Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare - So You Haven't Read

So you haven't read Romeo and Juliet? William Shakespeare's classic tale of two teens looking for romance only to find a feuding family, several misunderstandings, many murders, and wait... Maybe Romeo and Juliet is NOT a Love Story but a story about the cost of hatred? Let's find out today!
Support our channel by watching this video ad-free on Nebula: nebula.tv/vide...
--- Interested in reading it for yourself? Check it out at your local library! ---
Buy Local: www.indiebound...
Amazon: amzn.to/30wO3ew
Audible: amzn.to/3qHeJUE
--- Thanks for participating in this week's discussion! ---
We want you to be aware of our community posting guidelines so that we can have high-quality conversations: www.extracredi...
--- Want to support the people who make this show? ---
Become a Patreon Member & Vote on future Extra History episodes! bit.ly/EHPatreon
Or show off your fandom with our merch! extracredits.st...
--- Want more Extra Credits? Subscribe and follow us on social media! ---
Twitter: bit.ly/ECTweet
Facebook: bit.ly/ECFBPage
Instagram: bit.ly/ECisonIn...
Twitch: bit.ly/ECtwitch
Website: extracredits.site/
--- Interested in sponsoring an episode? Email us: [e-mail] ---
♪ Intro music: "Coffee Beans" by Mike Wuerth
♪ Outro music: "So You Haven't Read Theme" by Tiffany Roman
#SoYouHaventRead #Humor #RomeoandJuliet

[@extrahistory]

Thanks again to Bright Cellars for sponsoring this video! Click here www.brightcellars.com/extracredits/ to get 50% off your first 6 bottle box!

[@Mar1aHass4n]

But I dont wannna

[@Mar1aHass4n]

Do we have to?

[@Mar1aHass4n]

I dont feel like it

[@IcecreamMcGuy]

@@Mar1aHass4n we don’t have to

[@colinweingart528]

Can you read terry Pratchett or hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy next?

[@koalasandwich567]

Saw this posted somewhere but I think it suits putting it here, "Comparing your love life to Romeo and Juliet is like using Hamlet to compare how functional your family life is."

[@PramkLuna]

100% true. I always felt Romeo and Juliet was more about revenge and forgiveness more than the love sub plot. Shakespeare even opens with the capulets and Montagues fighting and has the plot center around the conflict between the two families.

[@robertjarman3703]

Or your prowess at prophecy based on MacBeth.

[@ragantate3995]

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[@ka.varshini9282]

😂

[@BlakedaBull]

Haven’t watched yet but youthful hubris seems front and center friar and nursemaid foils the youths

[@MrPooleish]

It's really important to note that up until Mercutio's death; the show looks, feels, and acts like a romcom. And Mercutio is the comic relief character. Try to imagine Dionne getting murdered 40 minutes into Clueless.

[@karry299]

I'll try to imagine that, but what is Clueless and who is Dionne ?

[@deelightfullp]

@@karry299 same her, I'm just lingering for the anwser

[@MorgenPeschke]

@@karry299 it's a very, very, 90s movie lead by Alicia Silverstone

[@Cyssane]

Kind of the wrong literary example though -- Clueless is a modern retelling of Jane Austin's Emma. ;)

[@gabrielleporter553]

@@karry299 gasp… go and watch the movie right now. Clueless is a 90s classic

[@TiffanyHallmark]

I love that Shakespeare throws shade at his rival theater troupe during this play. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." is a jab at the Rose Theatre which, according to some sources, had some sewage troubles.

[@petertrudelljr]

Yes! Definitely why you should get with an annotated version that helps describe the references and subtleties of the language. Billy the Bard was pretty damned good at his job, keeping both the upper and lower crusts happy and coming back for more.

[@samwilson7044]

yeah this stuff is full of references and puns in it's og context and pronunciation

[@neilc.8368]

Juliet: “How convenient you have a potion that can make a person look dead. Explain?” Friar: “Tax Evasion.” *makes yoshi noises*

[@francisman60]

Makes sense.

