Name: Romeo and Juliet
Rating: 3.532438016528926 (2420 reviews)
ISBN: 9780393523249

William Shakespeare

Gordon McMullan

Romeo and Juliet

Aaditya Bajpai

julia

Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.

Romeo & Juliet: The Original Situationship 

Subtitle: Everyone Warned Me About the Ending. Nobody Warned Me About Romeo.

What about Mercutio? What about him? What about Tybalt and even Paris? Romeo? Juliet? The Prince? Friar Laurence? And all the poor souls caught up in this family feud? Mercutio? Tybalt? Paris? Him? Him? Him? Her? Him? Him? Bodies! Bodies! Bodies! BODIES! They're all dead. 

ACT 1: So This Is What All the Fuss Is About

 for the first time. I've seen a pattern with myself and Shakespeare's plays: apparently, if the title is just the characters' names, I'm probably going to love it.  

, and you guessed it: five stars. I genuinely enjoyed this play so much.

The funniest part is that I knew almost nothing about it beyond the obvious: two teenagers fall in love and then die. That's basically the modern cultural shorthand of knowing the ending of 

Although, somehow, I still felt like I was reading something relatively new. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much of the play I could actually understand without needing a modern translation. There were definitely phrases where I was like,

but most of it was surprisingly readable.

ACT 2:  Everybody Please Just Calm Down (The Plot)

The story itself is obviously iconic, but I really enjoyed experiencing it without knowing all the details beforehand. I knew where it was leading up to, but I didn't know how it was going to get there, and that made a huge difference.

The whole thing is basically one terrible decision after another until almost everyone is dead. And honestly? If Romeo had simply stopped moping over Rosaline, we might have avoided a lot of this nonsense.

She really dodged a bullet. Well. Maybe a poison.

Romeo: Dude, You Were in Love Just Last Tuesday

I didn't like Romeo very much as a person. I found him incredibly compelling as a character, though, which I think due to Shakespeare's great writing. My issue is that this man moves on 

Everyone who knows about Rosaline is basically making fun of him for how obsessed he is with her, not knowing that when he suddenly meets Juliet, 

My brother in Christ, you were crying over another woman approximately five minutes ago.

Hell, even Mercutio didn't know Romeo had moved on!  He and Benvolio basically took this man on a Renaissance-era post-breakup bender to get over Rosaline and find a 

. Only for the guy to walk away with his next "soulmate" to pine over.

To make matters worse, the Friar literally points out that Romeo's tears for Rosaline had barely dried before he was pining over Juliet. How pathetic.

He reminds me of those boys in high school who swear you're the only girl they've ever loved and that they'll never love anyone like you, and then the following week they're telling another girl the exact same story with slightly different wording.

That said, Romeo remains a really well-written and compelling character. I just don't particularly like 

Also, I couldn't stop imagining Romeo and Juliet as Tomás and Violetta. Which makes sense cause they saw each other 

Juliet, on the other hand, I really liked. She's young and impressionable, but surprisingly determined and willing to stand up for what she believes in. She doesn't just sit around waiting for things to happen to her. When she decides what she wants, she goes for it. And boy oh boy, did she go for that boy until death parted them. 

Now... she did say she didn't want to get married and then married Romeo after knowing him for approximately one business week. So maybe she didn't always stand on business, but this is her first love, and she's young... and Romeo 

love-bomb the hell out of her. It happens to the best of us. I'm not blaming my girl.

Mercutio:  The Man, the Myth, the Foul Mouth

Mercutio was... something. I liked him. He was funny as hell and brought so much personality into every scene he was in. His energy was completely different from everyone else's, which made him stand out immediately. Honestly, I just wanted to see what nonsense he was going to say next. In my head, he eventually grew out of his love-hating cynicism and fell in love with some lovely girl he worshipped the way Romeo worshipped every woman who looked in his general direction. 

