Romeus and JulietRomeo & Juliet, arguably Shakespeare's most known play, is an adaptation. Shakespeare took a mildly popular poem as the source material for his epic tragedy. The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet was a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke, published in England in 1562. This was not an original work of Brooke's, but his take on a French poem, that had been inspired by an Italian novella. Brooke's 1562 take on the tragedy was well-known in England by the 1590s. When Shakespeare's adaptation premiered, literate theatre-goers would have sensed the similarities and searched for the differences in the adaptation.
The plot of Romeus and Juliet is very similar to Romeo & Juliet, with only a few key differences. In Shakespeare’s version, the star-crossed lovers meet, marry, and die in the span of one week. Romeus and Juliet are a bit more paced; their story is spread over a few months. The ending has a decidedly different tone, as well. The Nurse and the Apothecary are both punished for their involvement in the teenager’s deaths. The Nurse is banished, the apothecary hanged. Both broke the law; the Nurse by hiding the marriage, and the Apothecary by selling Romeus the outlawed poison. Friar Laurence is spared, as his intentions were pure. He sought to end the ancient feud between the two families, restoring internal peace to Verona. He punishes himself in the end, retreating to a hermitage so that he may reflect on his misdeeds until his death. The Montagues and Capulets inter the dead lovers together as husband and wife, and erect a great marble monument on their graves. |
Information Drawn From:
Brooke, Arthur. The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1969. Shakespeare Navigators. Web.
Halio, Jay L. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: Texts, Contexts, and Interpretation. Newark: University of Delaware, 1995. Print.
Seward, James H. Tragic Vision in Romeo and Juliet. Washington: Consortium, 1973. Print.
Halio, Jay L. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: Texts, Contexts, and Interpretation. Newark: University of Delaware, 1995. Print.
Seward, James H. Tragic Vision in Romeo and Juliet. Washington: Consortium, 1973. Print.