[@AcediaRex]

He's a friar, so I don't think he'd have to pay taxes. There are worse reasons why someone would fake their own death.

[@arvinbuenaagua5161]

i asked bill cosby the same thing

[@griffindenomme706]

ya he spent a year dead for tax resions

[@problems3485]

Honestly I always thought that hinted to the friar doing this before perhaps himself

[@sadlobster1]

From what I remember, both families seemed to copy each others lifestyles and they HATED that; which makes the whole feud even dumber than one realizes

[@Revenante_of_Asylum]

"One if Us is Going to have to Change, by Shakespeare"

[@ecurewitz]

but on the other hand, the feud also ends at the end of the play, whichis what is was about all along

[@89Crono]

One of the things that not often brought up about Romeo and Juliet is that they barely know each other and rush into a very quick very intense romance. It's puppy love, maybe it would have survived, maybe it would have crashed and burned. But because their families hatred pushed them apart, it forced them to take more and more extreme measures to stay together. That's the tragedy, not only are they dead, but the y never got to figure out themselves if what they have is love.

[@Tolstoy111]

They just have two scenes alone together.

[@davidsuda6110]

I assume it's intense physical attraction. That and youth. Not much to build a marriage on but I assume marriage was different back them. You spent as much time in your social circles as you did your partners.

[@garlicgirl3149]

Sounds like most Hollywood movies.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

True that's the real tragedy.

[@superspider64]

It's a cautionary tale of why cellphones are great

[@jlshel42]

Cellphones also would have solved so many romcom and sitcom mixup situations.

[@JohnDoe-rl9ft]

And stopped most horror movies dead. If someone had just called the police 10 minutes in.

[@yitzhakkornbluth2554]

Or, at the very least, of why you don't make plans that have a single point of failure-in-a-way-that-wrecks-everything.

[@MovieFan1912]

@@jlshel42 But then it wouldn’t be entertaining.

[@AcediaRex]

Imagine reading it as a news headline: "13-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy commit double suicide. Boy suspected in death of girl's cousin. Police suspect gang affiliations." You wouldn't think: "How romantic."

[@keraatkins7833]

Yeah that’s the modern take on this story

[@callofthebeastlands5318]

People have romanticized Bonnie and Clide, dont be so sure there. What about joker and Harley?? Healthy relationships are not idolized like the messed up ones.

[@Eyllena]

Romeo + Juliet in a nutshell.

[@joshuaclark6467]

That’s why you don’t base your opinion on ppl you don’t know and their lives by news headlines.

[@WillKrause21]

Okay, time to make a bunch of "Shakespear as News Headlines": "Dictator is killed by senators, conspirators take own lives after lost battle!" "A bunch of kids got really high in the woods and are now getting double married" "Everyone in Denmark is dead"

[@glwgameplayer1716]

I've never understood why Romeo and Juliet has been considered a love story. It's about two teens "falling in love" over the course of a night, possibly just because Romeo is the kind of person who falls deeply in love for a week and then ditches them for someone else and then gets caught up in the family drama that gets them killed. The most functional member of the play is actually probably Paris. He follows what was considered proper courtship at the time, he doesn't even fight anyone until Romeo tries to break into Juliet's tomb (understandable because due to the feud and Romeo killing Tybalt he was under the impression he was there to break shit and cause chaos.) and he seems to actually care about Juliet's wellbeing. For better or worse Romeo puts Juliet on the spot with a hidden marriage and then gets banished for killing a member of her family while Juliet concocts a convoluted plan to go along with her boy toy even though it means leaving her family behind to someone she's known for Two Days at the most. Honestly, the play can be considered a deconstruction of rash impulsive decisions, and how needless feuds lead to pointless deaths

[@rav3style]

Also: dont marry for love if you are a patrician

[@Nerdnumberone]

Don't forget about Rosaline, the woman he was pining after the day before meeting Juliet. Rosaline, who Romeo could not live without, until he met Juliet and forgot all about her.