ACT 4: Willy Shakes Said Fuck Them Kids (Ending)

 Obviously, I knew they died. I wasn't roommates with Patrick Star in Bikini Bottom. I just didn't expect how much everything leading up to it would make me think, 

 I don't even think Capulet really expressed that much hatred toward Romeo to warrant everything that eventually unfolded. Now, Montague? He hated him. But they were all talk and not much action. They all live in Verona, so if they really wanted to kill each other before this, they could've.

The ending's tragic, no doy, it's a tragedy. Although, there's also something almost absurd about watching the consequences pile up until Shakespeare finally has to wrap everything up in a neat little bow. Granted, the bow was soaked in Juliet and Paris's blood and Romeo's poison, but a bow's a bow. 

"Wow, our children were secretly married and now they're both dead. Let's build statues of them!"

Oh please. You people suck as parents. You didn't even know your kids were married. 

 has survived for centuries. I went into this already expecting to enjoy it because it's Shakespeare, but I didn't expect to enjoy it 

 much. I knew the ending, but the characters, relationships, humour, and sheer chaos still made the story feel fresh. And, so, for that, it's a five stars. In Shakespeare I trust.

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

Romeo & Juliet: The Original Situationship 

Subtitle: Everyone Warned Me About the Ending. Nobody Warned Me About Romeo.

PROLOGUE:

What about Mercutio? What about him? What about Tybalt and even Paris? Romeo? Juliet? The Prince? Friar Laurence? And all the poor souls caught up in this family feud? Mercutio? Tybalt? Paris? Him? Him? Him? Her? Him? Him? Bodies! Bodies! Bodies! BODIES! They're all dead. 

ACT 1: So This Is What All the Fuss Is About

I finally did it. I finally read Romeo and Juliet for the first time. I've seen a pattern with myself and Shakespeare's plays: apparently, if the title is just the characters' names, I'm probably going to love it.  Hamlet was 4.5 stars, Julius Caesar and Macbeth were both 5 stars. Now Romeo and Juliet, and you guessed it: five stars. I genuinely enjoyed this play so much.

The funniest part is that I knew almost nothing about it beyond the obvious: two teenagers fall in love and then die. That's basically the modern cultural shorthand of knowing the ending of Titanic before watching it or even knowing much about the real-life tragedy. 

Although, somehow, I still felt like I was reading something relatively new. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much of the play I could actually understand without needing a modern translation. There were definitely phrases where I was like, "Willy, what the hell does that mean?" but most of it was surprisingly readable.

ACT 2:  Everybody Please Just Calm Down (The Plot)

The story itself is obviously iconic, but I really enjoyed experiencing it without knowing all the details beforehand. I knew where it was leading up to, but I didn't know how it was going to get there, and that made a huge difference.

The whole thing is basically one terrible decision after another until almost everyone is dead. And honestly? If Romeo had simply stopped moping over Rosaline, we might have avoided a lot of this nonsense.

She really dodged a bullet. Well. Maybe a poison.

ACT 3: THE CHARACTERS

Romeo: Dude, You Were in Love Just Last Tuesday

I didn't like Romeo very much as a person. I found him incredibly compelling as a character, though, which I think due to Shakespeare's great writing. My issue is that this man moves on FAST.

Everyone who knows about Rosaline is basically making fun of him for how obsessed he is with her, not knowing that when he suddenly meets Juliet, she's now the love of his life. 
My brother in Christ, you were crying over another woman approximately five minutes ago.

Hell, even Mercutio didn't know Romeo had moved on!  He and Benvolio basically took this man on a Renaissance-era post-breakup bender to get over Rosaline and find a rebound. Only for the guy to walk away with his next "soulmate" to pine over.

To make matters worse, the Friar literally points out that Romeo's tears for Rosaline had barely dried before he was pining over Juliet. How pathetic.

He reminds me of those boys in high school who swear you're the only girl they've ever loved and that they'll never love anyone like you, and then the following week they're telling another girl the exact same story with slightly different wording.

That said, Romeo remains a really well-written and compelling character. I just don't particularly like him.

