A Bowl For the Soul

THE START OF STAR CROSSED-LOVERS

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo." - William Shakespeare

Hello bookworms! I'm in the mood for some classics and to tell you the truth, I have an occasional liking for clichés. So, I mused my thoughts about Romeo and Juliet. The early star-crossed lover story is perhaps one of the most popular works of Shakespeare. Probably what you can call a typical tragic love story. Of course, death of both of the hero and heroine dampens the mood but still, there's no way you can deny it's a classic. 

Title page of the first edition

The story of the Montagues and Capulets was written by William Shakespeare and published in 1597. The children of the two feuding family ironically fell in love with each other hence Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet's legendary love story. They went against all odds and their love resulted in a well-planned scheme that was supposed to fake Juliet's death. Miscommunication arises leading Romeo to drink poison hence killing himself. Juliet wakes up from her deathlike-coma and finds that Romeo is truly dead and well, she stabs herself in which the story ends with both of their families reconciling. It's tragic. It's touching. It's a love story that has stayed until this modern age.

The thing I just can't wrap my head around is Romeo's character. At the beginning of the story, he is deeply infatuated with Rosaline, the cousin of Juliet. Then he went on, with the encouragement of his best friend, to sneak into the ball in the Capulets house with hopes of finding Rosaline where he saw the beautiful Juliet and boom! He fell for Juliet as easy as flipping his palm. Not to mention he hadn't exchanged any words with her until that very moment. Laying his eyes on Juliet for the first time and he instantly dumped any thoughts of his first-proclaimed love. I suppose Romeo was a tad too quick to fall in love with Juliet just by laying his eyes on her, so the least to say no matter how beautiful she is Romeo was not just heavily attracted to her but in love? That's a very serious emotion being thrown around.

Anyways, the moral of the story is the ending feud of the two families because of their children's deaths. Such a sacrifice from Romeo and Juliet but their undying love remains with us till this day. Romeo and Juliet has become the inspiration for many literary works and movies. Who doesn't love a tragic romance between two counterparts from two feuding families?! Okay, maybe some of you. But you can't deny that this epic work of Shakespeare hasn't rankled you. 

Romeo and Juliet 1968 version

Romeo and Juliet 2013 version

My favourite film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet has to be the 1968 version starring Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. The chemistry between those two were undeniably oozing out from their performance. The most recent adaptation is coming soon in 11 October 2013 starring Hailee Steinfield and Douglas Booth.

Up next: Since October is quite significant and symbolic with Haloween, I'll be doing a review of one of Stephen King's ingenious works.