Meghhnaa (On a Review-Writing Break!)'s Reviews > Romeo and Juliet

Let us zealously, prance through this amorous love-story, to relish the Shakespearean era!😊

Following, is the abridged plot summary, as per what all I could gather, post the endearing read, pardon and correct me for any of my follies and errors-

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The long-standing brawl between the Capulets and Montagues, the banquet-

The Capulets throw a feast, in which Montagues aren’t invited, due to the long-standing feud between the two families. The hero of the play, Romeo Montague, pining over Rosaline, dares to masquerade and gate-crash, the banquet, just to catch a glimpse of his searing-love. But destiny has other plans, Romeo loses his heart to the heiress of the Capulet family, Juliet!
Meanwhile in the banquet, Tybalt, nephew to the Lady Capulet, having recognised Romeo, willing to enter into a brawl with him, is dissuaded by Lady Capulet, in order to maintain the decorum of the ball. Juliet has also discovered his identity in the feast, and has been swooned and swept by his charm. Both are head-over-heels for each other by now!

The balcony love-scene 😊-

Forlorn and lovelorn, resorting to her balcony, Juliet confides her affection for Romeo to the moon and the stars(this famous balcony scene is the most-loved!), unaware, Romeo has heard it all underneath the balcony. Ecstatic, by Juliet’s searing passion, both resolve for a secretive and speedy nuptial the following day. The marriage is brought to pass, in the cell of Friar Laurence, Romeo’s friend.

The brawl and gory on the street ☹-

On the wedding day, Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo’s friends, are accosted by Tybalt, seeking vengeance from Romeo for trespassing the feast. A contention ensues, Romeo lost in marital-bliss, doesn’t show any interest in the brawl, but Mercutio, all infuriated, takes on Tybalt and is slain! Romeo, now all exasperated, in turn butchers Tybalt. For this act of gory, Romeo is banished by the Prince of Verona.

Juliet’s condition ☹-

The bride of one night, Juliet, is left sobbing and dishevelled. Unaware of the secret nuptial rites, Juliet’s father, resolves to get her married to the kinsman, Paris.

The devastating conspiracy! Devised for the good, but fails miserably ☹-

Friar Laurence, devises a secret plot to help the love-birds unite.(the dramatic failure of the plot, leads to the long-lived tragedy!). He suggests Juliet to drink a potion, which will give her semblance to death, on the day of her marriage to Paris. But Alas! Purporting as dead, she is consigned to the tomb by her father mistakenly.
Unaware of the plot, Romeo, is all frenzied, frantic, heart-broken, grieved, and rushes to the tomb, having drunk poison, just to lay beside Juliet in the tomb. Upon waking up and discovering, Romeo lying dead beside her, Juliet seizes his dagger, and kills herself.

Reconciliation-

This double tragedy, reconciles the two families, alas, after all the carnage & gory.

Favourite lines from the play-

Defining the bad-luck of the two-
“A pair of star-cross 'd lovers take their life”

Few general ones-
To move is to stir, and to be valiant is to stand

“With tears augmenting the fresh morning's dew.
Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs :
But all so soon as the all-cheering sun
Should in the farthest east begin to draw”

Romeo brooding over the luxury of his sorrow, post which he meets Juliet-
" Why, then, O brawling love ! O loving hate !
O anything, of nothing first create !
O heavy lightness ! serious vanity !
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms !
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health ! "
……………………
"Under love's heavy burden do I sink."
…………………….
"Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty."
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"Thus with a kiss I die."
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Upon hearing the sweet Juliet’s voice in the garden-
How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night.
Like softest music to attending ears !

Juliet’s expression of love-

My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep ; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite,
………….
Good night, good night ! parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good night till it be morrow
……………………
"O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable."
……………….

The Prince of Verona-
"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
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My views-

It is a play with delineation of all sentiments, from a hideous family feud, a personal vendetta turning into bloodshed, to a torrential love story, and a tragedy of mistakes and a failed plan!

Both Romeo and Juliet, are subjects of a tumultuous youth, living in a warlike hubbub, living a contrasting life, of passion and despair!

Romeo, is a man with good intentions, but all his efforts are forfeited. He is showcased as an epitome of bad-luck/star-crossed. Romeo nurses his love in his heart, and is seen lamenting and foreboding, shedding tears throughout. He isn’t a mature thinker, and is given into hopelessness on every occasion, soon enough!

Juliet, is a simpleton, naïve, true to the core, and is given into poetic imaginations of a tender heart. She thinks aloud in words!

An ardent, unrestrained, tender, young love, nothing is factitious or fallacious about their sovereign love!
I am gob-smacked, how can one write a play with such a purity of heart, dignity of manners, passion in love and violence, in a rhythmic sonnet, in an era, beyond contemplation!! That is what Shakespeare is all about, after all! 😊

This delicate tale of love and misfortune, deserves an endearing 5-star!!!!