Even though it's not a direct adaptation, I'd highly recommend West Side Story, both the film and the musical. The songs and the dances are so beautiful!
I enjoyed studying Romeo and Juliet so much last year at school, we were comparing the theme of love in it with Much Ado About Nothing. I made the comparison that as R+J was written earlier than MAAN you could see the development in women - seen through Juliet and Beatrice; so the idea that the feud was irrelevant and their failed relationship was due to male bravado links really nicely to this! Whereas in MAAN Benedick is much more willing to banter with Beatrice and associate himself with a woman who didn't fit into the social norms. My favourite adaptation was the one Kenneth Branagh put on at the Garrick, me and a friend watched it at the cinema when it was streamed nationwide and the balcony scene was so funny, which we totally didn't expect!
I'm so glad this video is up! I truly enjoyed hearing what you have to say, it was very clear and you covered more than one view over different aspects. I always thought that people tend to forget Romeo and Juliet's age as much as they point it out. The lover's actions can be seen as immature, but some of us see the romantic side because we invest our emotions in their story and let it blind any rational thoughts. It's almost like we regress to our own innocence in a immature way. I also think that it ends badly because they were raised to know that such relationship was wrong. They knew that their affair wouldn't be accepted. It's like when parents are very strict with their children to the point that they wouldn't trust them as they already expect something terrible to happen if they do something wrong, even if that something couldn't be avoided. Am I making any sense? I'm not sure if I'm succeeding in explaining what I think haha I'm looking forward to the next video! Oh, and my favourite adaptation is the one form 1968! Xx
Yeah they’re age and immaturity are definitely the lens that we are intended to see the characters through. The whole Rosaline side plot makes it apparent how over emotional Romeo is, especially since every other character who is with Romeo at the time calls him out on it. Mercutio, Benvolio, and Friar Lawrence all explicitly call Romeo out on it. Even Juliet asks him to be less poetic and more practical and comes across as more grounded and mature than Romeo
I am not sure about my favourite adaptation, but without a doubt the worst one by lightning years was The Globe production of 2017. I left at the interval. Great video by the way :)
Subscribed! As a big fan of Romeo and Juliet, I really enjoyed this video! You have a very clear, concise way of explaining things... My favourite adaption is the Zafarelli one...
I never really liked Romeo and Juliet (maybe because the story is literally everywhere) but your interpretation was interesting. I never looked at the story in your point of view. Now it makes more sense to me and it doesn't seem so 'kitsch', so thank you :)
The only justifiable film version of Romeo and Juliet is the Zeffirelli film. The Lurhmann, Julian Fellows version even the Lawrence Olivier film do not measure up. I would recommend reading Roger Ebert's Great Movies review online of Zeffirelli film. It's wonderfully insightful like much of his writing. Romeo and Juliet must be taken in as it was intended by seeing it rather then reading, because it does read messily. Keep up the great work. You are always doing great things on your channel.
The feminist in me loves the the reading that masculinity is the reason that Romeo and Juliet ends so tragically, never thought of it like that before!
This was a really great video! Lots of interesting things to think about. I especially loved the discussion of whether the feud was actually responsible for Romeo's and Juliet's deaths. I actually really love reading Romeo and Juliet because there is so much beautiful poetry and (whether or not it is true) the ending feels so inevitable. Before I read the play for the first time, I thought I would hate it because I don't like sad endings, but everything about it was just so right that I couldn't help accepting the ending as the natural outcome of everyone's choices. This is the same reason I don't like West Side Story. Something about the ending reads as artificial to me.
I am personally not a fan of Romeo and Juliet - I guess because you're always sort of told to like it but I've only ever seen mediocre productions (including the Ken Branagh one sadly)... But I really liked your exploration of the possibilities looking at the play! BTW once I heard this American scholar's theory that based on some small remark, he thinks Paris was meant to be about 9-10 years old, which I found fascinating and that would make the play more interesting for me actually :-)
+Plays and Parasols wow that's so interesting! Especially when you consider that Paris goes to Juliet's tomb to kill himself. I'd love to see it interpreted that way on stage! Xx
Great analysis!! I've always loved Shakespeare whether reading or watching a play. Are you going to include King Lear in this series? That is another favorite of mine. Thanks!!
