Tragic Lovers Resonate Through the Centuries

 

 No tribute to timeless lovers would be complete without considering the story of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.  For some inexplicable reason, the story of these tragic lovers resonates with every age and in nearly every society. Don't believe me, well, consider the most recent version of the tale,

"Gnomeo and Juliet". Yes, you read that right, even the gnomes are doing it!

 

Copying Shakespeare, that is. Although, now that spring is in the air, I'm sure the gnomes are doing the other 'IT' with gusto as well, as we'll be seeing evidence of their dedication in the proliferation of little garden gnomes on lawns throughout the neighborhood.

If you weren't forced to read this story in High School for Literature class, you've missed one of the greatest romantic tragedies in English Literature. As my blog originates in North America, and I am involved in my local school system as a teacher, I am confident that if you are reading this, you are shaking your head in a positive manner, recalling those awkward teen years when you were interested in anything and everything but being forced to read Shakespeare or Dickens! 

I recall my own high school experiences. I lived for three things, Boys, Rock music, and well, Partying. A seventeen year old girl's life has changed very little since I was one, and I assume that high school girls and guys are the least people likely to be interested in this tragic love story written four centuries past, yet we force them to read it and write a paper on it, just the same. Call it a rite of passage.

In the late 1990's, an obscure filmmaker decided to make a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo, and it did receive some box office success. I recall watching it with my own teens on a Friday night. To Baz Luhrman's (Director) credit, when my fifteen year old son answered the door and found his dude friends wanted him to come outside and hang in the hood, he told them he would meet them later, as he was watching a really cool movie. He didn't invite them in to watch with us, but to my shock, he didn't try to get out of watching it with the family, either, as one might expect. He said no to his friends and stayed in to finish watching this version of Shakespeare. To be fair, it was really jazzed up with lots of modern imagery, a rock music soundtrack, and plenty of gang fights to hold the lad's interest. The Montagues and the Capulets, in this version used modern handguns instead of swords and carried on like rival street gangs with a drive-by shootings at the local gas station and at the beach, all while quoting the original Shakespeare text. It is pretty wild. I still own the movie and would recommend it as a starter set for anyone interested in Shakespeare. This version was much more fast paced than the old version from the 60's with Olivia Hussy as Juliet. Unlike that one, this one won't put you to sleep. If it can keep the attention of a 15 year old boy, it has done it's job pretty well. 

Okay, gentle reader, as an adult, you have no excuse to ignore these legendary lovers. If you absolutely love romance and the tales of timeless lovers as I do, reconsider this epic romance from a different perspective than your jaded high school self. I promise, this time, no one will mock you or think you uncool if you sigh a little at the hopelessness of their situation and shed a tear for the ill-fated lovers who contrive to take their own lives rather than live without each other.

Here's a thumbnail of the original story written in Elizabethan times, just to refresh your memory.

Romeo is a Montague, his family is rich and powerful in the fair Italian city of Verona. Romeo is morose, moody sort of guy, writes poetry and moons over his lady love, who seems to have dumped him. His family is worried about him because he's so depressed. His cousin and his kinsmen take him to a party to cheer him up. They, being young men full of adventure, decide to crash the party of their enemy, the rival family in town, the Capulets. Romeo sees Juliet, and falls in love with her. Now, to some this might seem a little creepy, as Juliet is only fourteen years old and Romeo is at least eighteen, I would think. But, remember that this was written in the 16th century, so it was not uncommon for a girl to be married at that age or at least betrothed. Juliet, is in fact, being offered in marriage to her father's associate, Paris, at this same time. Juliet does not want to marry Paris. She dances with Romeo at the party and they fall desperately and hopelessly in love.

What follows is a whirlwind courtship, with Romeo and Juliet bantering back and forth in poetic prose that has become famous.  "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." They share a hasty wedding night after a secret wedding that their parents do not know of. And then, fate hands them a blow when Romeo's kinsmen is slain by Juliet's cousin. Romeo is enraged, and kills Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, becoming an outlaw. In order to escape execution, Romeo must leave the city and be in exile.

No one knows Romeo and Juliet have wed, except the Friar who married them in secret, and Juliet's faithful nurse. Juliet is expected to marry Paris, her father's man. Romeo leaves the city, vowing to write to Juliet.  Juliet is desperate, she doesn't want to be forced to marry Paris when she is in actuality married to Romeo, the man she truly loves. She goes to the Friar for help, he gives her a drug and counsels her to take it on the night before her scheduled wedding to Paris. It will make her sleep for 42 hours and appear dead. The Friar vows to send word to Romeo about the plan, and to be there in the family crypt when she awakens with Romeo at his side so the lovers can run away together.

But, the letter to Romeo explaining this plot never arrives, and he learns of Juliet's death by another. Sick with grief, he, too, buys a dram of poison, real poison, and goes to the tomb where his lady love is buried. Finding her there in the appearance of death, he is overcome by grief and drinks the poison, dying at her side. And moments later, Juliet awakens, finding him dead beside her! 

Oh God, if that isn't enough tragedy for you, there is more to come . . . .

 Juliet, being just fourteen, and desperately in love, cannot imagine living in a world without her Romeo in it. She sees the vial in his hand and wails, "Oh, churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after?--I will kiss thy lips, Haply some poison yet doth hang on them!"  She kisses him, but nothing happens. Distressed, young Juliet takes his dagger, and says "O happy dagger, this is thy sheath (her heart), there rust and let me die!"  She stabs herself, and dies next to her beloved in the tomb.

By the time the Friar finds them, the pair are lying together in the tomb, each having slain themselves out of grief at losing the other.

Whether you like to read Shakespeare (or watch movie versions) or not, you cannot deny that this epic story has had a huge impact on the Modern world. The story of lovers, kept apart by fate is the bread and butter of the romance novel industry. It sells books, period. The romance genre in books is the single top selling genre, high above mysteries, sci-fi, or political thrillers. Romance sells, and it all comes back, eventually, to William Shakespeare's Iconic characters, Romeo and Juliet.

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Other incarnations of Romeo & Juliet: 

• West Side Story, a musical version in the 1960's, modernized to NYC
•  Romeo and Juliet (1968 film), UK title: William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (directed by Franco Zeffirelli)
• Romeo Must Die 
• Twilight, Bella falls in love with an enemy to humanity, not merely of her family
• Shakespeare in Love 
• Romeo X Juliet A TV Anime series, broadcast in 2007, that is based on the Shakespeare story, but with plot twists, more characters, and mythical creatures. 
• Romeo and Juliet, 2007: TV drama set in modern Japan.
• Tromeo and Juliet (1996), a parody version of the story
• Shrek 2 :  Oh, yes. Fiona's father tries to kill Shrek, cuz he's got a contract with the Fairy Godmother stating that Fiona is supposed to marry Prince Charming, or else! 
• Just about every fourth movie or romance novel ever published has this theme in it: forbidden lovers!