[@UrpleSquirrel]

I mean, whether or not Romeo and Juliet are *actually* in love, in lust, or just in infatuation is sort of beside the point. Because their families are basically at war with each other, they can't go through normal courtship, they can't go to any of the adult authority figures in their lives for help, and the decisions they make without any real guidance are, as you'd expect from teenagers, desperate and foolish.

[@rav3style]

@@UrpleSquirrel back then the concept of romantic love had nothing to do with marriage, and in fact Romeo kinda indicates he wants Juliet as a lover not a wife. In fact, in Britain love marriage wasn’t common until the late 19th century. Stephanie Coontz, 2016, ‘The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love’

[@BNRmatt]

My favorite teacher taught me one of the central themes of the play is "slow down." Everyone makes hasty decisions and snap judgments and get them all wrong

[@BrewerM23]

Gonna just say that "Monte-Brew & Capulatte's" is a genius name for a coffee shop.

[@extrahistory]

It's been one of our favorites as well. 😆

[@IcecreamMcGuy]

How did you see this early

[@subira8518]

@@IcecreamMcGuy Patreons get sneak peaks

[@IcecreamMcGuy]

@@subira8518 oh

[@ikebeckman1074]

Or cappulets

[@IcecreamMcGuy]

“What do you mean why!? Reasons that’s why!!!” That cracked me up

[@UrpleSquirrel]

One of the things that always makes me mad is that even the adults who are on Romeo and Juliet's side, who know they're in love, don't actually help them. Because Friar Lawrence was afraid of the consequences of telling one of the most powerful families in the city that he'd gone against their wishes, he concocts an elaborate fake death scheme instead of just saying "no can do, she's already married."

[@DieNibelungenliad]

Well for one, those adults probably dont want to be killed...

[@RobotShield]

@@DieNibelungenliad according to this episode though, the Friar’s reasons for marrying them was the build a bridge between the two houses. Surely if that were true you’d take the opportunity to announce the marriage.

[@natkatmac]

@@RobotShield That is according to this episode. There's a reason they open this series saying that there's multiple ways of reading the same passage.

[@seanmcloughlin5983]

I think it kinda adds to the tragedy and pointlessness of the feud that it’s never even said why their mortal enemies, no one asks, and no one besides the 2 seem to care, it’s just the way things are, and best not interfere with your families tradition of long-standing blood feud, even if the reason for it has been lost to time.

[@Crocogator]

God I loved that movie too. That they still called their guns 'swords' so so camp.

[@RexZShadow]

That movie was great, I watch the old movie then the new one one after the other in English class in highschool.

[@Psmeijers]

I watched that movie tripping on painkillers when my wisdom tooth were removed. 10/10 experience

[@curiodyssey3867]

@@Psmeijers everything's good on opiates unfortunately

[@snrken]

@@curiodyssey3867 why is that unfortunate lol

[@aaronsirkman8375]

@@snrken Because they're highly addictive, ruin lives and kill people, probably.

[@dynawesome]

Romeo and Juliet is a mob drama

[@SpoopySquid]

"You could move more tickets if the plays were based." - Extra Credits

[@Googledeservestodie]

-stabs Caesar -refuses to elaborate -leaves Rome

[@VodShod]

@@Googledeservestodie what was he stabbed for?

[@SidewaysSeam]

@@VodShod for saying "SVGMA NVTS" in the Senate

[@Googledeservestodie]

@@VodShod screenshotting Brutus's NFT

[@Jaxck77]

That’s literally the origin of West Side Story

[@ktttttt]

With the romance and all, I always felt that most of the characters in the play were really selfish, from the Montagues and the Capulets with their fights about nothing, to Romeo and Juliet willing to give up everything and abandon their families for someone they barely knew, the whole play feels just like a lesson on selfishness to me sometimes

[@kaylathehedgehog2005]

We studied this play back when I was in ninth grade (I think?), and I remember either my teacher or my textbook positing the theory that the reason for the Montague-Capulet feud not being given was to prevent the audience from siding with one family over the other.

