Romeo + Juliet (1995)

‘Romeo & Juillet’ was a play written by the famous playwriter William Shakespeare. He wrote it in 1595 and performed it with his acting group the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Thanks to this play (and also others off course) the acting company of Shakespeare became the best-known and most popular of all Elizabethan acting companies. The Story Romeo is the only son of the Montagues and Juliet the only daughter of the Capulets. These two families live in the Italian city of Verona and there is a feud between them. Romeo is in love with Rosaline but she does not love him. His friends tell him to look for another girl but when he hears that Rosaline will be at a mask ball at the Capulats’, he decides to go there. During this ball he meets Juliet and falls in love with her. She loves him too and after the feast she goes to her room where she expresses her love for him on the balconey. Romeo, who is in the garden, overhears her and they have a long talk together. The following afternoon they are secretly married by Friar Lawrence. The next day Romeo and his friends Benvolio and Mercutio meet Juliet’s cousin Tybalt who wants to fight Romeo. Mercutio and Tybalt have a fight in which Mercutio is killed. Romeo has to revenge his friend and kills Tybalt. He is banished from Verona and goes to Mantua. Meanwhile Juliet feels sad and alone. Her parents want her to marry Count Paris. She asks advice from Friar Lawrence who gives her a potion which will make her unconscious for 42 hours. In the meantime Romeo will be informed about the situation and instructed to look her up and take her away from Verona. Unfortunately the messenger never reaches Romeo. Juliet is buried and Paris is very sad. Romeo’s servant goes to Mantua to tell that Juliet is dead. Romeo is desperate, buys some poison and goes to Juliet’s grave. Paris tries to stop him but gets killed. Romeo enters the vault, drinks the poison and dies. When Juliet wakes up and sees her dead husband she stabs herself with his sword. Then many people arrive and Friar Lawrence tells the whole story; he married the two young lovers to establish peace between the two families. After the death of the two youngsters peace is restored. Peculiar things about the play The time is which the story takes place is very short: three days. If you look at it in generally it isn’t that short, but if you think about what exactely takes place in these three days it’s rather strange. Two people who have never seen eachother before meet, kiss, fall in love and decide to get married in one night. That’s very quickly if you compare it with the engaging-marriage proces in the year 2003. There is also something smelly about the posion that friar Lawrence gives Juillet. It’s beautifully made up and it gives the play something mysterious, but if a poison like that really existed, why isn’t it known nowadays? Did the plant where it was made from extinguish or is the recipe hold secret by the English gouvernement or army? The third weird thing about the play is the punishment for killing another men. When Tybalt murdered Mercutio nothing was done by the prince, but when Romeo revenged the death of his best friend by killing Tybalt, Romeo was banned immediately. Did the prince dindn’t get any time to do something about Tybalts behaviour because Romeo beat him to it or does the prince have different punishments for the same act for both families?
Romeo & Juillet in the 20th century In this century of movies many plays of William Shakespeare have been put on film. Romeo & Juillet has been the favourite one the make a movie about. The time of the plays is different though: you have movies inwhich the story takes place in the 16th century but there is also a film in which the story is projected in the 20th century where the actors use guns in stead of swords and ride in cars in stead of on horses. (Romeo & Juillet starring Leonardo DiCaprio) The play itself is also still very well known and a favourite one if it comes down to theatreproductions or schoolplays. Many children and professional actors bring the lovestory about these two star-crossed lovers alive on stage many times a year. Najib & Jullia Since January 13th there is a programme on the Dutch television called ‘Najib & Julia’. The story is based on the classic ‘Romeo & Juillet’ story, projected to the multiculturel city The Hague in our time. It’s a story about a forbidden loveaffair between a Maroccan pizzadelivery guy and a Dutch Hockey player, but also a story about two different environments and cultures who cannot get along. From this example of Romeo & Juillet in the twentieth century you can conclude that William Shakespeare is not just an English playwright, he belongs to the world.