Thank you for the video! I liked that you pointed out the historical context - like England being protestant and the priest - catholic Do you mind making Macbeth next?
But, the play was set in Italy so all the characters were Catholics including the priest and the title characters so because of that it's perfectly sound that they were married by a catholic priest! Further more I don't think that it was particularly safe for people to publicly declare as protestant at that time in Italy
I love this story. Maybe the environment of the story is unstelling, but that's what makes it a tragedy! I like the baz luhrman version, and the most recent one with Hailee Steinfeld. And for a modern adaption West Side Story!
Thank you for this séries. I tried to read it a few years ago but didn't enjoy it. I also read in portuguese abd we all know what translations can make to classic works. I will try to read it again in english and see if I enjoy it more now (specially with all your explanations)
I'm not sure if Romeo and Juliet are childish. Back in those days, 13 was pretty much adult, no? Romeo+Juliet, the Luhrmann version is my favourite for sure! 😊
Girls were married off earlier and people died younger, but I don't think it's fair to say that a 13 year old had the maturity of an adult. If you look at how they're behaving, deciding to marry/die for someone you've just met is pretty extreme, but I suppose it's more immaturity than actually childish? Like when you have your first love as a teenager it can be so intense, but that doesn't mean it's as deep as a relationship you may have as an adult :)
I haven't read the play but I've seen it performed on stage once in Swedish (and I've seen the Baz Luhrmann movie). From what I can remember this "love story" is about two underage teenagers that fall in love and in less than a week there's half a dozen dead people. Maybe the moral of the story is to not let young people fall in love because bad things will happen... :p
Even though it's not a direct adaptation, I'd highly recommend West Side Story, both the film and the musical. The songs and the dances are so beautiful!
Yes! I love West Side Story :)
I enjoyed studying Romeo and Juliet so much last year at school, we were comparing the theme of love in it with Much Ado About Nothing. I made the comparison that as R+J was written earlier than MAAN you could see the development in women - seen through Juliet and Beatrice; so the idea that the feud was irrelevant and their failed relationship was due to male bravado links really nicely to this! Whereas in MAAN Benedick is much more willing to banter with Beatrice and associate himself with a woman who didn't fit into the social norms. My favourite adaptation was the one Kenneth Branagh put on at the Garrick, me and a friend watched it at the cinema when it was streamed nationwide and the balcony scene was so funny, which we totally didn't expect!
I'm so glad this video is up! I truly enjoyed hearing what you have to say, it was very clear and you covered more than one view over different aspects.
I always thought that people tend to forget Romeo and Juliet's age as much as they point it out. The lover's actions can be seen as immature, but some of us see the romantic side because we invest our emotions in their story and let it blind any rational thoughts. It's almost like we regress to our own innocence in a immature way.
I also think that it ends badly because they were raised to know that such relationship was wrong. They knew that their affair wouldn't be accepted. It's like when parents are very strict with their children to the point that they wouldn't trust them as they already expect something terrible to happen if they do something wrong, even if that something couldn't be avoided. Am I making any sense? I'm not sure if I'm succeeding in explaining what I think haha
I'm looking forward to the next video! Oh, and my favourite adaptation is the one form 1968! Xx
Yeah they’re age and immaturity are definitely the lens that we are intended to see the characters through. The whole Rosaline side plot makes it apparent how over emotional Romeo is, especially since every other character who is with Romeo at the time calls him out on it. Mercutio, Benvolio, and Friar Lawrence all explicitly call Romeo out on it. Even Juliet asks him to be less poetic and more practical and comes across as more grounded and mature than Romeo
so many interesting points you've raised! will make sure to check out your other videos once I've read more of Shakespeare's plays :)
I am not sure about my favourite adaptation, but without a doubt the worst one by lightning years was The Globe production of 2017. I left at the interval.
Great video by the way :)
Subscribed! As a big fan of Romeo and Juliet, I really enjoyed this video! You have a very clear, concise way of explaining things... My favourite adaption is the Zafarelli one...