[@intergalactic92]

Which is interesting because Tybalt is such a jackass throughout, and Juliet's parents are the ones forcing their daughter to marry, while most Montagues you see seem pretty chill, that I subconsciously always sided with the Montagues anyway.

[@rmsgrey]

If you listen to the prologue, it's laid out there: "the perilous passage of their death marked love, and the continuance of their parents' rage, which, but their children's deaths, naught could remove, is now the two hours' traffic of our stage." It's a story about both the children's love (which appears to have been truer, at least, than Romeo's previous crush) and the family feud that turned it to tragedy.

[@reverance_pavane]

Until the modern era, and the rise of romantic love as a concept, Cupid's arrow was always considered a curse.

[@GhostBear3067]

Of course it does not help that the motherf***er is trick shooting blind folded...

[@Runningtail]

Romeo and Juliet more accurately represents the unhealthy obsession in a relationship based on lust. Shakespeare himself might say that what lead to their deaths is they loved each other more than they loved God, but we could transpose that to a more modern interpretation like a toxic relationship. Whose to say if they had any children? Would they continue to obsess over each other more than they care for their own children? There's an AU fanfiction for ya

[@Amanecer458]

Emm no, what they killed was the dumb vigotry their families had. Is even spelled

[@TerenceClark]

Yeah, I'm with the narrator. I never really saw R&J as a romance. It always seemed to be a condemnation of petty aristocratic squabbles.

[@user-qj1bt1uv2n]

Are the two mutually exclusive?

[@byzantineboi8345]

The only decent characters are Mercutio and Benvolio

[@officialxverzusz]

Personally I liked Tybalt's character As he seemed like the character that represents the hardline branch of Capulets In Act I scene V Tybalt reports to Lord Capulet that Romeo snuck in, and wants to kill Romeo Lord Capulet however, tells Tybalt to leave him alone, and expresses how he respects him So throughout the play, it's not that the Capulet family hates Romeo and doesn't allow Juliet to be married to him It's Tybalt's followers against Romeo

[@byzantineboi8345]

@@officialxverzusz to be fair I’ll acknowledge he is a decent written character However is actions are bad. the worst character in my opinion is Romeo

[@Tolstoy111]

Juliet is a remarkable character. Her maturity depicted etc

[@jy3n2]

The play: Stupid kids die in stupid ways for stupid reasons that ultimately come down to everyone in Verona being stupid. Readers: "Aww, how romantic!"

[@Amanecer458]

Stupid reasons? They were the victims of an stupid conflict existed before they born

[@therealopaartist]

My interpretation of the story as a teen was “don’t run off with someone you just met, then kill your self over them.” And that observation got me sent to the guidance counselor.

[@medisch]

Bright cellars should definitely sponsor an episode featuring The Cask of Amontillado

[@brianhykes2862]

Sliding in here to explain Tybalt's name and why he's called "The prince of cats" in the play. Tybalt is the name commonly given to the cat character in the Tales of Reynard the Fox, which is the set of storues that established a lot of common animal tropes including the fox as a trickster, the wolf as his enemy (Named "Eisengrim" in the story) the Lion as King, and much more. So many stories from The Fantastic Mister Fox to Disney's interpretation of Robin Hood can trace their origins back to Reynard.

[@pjlusk7774]

One other fun thing about Romeo and Juliet is that it also works as a deconstruction of the stock characters in commedia dell'arte. They are what happens if you take the star-crossed inamorati and let it play out naturally.

[@pjlusk7774]

It’s all fun and games until your arlechino gets got.

[@alexkempes1919]

What do you mean with "reasons"??? I thought the Capulets and Montescos hated each other for being respectively Guelphs and Ghibelins. Being on oppsing sides of a decades long war seems a pretty understandable reason, however futile and dramatic its consequences.

[@mrredeyes7021]

Why are changing the races for a story based in Italy

[@enderman_666]

haven't been subscribed to Extra Credits for long?