Also, I couldn't stop imagining Romeo and Juliet as Tomás and Violetta. Which makes sense cause they saw each other once and were already singing about "Te Creo," go do your homework oh my god lol! 
 

Juliet: Standing on Business (Mostly)

Juliet, on the other hand, I really liked. She's young and impressionable, but surprisingly determined and willing to stand up for what she believes in. She doesn't just sit around waiting for things to happen to her. When she decides what she wants, she goes for it. And boy oh boy, did she go for that boy until death parted them. 

Now... she did say she didn't want to get married and then married Romeo after knowing him for approximately one business week. So maybe she didn't always stand on business, but this is her first love, and she's young... and Romeo did love-bomb the hell out of her. It happens to the best of us. I'm not blaming my girl.

Mercutio:  The Man, the Myth, the Foul Mouth

Mercutio was... something. I liked him. He was funny as hell and brought so much personality into every scene he was in. His energy was completely different from everyone else's, which made him stand out immediately. Honestly, I just wanted to see what nonsense he was going to say next. In my head, he eventually grew out of his love-hating cynicism and fell in love with some lovely girl he worshipped the way Romeo worshipped every woman who looked in his general direction. 

Oh... wait. 

He's dead. 

Oh, well. 

ACT 4: Willy Shakes Said Fuck Them Kids (Ending)

 Obviously, I knew they died. I wasn't roommates with Patrick Star in Bikini Bottom. I just didn't expect how much everything leading up to it would make me think, "This kinda could've been avoided." I don't even think Capulet really expressed that much hatred toward Romeo to warrant everything that eventually unfolded. Now, Montague? He hated him. But they were all talk and not much action. They all live in Verona, so if they really wanted to kill each other before this, they could've.

Long story short: men are the problem. 

The ending's tragic, no doy, it's a tragedy. Although, there's also something almost absurd about watching the consequences pile up until Shakespeare finally has to wrap everything up in a neat little bow. Granted, the bow was soaked in Juliet and Paris's blood and Romeo's poison, but a bow's a bow. 

And then the families are like, "Wow, our children were secretly married and now they're both dead. Let's build statues of them!" 

Oh please. You people suck as parents. You didn't even know your kids were married. 

ACT 5: Final Thoughts

I completely understand why Romeo and Juliet has survived for centuries. I went into this already expecting to enjoy it because it's Shakespeare, but I didn't expect to enjoy it this much. I knew the ending, but the characters, relationships, humour, and sheer chaos still made the story feel fresh. And, so, for that, it's a five stars. In Shakespeare I trust.

John Gilbert

Ned Halley

My friend and I went on a recent trip to Verona, so we HAD to buy this book as a souvenir. And I must say, this was surprisingly fun to read. We also went to see a post-modern adaption of Romeo and Juliet in my local theater and to compare the tellings was great. I can see how this play survives the passing of centuries and still fascinates. 

Valentina

An improved, larger-format edition of the Cambridge School Shakespeare plays, extensively rewritten, expanded and produced in an attractive new design. An active approach to classroom Shakespeare enables students to inhabit Shakespeare's imaginative world in accessible and creative ways. Students are encouraged to share Shakespeare's love of language, interest in character and sense of theatre. Substantially revised and extended in full colour, classroom activities are thematically organised in distinctive 'Stagecraft', 'Write about it', 'Language in the play', 'Characters' and 'Themes' features. Extended glossaries are aligned with the play text for easy reference. Expanded endnotes include extensive essay-writing guidance for 'Romeo and Juliet' and Shakespeare. Includes rich, exciting colour photos of performances of 'Romeo and Juliet' from around the world.

i was expecting something spectacular, but it was still great !!!

patrycja

Faywawa

Had to read this for my English literature class and actually enjoyed it more than expected. The only downside was the language, which was obviously confusing, and the fact that Juliet was 13 and her father was already trying to marry her off.