I never really liked Romeo and Juliet (maybe because the story is literally everywhere) but your interpretation was interesting. I never looked at the story in your point of view. Now it makes more sense to me and it doesn't seem so 'kitsch', so thank you :)
Great video! We all know the story even if we haven't read the book, but I love the break down of it all and taking a closer look! Well done 👍🏼
The only justifiable film version of Romeo and Juliet is the Zeffirelli film. The Lurhmann, Julian Fellows version even the Lawrence Olivier film do not measure up. I would recommend reading Roger Ebert's Great Movies review online of Zeffirelli film. It's wonderfully insightful like much of his writing. Romeo and Juliet must be taken in as it was intended by seeing it rather then reading, because it does read messily. Keep up the great work. You are always doing great things on your channel.
Thanks for these videos. I'll be coming back to watch and hope to have a suggestion soon for the next Shakespeare read.
The feminist in me loves the the reading that masculinity is the reason that Romeo and Juliet ends so tragically, never thought of it like that before!
Great video Lauren, speaking of the Baz Luhrman version I’m really looking forward to the Secret Cinema showing in August! :-)
This was a really great video! Lots of interesting things to think about. I especially loved the discussion of whether the feud was actually responsible for Romeo's and Juliet's deaths.
I actually really love reading Romeo and Juliet because there is so much beautiful poetry and (whether or not it is true) the ending feels so inevitable. Before I read the play for the first time, I thought I would hate it because I don't like sad endings, but everything about it was just so right that I couldn't help accepting the ending as the natural outcome of everyone's choices. This is the same reason I don't like West Side Story. Something about the ending reads as artificial to me.
I am personally not a fan of Romeo and Juliet - I guess because you're always sort of told to like it but I've only ever seen mediocre productions (including the Ken Branagh one sadly)... But I really liked your exploration of the possibilities looking at the play!
BTW once I heard this American scholar's theory that based on some small remark, he thinks Paris was meant to be about 9-10 years old, which I found fascinating and that would make the play more interesting for me actually :-)
+Plays and Parasols wow that's so interesting! Especially when you consider that Paris goes to Juliet's tomb to kill himself. I'd love to see it interpreted that way on stage! Xx
Great analysis!! I've always loved Shakespeare whether reading or watching a play. Are you going to include King Lear in this series? That is another favorite of mine. Thanks!!
Thank you for the video! I liked that you pointed out the historical context - like England being protestant and the priest - catholic
Do you mind making Macbeth next?
+grethen123 Macbeth and Much Ado are the top of my list for the new year! :)
But, the play was set in Italy so all the characters were Catholics including the priest and the title characters so because of that it's perfectly sound that they were married by a catholic priest! Further more I don't think that it was particularly safe for people to publicly declare as protestant at that time in Italy
I love this story. Maybe the environment of the story is unstelling, but that's what makes it a tragedy! I like the baz luhrman version, and the most recent one with Hailee Steinfeld. And for a modern adaption West Side Story!
Almost every character acts impetuously or foolishly. I also love West Side Story. Next time you could try As You Like It, or Twelfth Night!
How about Tristan and Izolde? I have read somewhere that it was the main inspiration for ROMEO + JULIET
10:30 on, bingo!
Thank you for this séries. I tried to read it a few years ago but didn't enjoy it. I also read in portuguese abd we all know what translations can make to classic works. I will try to read it again in english and see if I enjoy it more now (specially with all your explanations)
I'm not sure if Romeo and Juliet are childish. Back in those days, 13 was pretty much adult, no? Romeo+Juliet, the Luhrmann version is my favourite for sure! 😊
Girls were married off earlier and people died younger, but I don't think it's fair to say that a 13 year old had the maturity of an adult. If you look at how they're behaving, deciding to marry/die for someone you've just met is pretty extreme, but I suppose it's more immaturity than actually childish? Like when you have your first love as a teenager it can be so intense, but that doesn't mean it's as deep as a relationship you may have as an adult :)
True 😊
I haven't read the play but I've seen it performed on stage once in Swedish (and I've seen the Baz Luhrmann movie).
From what I can remember this "love story" is about two underage teenagers that fall in love and in less than a week there's half a dozen dead people.
Maybe the moral of the story is to not let young people fall in love because bad things will happen... :p
Did you say you hadn't read this play before? If so did you research this or are these just your personal thoughts? :)
+Laura Nicholson no, I had read the play before and then re-read it for this video :) this is a mixture of research and personal views xx
Sorry l droped my l, top u a hope that u love this subject ,thank u