[@mrredeyes7021]

@@enderman_666 I’ve been subscribed since the Punic fucking wars

[@kmaher1424]

Why not? We haven't been producing Shakespeare "accurately" since women were allowed on stage

[@kmaher1424]

@@nannerr Based on what? Or do you mean Biased? Why? Are you one of the traditjonalists demanding all Shakespeare parts be played by whites? And every female role played by a pretty boy?

[@SCP--fj2jr]

"Romeo and Juliet is NOT a love story." *My whole life has been a lie...*

[@mikotagayuna8494]

The Montagues and Capulets were at war because they were on opposite sides of the rivalry between the Pope-supporting Guelphs and the Holy Roman Emperor-supporting Ghibellines. The story also has a lot to say about how politics affects societal relationships and the extent of religion's influence over earthly matters.

[@officialxverzusz]

10th grader here! Loved our topic around William Shakespeare's works in school And loved doing research and work around the play, and comparing different adaptations

[@johnpotts8308]

Whenever I hear a romance described as "like Romeo & Juliet", I always want to reply, "You mean, two teenagers start an affair behind their parents backs and when it's discovered they both kill themselves?"

[@IslanKleinknecht]

I'm surprised you didn't detail how all three families (Capulets, Montagues, and the Prince's family) each suffer 2 deaths (Lady Montague randomly dying of sorrow off stage), and the story ends with the two Lords putting aside their feud.

[@larson0014]

1 Star, I dont see any golden diamond encrusted 1911 handguns in this video

[@extrahistory]

Our mistake!

[@jacksonevans5679]

I had to read this play in 9th grade. My class acted it out. We also had time to basically do fencing on the side with plastic swords. I won every duel we had.

[@DragoniteSpam]

"a masked ball" hits a bit different now

[@kennanallen8168]

I just finished Curse of Strahd a month and a half ago and BOOM. There he is. He haunts me.

[@Chameleonred5]

It's not about love. It's about two teenagers in "love," who make stupid decisions because of it. Taken as a cautionary tale, one might learn that you shouldn't let "love" or even love make all your decisions for you. After all, had Romeo decided to live on for his own sake, and keep Juliet in remembrance... the story would have a happy ending.

[@florian8599]

"After all, had Romeo decided to live on for his own sake, and keep Juliet in remembrance... the story would have a happy ending." More like a bitter-sweet ending. On the other end: Didn't the double-death of Romeo and Juliet put things into perspective for the Montagues and the Capulets, and their shared mourning reconcile the two feuding families?

[@Chameleonred5]

@@florian8599 ...Point. Let's go with "happier ending." As for reconciliation? Yes. But nothing ever said that stories must only have one moral.

[@ICountFrom0]

Best english teacher I ever had, got us down on STAGE to do R&J. We really got to feel things. And yhaknow, "I do not bite my thumb at you good sir, but I DO bite my thumb" actually entered into our slang in school for a while.

[@papapok13]

'...have been at war for years. What do you mean why? Reasons that's why!' Uhm, cause they were guelph and ghibelline factions? Not so hard to understand. Maybe an Investiture conflict extra history serries is due? Btw I never understood how this three day long, deadly fling of two teenage kids came to represent ideal love for our society. That's like comming away from Hamlet like, "yeah, overcomplicated revenge ploys are totally the way to treat family issues!"

[@templeofthehut]

One point I think gets overlooked is that they fell in love and got married insanely quickly. They disregarded their family duties for someone they just met. I’m trying not to put too much modern interpretation on it but I think the original tragedy was them succumbing to lust

[@markadams7046]

West Side Story is a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet only instead of rival families you have rival street gangs.

[@MovieFan1912]

Which was recently adapted by the director of Schindler’s List.

