Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare


One of the greatest love stories ever made was about Romeo and Juliet, written by Sir William Shakespeare. It isn’t a book, but a play written for theatre, but I have read it, and I’ve fallen in love.

All though the language is rather difficult, and it has taken me a lot of hours to really understand what the words mean, I enjoyed it so much that I even read some of the pages more than once. The story about the star-crossed lovers has been used in so many books, movies, tv-series, it’s everywhere. If we’re referring to someone who’s madly in love, we say that they are like Romeo and Juliet. And there’s always a reason to such accusations.

The tragic tale of star-crossed lovers, feuding families, and timeless passion contains some of Shakespeare's most beautiful and lyrical love poetry.

The thing about this edition of the book was that I already knew what would happen, I already knew that Romeo would take the poison and Juliet would stab herself in order to be with Romeo. And I can’t stop thinking, what is it about this story that makes us cry every time we hear about it? What did Shakespeare do to make it so beautiful? One of my favorite scenes in the book is where Juliet’s nurse has been out talking with Romeo. The Nurse knows that Romeo wants to marry Juliet, and Juliet is waiting in excitement to hear what Romeo has told the nurse. The nurse is of course out of breath because she’s been running all over town, but Shakespeare made me smile when he wrote Juliet: 

How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breathTo say to me that thou art out of breath?The excuse that thou dost make in this delayIs no longer than the tale thou dost excuse.Is thy news good, or bad? answer to that;Say either, and I’ll stay the circumstance:Let me be satisfied, is’t good or bad?

This is the perfect example to show that Juliet is just a child. She is only thirteen. And all though we’re never told the age of Romeo, it doesn’t really matter, because they are so much in love that they marry without consent from their families. The most heartbreaking scene for me is the one where Romeo sees Juliet lying “dead” in the chamber. The things he said, that was something I had to read a couple of times to really understand. And for a second I thought; This had to be hard remembering if you were playing in the theatre.. 

A lightning before death: O, how may ICall this a lightning? O my love! my wife!Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath,Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:Thou art not conquer’d; beauty’s ensign yetIs crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,And death’s pale flag is not advanced there.Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?O, what more favour can I do to thee,Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twainTo sunder his that was thine enemy?Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet,Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believeThat unsubstantial death is amorous,And that the lean abhorred monster keepsThee here in dark to be his paramour?For fear of that, I still will stay with thee;And never from this palace of dim nightDepart again: here, here will I remainWith worms that are thy chamber-maids: O, hereWill I set up my everlasting rest,And shake the yoke of inauspicious starsFrom this world-wearied flesh,Eyes, look your last!Arms, take your last embrace!and, lips, O youThe doors of breath, seal with a righteous kissA dateless bargain to engrossing death!Come, bitter conduct, come unsavoury guide!Thou desperate pilot, now at once run onThe dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!Here’s to my love!
*Drinks*
O true apothecary!Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.

It’s a beautiful scene, and the desperation in Juliet when she finds her Romeo dead beside her is awful. 

O comfortable friar! where is my lord?I do remember well where I should be,And there I am. Where is my Romeo?Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.What’s here? a cup, closed in my true love’s hand?Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end:O chur! drunk all, and left no friendly dropTo help me after? I will kiss thy lips:Haply some poison yet dotn hang on them,To make me die with a restorative.
*Kisses him*
Thy lips are warm.Yea, noise? then I’ll be brief, O happy dagger!
*Snatching Romeo’s dagger*
This is thy sheath;
*Stabs herself*
there rust, and let me die. 

All though this story is tragic and sad, there’s also a kind of beauty within the story. How young love feels like, how we will do anything for the people we love. How we do reckless things when we are in love. There’s so much more than just the story of Romeo and Juliet, and that is why I would love for people my age to read it, to understand it and to see the beauty in Shakespeare’s work. I just can’t get enough of him, so I’m going to start something else by him today. 

★★★★☆

Share this:

, , ,

CONVERSATION

0 Comments:

Legg inn en kommentar