Star Crossed Lovers In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

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The idea of star crossed lovers have been present in literature frequently, but do you know where this theme originated? William Shakespeare brought the idea of star crossed lovers to literature in the late 1500’s with his tragic play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. His unique story amazed many and started a revolution that resulted in similar storylines ever since. One copy of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Iis Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 movie called William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet. Both stories are great examples of the star crossed lovers theme, but the approaches are very different. Luhrmann’s modern twist on Shakespeare’s original story gives the audience a new perspective and shows that Romeo and Juliet’s story is still a good topic …show more content…

Both adaptations of the character are very similar and diverse because of the time difference and Luhrmann’s ideas on Mercutio’s personality. Luhrmann’s ideas on Mercutio brought many similarities between the play and the film because Mercutio is a likable character in both pieces of literature. One similarity that was present was the fact that Mercutio and the Prince are related. The Prince and Mercutio are both neither a Montague or a Capulet, so the two were always neutral during the feud. Baz Luhrmann also showed that the two characters were related by hiring similar looking actors. Another similarity used was Mercutio’s upbeat personality. In both pieces of literature Mercutio was shown as the joking best friend of Romeo and Benvolio. For example Mercutio said, “O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.” (I.iv.53) In this scene Mercutio is talking to Romeo about dreams and how dreams lie to you. As Romeo is arguing with Mercutio, he creatively said a monologue about Queen Mab as a joke. Luhrmann stuck with Mercutio’s personality perfectly by adding some extra actions to accommodate his joking lines. In addition you never see Mercutio learning about Juliet in both stories. Mercutio would use Romeo’s first love, Rosaline, to attempt to find Romeo because he kept running off. If Mercutio had …show more content…

Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet is an effective version of the play but not memorable. Luhrmann was able to expand on Shakespeare’s story by having it take place in the 1990’s. His film gave people a new perspective on the famous story and made the dialect easier to understand by adding actions. Luhrmann was able to find a balance of similarities and differences for his film from the same double suicide scene to the braver Mercutio. So why is the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet so famous? As Friar said during the wedding, “These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die, like fire and powder.” (II.vi.9-10) Shakespeare was willing to introduce a pair of star crossed lovers and simply kill them in the end. Romeo and Juliet’s complex story shows multiple problems and the characters attempting to fix them with tragic solutions, which are still common problems today. Shakespeare’s unique style of writing makes his work still relatable to many. Despite the well-rendered visuals presented by Baz Luhrmann, it was clear to me that the love, pain, and joy of this tragedy is best communicated through the written words of William

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