[@johnreddick7650]

@1:36 The "reasons," according to Shakespeare's sources, were that the Capulets (Cappelletti, Capelletti, Capelleti, etc.) were Guelphs and supported the power of the Papacy and the Italian communes, while the Montagues (Montecchi, Montìcoli, etc.) were Ghibellines and supported the power of the Holy Roman Emperor and the great nobles who owed their positions to him. Dante mentions the two families in Book 6 of his "Purgatory." Prince Escalus represents the original story's Bartolomeo della Scala (or Scaliger), ruler of Verona from 1301-1304.

[@MovieFan1912]

It’s good to know that someone here knows about the split between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in Renaissance Italy.

[@NioFiota]

I hate I was taught in my high school years that this was a 'love story'. No, it wasn't.

[@Tolstoy111]

It's a tragic love story.

[@austinb5084]

The Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is a cinematic masterpiece. You don’t have to apologize for anything

[@Apharmed]

Same

[@orenashkenazi9813]

Folks, please, it is both a love story and also other things. A story can be more than one thing! I get that declaring "x well known work isn't a love story" is a popular fad right now, and you gotta get people to click on videos somehow, but this idea is actually making it harder to do my job of teaching new authors harder. I'm getting authors who are genuinely confused about what a love story is because they read some hot twitter take about Pride and Prejudice not being one. I really hope we move past this phase soon.

[@cster9261]

Why are many of the characters so dark skinned?

[@ahm6006]

For the same reason Juliet has very modern looking glasses.

[@cster9261]

@@ahm6006 Oh I remember he’s trying to put that random person in their shoes that he’s meeting at the coffee shop🤦‍♂️

[@ahm6006]

@@cster9261 Yup

[@JohnnyEscopeta]

It’s like Netflix. Putting minorities everywhere

[@kmaher1424]

@@JohnnyEscopeta Why leave out minorities when there are so many of them?

[@voodoolilium]

I like the Leonardo DiCaprio movie version the best :D

[@officialxverzusz]

Personally I love the French play adaptation

[@rc59191]

That one is definitely underrated even as a kid I loved watching it. Was something special about it that stuck with me over the years.

[@siyacer]

Same

[@mavericktitan7874]

For me, the craziest part is how the entire story spans exactly 'ONE WEEK'. They literally die in each other's arms a mere SEVEN DAYS after they meet! They say they love each other? They don't even 'KNOW' each other. For me, Romeo & Juliet was always a cautionary tale about the importance of slowing the heck down and not being so fatally impulsive.

[@rav3style]

It starts with : Two star crossed lovers! That means they are cursed, its not romantic, its the least subtle foreshadowing ever.

[@Tolstoy111]

The prologue actually states they will kill themselves.

[@mogscugg2639]

The most functional relationship in Italy

[@TehlItER]

Way better than any relationship in England after Italy happened

[@robertjarman3703]

Pompey Magnus and Julia?

[@dallaspruett2522]

Romeo and Juliet, aka: what happens when 8+ people try to share a single functional brain cell.

[@MajorCoolD]

I know I shouldnt ask in out time and age but... why are the characters of a English author from Tudor times, so 15th/16th century England... dealing with 2 feuding noble Families in Italy... well... ehm... why do they appear to be non-european? ^^"

[@chedelirio6984]

He's casting them with the customers of the coffeeshop, he says so right at the start

[@kmaher1424]

Haven't seen much live theater, eh?

[@DieNibelungenliad]

Romeo and Juliet is set in a time when families arranged marriages to increase the family's wealth through dowry and inheritance. This led to family feuds, broken promises, and calls for vengeance over a slight which could last generations

[@thevioletskull8158]

I never knew a lot of William's plays were based on stories,that makes sense actually

[@incasolja1]

Yes and r+j is based on marc antony and cleopatra

[@widespirit7648]

As an Indian, I have just heard about that story. Never read it or know about it in detail. So yeah, I'm going to learn something about it here. Edit : After watching this, I remembered that story. And it was the same as I knew.

[@spoddie]

This seems to be the Netflix version.

[@abcdef27669]

Do you know the American adaptation of Montecchios and Capuletos War? It called Hatfields and McCoys.

