A True Romantic Play - Literature review Example

by Romeo and Juliet is a love story, is a tragedy and a play of its own sort by Shakespeare. The play is full of mourns due to the lamentable fate of the lovers Romeo and Juliet. Before discussing the intertextual links of the play with other contemporary literary pieces it is essential to discuss the plot of Romeo and Juliet in a brief. It is a love tragedy due to a traditional enmity or feud between the two families Capulets and Montagues in Verona Italy. The prologue of the play introduces us with the story of the play. The story focuses the heroes “a pair of star-crossed lovers” who lost their lives because of a long standing enmity between the families Capulets and Montagues. Romeo belongs to the family of Montagues and Juliet to the family of Capulets. So the son and daughter of the two families belong to the opposing families and they fell in love. Their love results in a lamentable tragedy in the form of their deaths. But their deaths bring serenity between the families. The play is a true romantic play due to its style, language, characters, subject matter, plot and the technique used. The play is also a perfect tragedy due to the catharsis prevailing in the play. The play has still relations with the contemporary literature i.e. the interrelation with plays, with film, and with other prevailing scenarios. The concept of the famous tale is used by many artists either in one form or the other. The play “Me and Juliet” of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein is a sort of musical play which is reflecting the love or romantic story of a stage manager and a chorus girl Jeanie. A love triangle is developed in the story “Me and Juliet” due to the Jealousy of Jeanie’s ex-boyfriend with the lovers who have stitched themselves with the relation of wife and husband after a secret marriage bond. The play shows a relationship of rivalry of Capulets and Montagues in the form of characters in “Me and Juliet”. It is also a love story in the form of Romeo and Juliet. Here in “Me and Juliet” stage manager is related to Romeo and Chorus girl Jeanie has a relation with Shakespeare’s Juliet. Another play depicting the intertextual links with Romeo and Juliet is the Romanoff and Juliet by Peter Ustinov. In the play Peter has shown the conflict between Communists and Capitalists so the play has the link with Romeo and Juliet in the context of warring sides which in case of Romeo and Juliet are Capulets and Montagues. One of most popular play “West Side Story” written by Arthur Laurents is depicting Romeo and Juliet in an excellent way. The play West Side Story is depicted in New York and it is showing a rivalry between two gangs. One gang is all-American white gang called as Jets and the other is called as Sharks. The “Sharks” is an immigrant Puerto Rican gang. Jets have a sever sort of hatred for Sharks. The main reason behind this hatred was the defence of Sharks against the new territory or area in which they were surviving and the struggle to hold their position in American Society. The cause of feud or tension was due to the ambition that both the groups want to show their dominance over each other. So in West Side Story the two gangs Jets and Sharks are representing the two families of Romeo and Juliet i.e. Capulets and Montagues. Just like Romeo and Juliet, who belongs to the opposite groups, Tony and Maria fall in love with each other and they also belong to opposite gangs. Tony is the leader of Jets while Maria is the sister of Bernardo and who is a member of Sharks. Then a war starts between Jets and Sharks and as a result Tony and Bernardo die. But here in West Side Story Maria has to face a severe depression. And both the gangs also face misery and gloom. Both Romeo and Tony depict a sort of passionate love and intense feelings. And due to these emotions Romeo kills the cousin of Juliet. Both the male characters Romeo and Tony are shown with intense emotions. In both the plays women are shown with strong characters. The determinations of Juliet and Maria are prominent in the play. Determination in the sense that Juliet obeys her parents when they request to her that she must consider Paris as her life partner on the other hand Maria also shows the same determination when she shows her will to marry Chino against her emotions. Twilight Saga is another play which is also derived from Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet. Twilight saga is also a love story. The story end is also like the end of Romeo and Juliet. The two lovers in Twilight Saga met the same fate as the fate of Romeo and Juliet is. In Twilight Saga Jacob is playing the role of Paris while Edward is playing the role of Romeo and Bella is depicted as Juliet of the play. Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet is written in the 16th century and it is a classical play but still the play reflects the lives in our own society or the lives of the people of 21st century. When we read the whole play then we have to conclude that the reason between the warring sides is unknown and no body is aware of the cause of the rivalry between two families. People have to map the same scenario in the case of USA and Iraq war. USA invaded without any solid reason and USA has ended the lives of so many innocent people. And also it is the general trend that USA is totally wrong in its arguments for raising a war against Iraq. In the play it is the ambition of Juliet’s father that she must consider Paris as her life partner because Paris belongs to a superior family and he would provide her security and good future. The same emotions are also valid today in our societies that parents have to think about better future of their children. People spend huge amount on the character building and education of their children just for the sake that their children will have to appear as prominent figures in the society. The play Romeo and Juliet is also a sort of depiction of the status of women. People in the 16th century consider the women as an inferior creature. People have to interpret the Bible in a wrong way just to assert that women are inferior creatures. Same thing is also prevailing in different societies, cultures and countries. The same sense of considerations is also shown by the father of Juliet when Juliet shatters the regulations of the family. Her father shows the anger against the lady and says that he is worried about her and she is not paying attention to it. People or the characters in the play show their contempt for each other due to the stereotypes Capulets and Montagues. Their contempt or hatred is baseless and some of them even have never met each other but they are still showing their hatred against each other. The reason of this hatred is only and only the stereotypes which they are writing with their names. The same example of stereotypes still exists for Germans when the people show their hatred against their past Nazi history. Although Germans also condemn their past but they are facing the fate. So stereotyping is also a cause of hatred and disrespect. Though there are also some other causes like religious, social and power which are the main reasons of hatred. The play also shows the lack of justice in the 16th century. Same lack of justice is also present in the prevailing societies. People have to go in the courts and the decisions take years. The plight of the poorer ones is also shown that the laws exist only for poor people but there are no rules and regulations for the royal families. There are also different adaptation of the play Romeo and Juliet in the form of films in the contemporary society. In the classic film Romeo and Juliet presented in 1996 the director has changed the scenic beauty of Verona Italy with Verona Beach California. The director has presented the innovation in the film throughout rather than showing the ancient Shakespearean style. In film the opening scene of the play is shown at a CNG station and not in a street or market as shown in the original plot of Romeo and Juliet. Both the parties hold the contemporary latest weapons which the director has shown in place of swords. The prince in Romeo and Juliet is compared with the chief of police and the policemen in the film use latest vehicles for them like helicopters and cars rather than to use horses. Romeo gets the information about party, going to be held at Capulets, on television. While in Shakespearean play Romeo gets information, about the party at Capulets, through a messenger. So lot of similarities and intertextual links exist between contemporary films and the classical Romeo and Juliet. But many parts of the play are changed in most of movies e.g. characters, settings and scenes. The reason behind all that is to depict the play in a modernized way. The two film versions of Romeo and Juliet presented in 1968 and 1996 depict the play altogether in two different styles. The 1968 version is the true depiction of classical Romeo and Juliet while the 1996 version is a modernized form of the play. The themes of the play Romeo and Juliet are also depicted by the contemporary writers, artists and film directors in a mature way. The themes of the play which have links with the contemporary society are love, hatred, time, and duality i.e. the light and darkness. Simply we can conclude that the play Romeo and Juliet fits in the contemporary society due to the themes which Shakespeare has induced in an artistic way in the play. The Shakespearean plays are still a part and parcel of our society with respect to its application at academic level, social level, political level and at the level of family matters. Bibliography Arthur Laurents. “West Side Story” Peter Ustinov. “Romanoff and Juliet” Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein. “Me and Juliet” William Shakespeare. “Romeo and Juliet” Twilight Saga A Comparison and Contrast of "Romeo & Juliet:"Text Vs. Movie www.bookrags.com /essay-2004/1/16/18659/3423 Focus on West Side Story. http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/randj/ connections/performing/westside.html Read More

