Romeo and Juliet:
Title: Romeo and Juliet
Author: William Shakespeare
Literacy level: Advanced
Rating: 2/5
Written in 1594 to 1596, to then be authorized in 1599, “Romeo
and Juliet” is a tragic play of the original family feud and how they eventually
came to acknowledge their differences, but at what cost. Tells the story of
Romeo, a young aristocrat and the son of Montagne, and Juliet, the 13-year-old
girl, daughter of the rivaling family, the Capulet. It all starts with a
conflict between the servant of both families, but halted by the Prince, trying
to achieve some type of peace. The Prince later asks the hand in marriage to
the young Juliet, who is 13 at the time, but the Capulet extends the offer until she turns 15. Nevertheless, they still invite him to a ball (a formal dance
the aristocrats usually put together). Romeo on the other hand was a little
down, and his cousins noticed, so they invite him to go to the ball and enjoy
himself. At the ball, one of Juliet’s cousins notices Romeo, since he is from
a rivaling family, and furiously intends on killing him but is detained by his
uncles. Romeo, after the ball, out of sight, encounters Juliet, because, at the
ball, he fell for her at first sight, and decided to meet her. Without a second, after
their encounter, they decided to get married the next day. Sometime later,
Juliet’s cousin still wanted a bloodbath, so he challenges Romeo, but
refused. One of Romeo’s Cousins objected and fought but failed and was severely
injured. This made Romeo resent the attacker and fought him, ending victorious.
However, this did not sit well with the Prince, and immediately went to Romeo
for a punishment, which would have been death, but chose otherwise. The Prince
decided exile was the best option in this case. Romeo secretly visited Juliet,
and although she was devastated her cousin was killed at the hands of her
husband, she still trusted Romeo’s decision. They then came up with a plan to
escape together but were later foiled by the Prince’s urge to marry Juliet as
soon as possible. After speaking with the Father, one of only a handful that
knew about their romance, he suggested that Juliet fake her death and, in the
catacombs, she would encounter Romeo and escape. Romeo, unaware of the change
of plans, searched for a poison to die next to his beloved. When the time came,
Juliet woke up next to the dead body of Romeo, she could not believe it so, so
she killed herself with the remaining poison in his lips. Here, the faithful
union of the Capulet and the Montagne.
Review: Technically, it is not a book, but a play, regardless, I read it in book format. Reading the whole play is completely different from hearing it, this was you can understand the rage in which Romeo is for the unfairness of the society, as well as questionable decisions of those times. Example: Marrying a 13-year-old girl to a prince. No doubt it has some odd topics, but it is from the late 16th century. Personally, following their romance felt immoral, firstly, she was too young, second, it was too quick of a meeting for Romeo to get married to Juliet, and third, literally committing suicide to follow someone you met for several days, maybe less. I cannot understand how people idolize this type of love, but nonetheless, it has its fair share of interesting points, such as how families would go far enough to fight for petty things, and how it does not necessarily branch to their children. On the other hand, I can understand the relevance and how it has become such a successful play for nearly 400 years, appealing to tragedy fans and romance enthusiasts. All in all,” Romeo and Juliet” is not a read for everyone but is a literary must. If you like Victorian-era literature or Romantic tragedies, this is the play for you. Regarding the literacy level, I suggest doing some research beforehand, since the grammar is of the 16th century and requires some high understanding of the English language.
ISBN: 978-1-4516-2170-9