[@Detahramet]

To this day, I maintain that the story of Romeo and Juliet is not about Romeo nor Juliet, nor is it about their love. As far as the story is concerned, they are just horny, impulsive teenagers who saw eachother at a party, hooked up, and then killed themselves without a second though. They are ultimately a glorified plot devices to tell the real story of House Capulet and House Montague, the cost of their pride, arrogance, and hate, and how when given the chance to amicably end their fued and grow stronger united as a single house (as both Romeo and Juliet were the scions of their respective houses), their doubled down on their arrogance and hate. Despite being the titular characters, the story is as much about Romeo and Juliet as it is about the poison the friar pulls out of his ass. Romeo and Juliet are glorified walking plot devices.

[@Tolstoy111]

They didn't hook up. They got married. And they are allowed to reveal their innermost feelings to a degree that precludes them being mere plot devices. Their parents don't have that many lines.

[@rosemilan3149]

@@Tolstoy111 they got married in a rush so could hook up lmao

[@amdreallyfast]

@2:10 Ah yes, Blue Steel. No one can resist that look.

[@WillKrause21]

I also love the Baz Lurhman fever dream, tho that description applies to most of his movies. Many of which I also love.

[@scpWyatt]

Gonna be honest, this is a bad video. You just summarized the plot and then said, "doesn't seem like a love story to me." But you didn't explain why that is. Production quality and animations are top notch as always, but I feel like I've got to express my discontent somehow with a click-baity video like this since the dislike button is gone. Also, the last 1/3 of this video is an ad for wine. lol

[@deananderson6896]

You know...romeo and Juliet could be a classic greek tragedy as well. Huh. Thanks for the vid. Extra credit.👍

[@kingfierysaber3654]

When I read the book I kind of saw Romeo and Juliet as basically being two idiotic, hormonal, and fickle teenagers making terrible, brash decisions causing several deaths. This is compared with the irrational actions of the adults made purely out of anger, hate, and tribalism.

[@toratoragaming]

My high school AP English teacher would say “Romeo and Juliet isn’t a love story. It’s a story about stupid teenagers making stupid decisions at their own expense.”

[@drakoder1]

I'd argue its a story about young love. Forcing something in the name of love, thats obviously wrong, without thinking about consequnces.

[@winzyl9546]

Isnt Verona in italy?

[@BismarcksOtto]

Northern Italy, to boot.

[@777Steinar]

This makes no sense. Love causes the central conflict, and is the primary motivation of both the main characters for the majority of the play. Sure, love does not win in the end - it's not a comedy, but that doesn't mean that it's not about love.

[@Michael_the_Drunkard]

"Her father chose the husband for her" Oh no, what a horror story.😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@thatcubr6961]

How can you make literature so interesting?? Love this!!!

[@bedhestda]

Right.... Romeo is of African descent living in Europe as a noble...

[@Soopahperry111]

you'll live

[@rivenrime]

I thought they were the people in the coffee shop?

[@TheBossOfMath]

I absolutely love the puns with the cafe’s name

[@canale39youification]

Bruh does EC think we Italians look like Mexicans or something?

[@randomcontent789]

My 9th grade English teacher calls Romeo “The drama king of Verona,” quite an appropriate name in my opinion!

[@jeffdoolin4314]

Five people die because 2 teenagers can't reign in their hormones...

[@generalfeldmarschall3781]

Did somebody know the movie Don Camillio and Peppone there was also the same theme in the first movie but with a better ending

[@mjbull5156]

From what I understand 13 was rather young at that for a regular person to be married, and for an aristocrat to consummate a marriage. Aristocratic marriage ceremonies were often done while the participants were young because they were political in nature, but they were only sometimes consummated. There were exceptions,, Queen Elizabeth I's great grandmother was married at twelve and gave birth to her grandfather Henry Tudor at thirteen.

[@GamerFromJump]

Why is the artist blackwashing a bunch of Italian characters? What are you, Hollywood?

[@_jpg]

It's a re-enactment, including the woman he is talking to, nothing to fuss about...