Kaiya

bela

anna 

𝚕𝚒𝚕𝚢

3 ★ - (liked it)



CWs: death, suicide, some illusions to sex (only noticeable because of explanatory notes), dueling (with swords)

My first Shakespeare, loved it so much more than I expected! I genuinely looked forward to reading it and actually laughed out loud at times.

Leo Valentine

Vicky  Nuñez 

This year I set myself the goal of reading more classics. After all, there's a reason why people keep reading them so long after they were written. I decided if I was really going to commit I needed to read Shakespeare. I've read Shakespeare, I own all of his plays and sonnets and I love his narrative, but I hate his representation of women. But I figured since I've read 13 books of the Wheel of Time and watch Game of Thrones, I can read Shakespeare.

Obviously the plays start with men making sexual puns, but once you get over it I got caught by the story.Yes, Romeo and Juliet were really stupid kids. But that's the idea. 
Their youth and immaturity is what makes their love so pure. They are acting the way they do because they feel their love is the most important thing in the world. And it is for that instant they meet. Afterwards they start having doubts after their meeting, but they are too blinded by the idea of love. At the end, tragedy strikes taking more than one life and it serves as a lesson for everyone involved.

I admit it, I loved it wholeheartedly. Shakespeare strings up words in the most mesmerizing way. I loved it and I actually look forward to reading more from him now.

Romeo ve Juliet

gülefşan 

"Blubbering and weeping, weeping and blubbering." -w.s.

Summer Joy

sophie

Jackie Lu

** spoiler alert **
           “What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.” favourite fucking quote

kenz

Jaden Nelson

Samantha gust 

3.5 stars I listened to the audiobook it was entertaining but I didn’t understand most of the older English. I had fun listening to it as a classic.

No Fear Shakespeare gives you the complete text of Romeo and Juliet on the left-hand page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand translation on the right.

Each No Fear Shakespeare contains

The complete text of the original play
A line-by-line translation that puts Shakespeare into everyday language
A complete list of characters with descriptions
Plenty of helpful commentary

Penny Devereux 

honestly i really don’t like shakespeare, had to read this for school though and i hated it, sorry

Hannah Yang

I think most people grow up hearing about Romeo and Juliet, and the plot really isn't much more complicated than the tragic summary we're all familiar with -- but the language with which Romeo and Juliet use to convey their (unbelievable! implausible! ridiculous!) love is indeed beautiful and there is no doubt that this play has made its mark on literature and beyond.

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: -Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play -Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing 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 up-to-date 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.

Children, children, go to sleep. No need for so much drama and death. Everyone needs to chill. My point below:

"These violent delights have violent ends,

And in their triumph die; like fire and powder,

Which, as they kiss, consume: the sweetest honey

Therefore love moderately: long love doth so"

Jovana Gjekanovikj 

Children, children, go to sleep. No need for so much drama and death. Everyone needs to chill. My point below:

"These violent delights have violent ends,

And in their triumph die; like fire and powder,

Which, as they kiss, consume: the sweetest honey

Is loathsome in his own deliciousness,

And in the taste confounds the appetite:

Therefore love moderately: long love doth so"

Gareth Hinds

Retells in graphic novel format Shakespeare's tragedy of two star-crossed youths who fall in love despite the tensions between their warring families.

Lara Engle

This could be a great adapted text to use with freshmen for Romeo and Juliet. He uses the original text, but thoughtfully abridged. The action sequences and facial expressions are well done, which will add greatly to comprehension for students. It's both a faithful adaptation and a more accessible text. Plus, it's just enjoyable to read.

These violent delights have violent ends.

Alas that love, whose view is muffled still, / Should without eyes see pathways to his will

“Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.” “There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned.”

Roisin Ramdhayan 

These violent delights have violent ends.

“Alas that love, whose view is muffled still, / Should without eyes see pathways to his will” 

“Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.” “There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned.”

I was hoping there would be a lot more drama during their deaths but there wasn't 

Romeo and Juliet

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