroughly. While I didn't always need it, I was certainly glad to have it whenever I ran into a turn of language that was unfamiliar, and I definitely appreciated the scene-by-scene summaries. Really, if you want to or need to read Shakespeare, an edition such as this is really the way to go, especially until you get more accustomed to it.