[@Gongeru]

I used to hate Romeo & Juliet. While I don't love it I've realized I hate the "tragic romance" reading of the story.

[@CzShamu]

This has to be my favorite series of KZbin

[@harrisonlee9585]

Was not expecting that Resident Evil 4 reference

[@NanoElite666]

Tybalt was nicknamed the "King of Cats?" Heh, that makes the fact that there's a charr (who are big cat people) character in Guild Wars 2 named Tybalt that much more amusing.

[@redsparks2025]

I like the Baz Luhrmann film version.

[@all3ykat79]

Thanks... i might have to introduce my kids (14 & 15) to the fever dream. They loved scary movie... i'm starting to intro them to my coming of age movies.

[@Tk421AtHisPost]

I actually like watching these for books I DID read cuz they're both funny and insightful on things I sometimes missed

[@nicolasmarazuela1010]

Interesting fact: The feud between the families was inspired by the feuds between italian cities and families during the Investiture Conflict between the pope and the emporer of the HRE.

[@joelmaynard5590]

Please do not read Shakespeare, he wrote plays, not novels. Plays are meant to be acted, novels are meant to be read. There are hundreds of versions of the play that you could easily watch on KZbin or other websites.

[@enderman_666]

tell that to the teachers guild

[@Quilveor]

I always thought R&J was not about a deep love, but about a very foolish, teenager kinda love that sparks hard, and would fizzle away very soon after, if not for the fact they decided to die. "No, I really love him, mom!" said young Juliet, staring at a poster of Justin Bieber...cue

[@seanrshivers]

In the age where "love marriage" was so looked down on... isn't it more of an ode to the dangers of love instead of the joys?

[@hebl47]

Romeo and Juliet (last part) is a cautionary tale about the Two Generals' Problem. And why you should at least make sure your original message was received before setting off a risky life-or-death plan.

[@jnthn12345]

I always viewed the story as a satirical story, making fun of the foolish notions of "true love" and "young love" among other foolish notions of the time. Cause let's be honest what on earth do teenagers know about love, they think everything will work out and be easy. I once had a discussion about what would have happened if they succeeded in their plan to escape and it boiled down to they would have been left destitute with Juliet leaving Romeo to try and get back into the good graces of her family and Paris.

[@BoxStudioExecutive]

Why would Juliet try to go back, she would have been sent to a convent. For life.

[@jnthn12345]

@@BoxStudioExecutive That was one of two routes, if she consummated the marriage with Romeo she would more than likely sent to a convent. If she did not consummate the marriage then a work around could happen with the marriage being annulled. The discussion was apart of a medieval history class and lasted almost 3 hours.

[@BoxStudioExecutive]

​@@jnthn12345 Did you even read the play in this history class of yours? They clearly consummated the marriage. There's nothing to debate.

[@Amanecer458]

Thats a limited point of view

[@TheCatholicNerd]

All they had to do was have the friar tell the price about the marriage and he would be all like "oh hells, feud is over, you're all under my protection now."

[@lasse6984]

Romeo & Juliet is often played as a tragedy, but it's really a comedy (until the suicide bit).

[@bigheadj.r.628]

I thought that the the montagues and the capulets is the same for every city state in the Italy back then when one side support the Pope and the other the Holy Roman Emperor

[@TORchic1]

That would make sense. If i remember correctly, Verona was one of the city-states involved in that conflict and the city tended to change their support of either the Holy Roman Emperor or the Pope frequently. So it's no surprise if there were several families in the city that feuded with others based on who supported who, and over time the basis for that hatred ends up being forgotten even if their hatred keeps growing.

[@bobuilder4444]

My teacher said that Shakespeare (and most people he would've known) were Christian and commiting sui cide is a sin so another tragedy is that even in death they would be apart. (Can't repent afterwards so they both end up in hell)

[@sarahirwin1769]

I've read every book I've seen on here so far.

[@Ragnarok043]

another copy of the story is West Side Story