One of most popular play “West Side Story” written by Arthur Laurents is depicting Romeo and Juliet in an excellent way. The play West Side Story is depicted in New York and it is showing a rivalry between two gangs. One gang is all-American white gang called as Jets and the other is called as Sharks. The “Sharks” is an immigrant Puerto Rican gang. Jets have a sever sort of hatred for Sharks. The main reason behind this hatred was the defence of Sharks against the new territory or area in which they were surviving and the struggle to hold their position in American Society.

The cause of feud or tension was due to the ambition that both the groups want to show their dominance over each other. So in West Side Story the two gangs Jets and Sharks are representing the two families of Romeo and Juliet i.e. Capulets and Montagues. Just like Romeo and Juliet, who belongs to the opposite groups, Tony and Maria fall in love with each other and they also belong to opposite gangs. Tony is the leader of Jets while Maria is the sister of Bernardo and who is a member of Sharks.

Then a war starts between Jets and Sharks and as a result Tony and Bernardo die. But here in West Side Story Maria has to face a severe depression. And both the gangs also face misery and gloom. Both Romeo and Tony depict a sort of passionate love and intense feelings. And due to these emotions Romeo kills the cousin of Juliet. Both the male characters Romeo and Tony are shown with intense emotions. In both the plays women are shown with strong characters. The determinations of Juliet and Maria are prominent in the play.

Determination in the sense that Juliet obeys her parents when they request to her that she must consider Paris as her life partner on the other hand Maria also shows the same determination when she shows her will to marry Chino against her emotions. Twilight Saga is another play which is also derived from Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet. Twilight saga is also a love story. The story end is also like the end of Romeo and Juliet. The two lovers in Twilight Saga met the same fate as the fate of Romeo and Juliet is.

In Twilight Saga Jacob is playing the role of Paris while Edward is playing the role of Romeo and Bella is depicted as Juliet of the play. Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet is written in the 16th century and it is a classical play but still the play reflects the lives in our own society or the lives of the people of 21st century. When we read the whole play then we have to conclude that the reason between the warring sides is unknown and no body is aware of the cause of the rivalry between two families.

People have to map the same scenario in the case of USA and Iraq war. USA invaded without any solid reason and USA has ended the lives of so many innocent people. And also it is the general trend that USA is totally wrong in its arguments for raising a war against Iraq. In the play it is the ambition of Juliet’s father that she must consider Paris as her life partner because Paris belongs to a superior family and he would provide her security and good future. The same emotions are also valid today in our societies that parents have to think about better future of their children.

People spend huge amount on the character building and education of their children just for the sake that their children will have to appear as prominent figures in the society. The play Romeo and Juliet is also a sort of depiction of the status of women. People in the 16th century consider the women as an inferior creature. People have to interpret the Bible in a wrong way just to assert that women are inferior creatures. Same thing is also prevailing in different societies, cultures and countries.

The same sense of considerations is also shown by the father of Juliet when Juliet shatters the regulations of the family. Her father shows the anger against the lady and says that he is worried about her and she is not paying attention to it. People or the characters in the play show their contempt for each other due to the stereotypes Capulets and Montagues.

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