Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare
The classic theater piece Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, written roughly between 1593 and 1594, has passed down the generations and has become a masterpiece of Western literature. The story, set in Verona (in the interior of Italy), has as its protagonists the lovers Romeo Montesco and Juliet Capulet.
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Verona is the scene of the historical conflict between two traditional families: the Montagues and the Capulets. By a misfortune of fate, Romeo and Juliet, both only children, meet during a masked ball and fall madly in love.
Before the first meeting, Romeo was angry with a certain Rosalina, a member of the Capulets, which is why he goes uninvited to a masquerade at the rival family's home. But upon arrival, he is dazzled by Juliet, and from there he did everything he could to be with who would be her soul mate.
The Capulets had marriage plans for Juliet and Paris, a renowned young man from Verona. However, she turns her back on the wishes of her family and follows her heart.
The most memorable passage in the piece is scene II of the second act. Romeo goes out to the garden of the Capulets and talks to his beloved, who is on the balcony:
Romeo:
He who has never been hurt mocks
of our scars!
(Juliet appears in a window, upstairs, unaware of Romeo's presence).
Be quiet! What illuminates
from that window the darkness?
It is Juliet, it is the sun in the east!
Rise, splendid sun, and with your rays
she kills the sick and envious moon,
because you, her maiden, are clearer.
Do not serve the moon that envies you.
Her vestal cloak is green and sad,
no virgin wears it anymore, throw it away!
It's her at the window! She is the one I love!
Oh, how much it would give that he knew!
He speaks, although he says nothing; I do not mind,
The eyes of him speak to me, I respond to them.
What a crazy idea! It's not me they're talking to!
Two magnificent stars in the sky
busy with something up there
they ask their eyes to shine.
Will not the stars be in his face
And his eyes spinning across the sky?
The glare on his face would cloud
the light of the stars, like the sun
extinguish the torches. If your eyes
would travel through the sky would shine
making the birds sing
as if it were the day and not the night.
See how his cheek is on her hand!
Oh, if I were the glove of that hand
and could touch that cheek!
Juliet:
Oh my!
Romeo:
He has spoken now!
Speak again, oh luminous angel!
In the height tonight you appear
like a winged heavenly messenger
that in ecstasy, throwing back his forehead,
mortals gaze upward
when it passes through lazy clouds
and navigates in the air.
Juliet:
Oh, Romeo, why is it you, Romeo?
Deny your father and your name!
If you don't want to do it, but instead
you swear your love to me, that's enough for me,
I will stop calling myself Capulet.
(Spanish translation by Pablo Neruda)
Romeo and Juliet live a forbidden and idealized love, condemned by both families. After several encounters, they secretly marry in a ceremony performed by Friar Lorenzo, Romeo's confidant.
But an incident would twist his plans. Juliet's cousin, Tybaldo, who had noticed Romeo's presence at the Capulet masquerade, found him and challenged him to a duel. Although Romeo refused, considering him now a relative, his friend Mercutio accepted the challenge.
Tybaldo kills Mercutio, and Romeo, blinded, kills him in revenge. The prince of Verona, tired of the rivalry between the families, sentences the young lover to exile.
Julieta's father thinks that her sadness is due to her family grief, so he decides to advance her marriage to Paris to cheer her up. Desperate, Julieta asks for the help of Friar Lorenzo. He proposes to take an elixir to make her pass as dead before her family and later flee with her lover.
But Romeo never got the message. Thus, upon seeing the body of her wife in the Capulet crypt, she is poisoned at her feet. Upon awakening from the effect, Juliet finds her loved one dead from her and, desperate, she takes her dagger and takes her life.
This love story is a tragedy. The only consolation left to the reader is to know that, after the terrible deaths of the protagonists, the Capulet and Montague families decide to make a peace treaty.
Author's inspiration
The English poet was probably inspired by a story of mythological origin from Ancient Greece. It is the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, another tale of forbidden love that ends in the suicide of the lovers.
Similar love stories proliferated during the Renaissance. In fact, in 1530 Luigi da Porto published a story that seems to have inspired Shakespeare's piece. The work, called L'Historia novellamente ritrovata di due nobili amanti (Fictional story of two noble lovers), is also located in Verona, the protagonists are noblemen and the families in question are the Montagues and the Capulets. Even the lovers are called Romeo and Juliet. The piece was so successful that Adrien Sevin adapted it into French in 1542.
Versions of the work
In 1597, the work Romeo and Juliet it was staged with the reconstructed text from the memory of the two actors who participated in the first montage. The following staging, made two years later, was authorized and considered more complete, as it contained about seven hundred more verses than the previous version.
Structure of the piece
The piece has a language compatible with that of lyrical tragedy, since about 15% of the text is in rhyme. The work of the English author is divided into five acts. The first has five scenes; the second has six, the third, five, the fourth, five too, and the fifth act, finally, has three scenes.
Main characters
Romeo
Protagonist. Sole heir of the Montague family.
Juliet
Protagonist. Sole heir to the Capulet family.
Mr. and Mrs. Montague
Romeo's parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Capulet
Juliet's parents
Tybaldo
Juliet's cousin, Mrs. Capulet's nephew.
Paris
Juliet's suitor.
Escalo
Prince of Verona.
Mercutio and Benvolio
Romeo's faithful friends
Abram and Baltazar
Servants of the Montague family
Love
Nana de Julieta, who has a deep love for the young woman.
Peter
Servant of the Capulets and assistant to the Mistress.
Friar lorenzo
Romeo's friend.
Friar juan
Religious authority of Franciscan origin.
Who was William Shakespeare?
Recognized as the greatest writer of the English language, it is presumed that William Shakespeare would have been born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small town in England. He passed away exactly 50 years later, on the same date. Shakespeare moved to London in 1591 in search of job opportunities, and lived for many years in the English capital.
He married Anne Hathaway, his great love, when he was 18 years old, in 1582. They had three children: Susana, Hamnet and Judith.
Shakespeare's literary career
Shakespeare had a humble origin and rose socially thanks to his works as a writer: he was quite a worker of letters, composed approximately 38 plays and 154 sonnets. The theatrical pieces had different approaches. Some were comedies, some were tragedies, and some were historical in focus.
The first piece by him was written between 1590 and 1594, and was called the Comedy of Errors. In the same year that he finished writing this play, he joined the now famous Lord Chamberlain Theater Company. Later, he managed to enter as a partner at the Globe Theater.
Romeo and Juliet it was his first great success before the public and critics. Harold Bloom, a leading literary critic, justifies the success and historical significance of Romeo and Juliet when he says: "the piece constitutes the greatest and most convenient celebration of romantic love in world literature."
Shakespeare wrote other masterpieces such as Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, King Lear and Othello. His last work for the theater was The Tempest, written between 1610 and 1613 in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.
From the stage to the big screen
Shakespeare's piece has been the subject of several film adaptations. Probably the best known version today is the one made by director Baz Luhrmann in 1996. It featured the participation of the cast made up of Leonardo di Caprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Halrod Pirreneau, Paul Sorvino and Paul Rudd.
(Text translated by Andrea Imaginario).
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