Since its first performances around 1596 and its earliest
editions (1597, 1599), "Romeo and Juliet" has remained one of
Shakespeare's most popular plays. The reasons are not far to seek,
as the play centers on a subject of perennial interest: romantic
love. A mixed genre, the play begins as a comedy and ends as a
tragedy. Romeo and Juliet are among Shakespeare's most memorable
characters, for he has endowed them with some of his greatest lyric
poetry. Students and scholars continue to debate whether the death
of the two lovers is a tragedy of fate, or whether Romeo and Juliet
are responsible for what happens to them, like so many of
Shakespeare's later protagonists. The lovers do all they can to
escape the violence in Verona, and Friar Lawrence hopes that their
marriage will end the feud between their families. But events prove
beyond their means of control, and rather than submit to Verona's
traditions of hatred and violence, Romeo and Juliet choose to end
their lives. Ironically, their deaths bring the Capulets and
Montagues to recognize their children's sacrifice and finally make
peace.
Taught at the high school level and studied extensively by
Shakespeareans, "Romeo and Juliet" has attracted an enormous amount
of both popular and scholarly interest. This reference book
examines every aspect of Shakespeare's creation: the transformation
of the story from its sources, the use of the arts of language in
both prose and verse, the dramatic structure and its significance,
and the most significant themes and their development. In addition,
a chapter on the textual history of "Romeo and Juliet" reviews past
and current theories, and a chapter on performances from
Shakespeare's time to ours analyzes important productions both on
stage and on film. Psychoanalytical, feminist, and gender criticism
are also considered as alternative critical approaches along with
myth and archetypal criticism. Finally, the volume contains a
current selected, annotated bibliography. Thus the book is the
fullest and most comprehensive account of "Romeo and Juliet" to
appear in years and is of value both to students approaching the
play for the first time and to scholars seeking a lucid synthesis
of recent information.
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