"A Rose By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet"

It is easy to see qualities in Shakespeare's characters that are still evident in human nature today. Do you recognize qualities from any of these characters in people you know...or even yourself? Tybalt's hot temperedness...Romeo's impulsive attraction to beauty...Mercutio's relentless attempt at humor (at anyone's expense)...Benvolio's kind and loyal nature...the list goes on. Who was your favorite character? Why? If this person were alive today, what would he or she do for a living? What would they be like?


Shakespeare’s work is eternal. Many of the lines from his plays are quoted or alluded to in other works. What are some of the famous lines you’ve heard before? How were they originally used in Romeo and Juliet? Who said them and to whom? When were they said and what do they mean? Do they still mean the same thing today?

As you blog this Friday, think about some of these questions and reflect on what you've learned. In today's blog post, write about any one or all of these questions...and, as always, partake in conversations with other bloggers and share your opinions and ideas. Happy blogging!

Verona, Italy: Home of the Famous Lovers

Thanks to all of the readers today (and all the days we read aloud) for closing out the final few pages of our play. The action moved so fast in the last act that we managed to read about three more tragic, senseless deaths - four if you count Lady Montague dying of a broken heart at Romeo's exile. Romeo's wreckless attempt to "break the yoke of inauspicious stars" (shake loose the burden of fate) highlights the effects of his impulsiveness. The whole town is left to mourn their deaths and to have "more talk of these sad things."

Whether the setting is Verona Beach or Verona, Italy, the lessons are the same for the film versions of our play. You might agree, though, that the modern setting of Verona Beach and the visual effects presented in this more modern film version create some unique dramatic effects. I encourage you to blog about visual effects and symbols you notice in the film. I am curious about what you think of the artisic techniques and what you notice about the subtle changes made in the script.

If you click on this site, you can take a virtual tour of Verona, Italy. Toward the middle of the tour you will find pictures Juliet's home and Romeo's home. I wonder if this is how you pictured it all.

We will be blogging on Friday during class. This will give us a chance to share ideas about the play and film versions, the artistic interpretation of the modern film, study guide questions, favorite characters and lines from the play, and much more. Anyone who wants to bring up related topics of discussion is free to do so.

Tomorrow we will spend the class period taking the citywide benchmark test. We've done a tremendous amount of reading and writing this semester, and this is the best preparation I can think of for a reading comprehension and writing test. Rest well tonight, finish reading the play if you have not done so, and Friday we will blog.

Did Romeo Defy the Stars?

As Act V opens, Romeo is contemplating a dream he has the night before. He dreams that Juliet sees his dead body and kisses him awake. The trouble isn't that Romeo believes in the prophecy of dreams; the problem is that he interprets his dream as a good event because he dreamed about Juliet, and this puts him in a happy state. He fools himself into thinking that he can interpret dreams correctly and just because his dream is about his love, it must be good. Poor Romeo!

Happy to see his friend and servant Balthasar, he inquires about Juliet only to hear that she is dead. He screams to the heavens, "Then I defy you stars," which means that he wants to defy fate or change destiny. Can he? Can killing himself to be by her side in the tomb actually put him with her for an eternity? As usual, he doesn't seem like he has thought this through because they could only be together physically, not spiritually according to their religious beliefs. But youth lends him energy, and his impulsive determination puts him in even higher gear to get by Juliet's side quickly.

Did you know that the plague was present in Europe at this time? The reference in scene 2 to Friar John being quarantined on his way to deliver Romeo's letter is quite believable. If he were visiting someone believed to have the plague, he could have been sealed up indefinitely. He was lucky to get out at all. But was this luck or fate again?

The graveyard scene is truly grisly. Imagine sneaking around in the middle of the night, worrying about intruders, spirits, and so forth. The audience witnesses three more deaths and learns about another. It is truly a disastrous end.

We're in Act IV, and I'm Wondering about What If's!

As I look back over this Shakespearean tragedy, I can't help but wonder about all of the "what if's" that emerge in the storyline. What if Romeo had been kicked out of the Capulet ball? What if Romeo and Juliet were discovered by their parents? What if Tybalt saw them kiss, and he told Lord Capulet? What if Romeo's friends knew that Juliet was the new love of Romeo's life? What if the Friar hadn't married them? What if Tybalt hadn't killed Mercutio? What if Juliet decided to run away with Romeo to Mantua as he left her house in the early morning hours? What if...what if...what if!

As the calamity of errors builds in Act IV, it seems like whatever can go wrong does. As Juliet sits alone in her bed chamber (before she drinks the potion), she ponders all of the things that could go wrong. What if the potion doesn't work, and she has to marry Paris in the morning? What if she wakes up alone in the tomb before the Friar and Romeo come to rescue her? What if the spirit of Tybalt haunts her there in the vault? What if she loses her mind while waiting alone in the vault and dashes out her brains with the bones of an ancestor? Not very pleasant thoughts, but she drinks the potion anyway...

Do you ever ponder life with what if's? It certainly seems as if Shakespeare is inviting his audience to ask these questions and to agonize over the impulsiveness of youth. They (the young Romeo and Juliet) simply don't seem to anticipate the what if's (consequences) and their youth and impulsive love seem to drive this sad, disastrous drama. But then again...the Prologue tells us that it is fated that the two young lovers die in order to end the feud.