Tag Archives: romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare by the Sea: Romeo and Juliet Review

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This is my first time seeing something by Shakespeare by the Sea, and my first time actually seeing a show of the famous Romeo and Juliet play. Despite how famous the story of Romeo and Juliet is, I have never actually seen a live performance of it, until Shakespeare by the Sea came around. Shakespeare by the Sea is a nonprofit organization that performs theatrical plays for free in communities around California. Last year, they were not able to tour and perform and they have just started again this summer. I was really lucky in catching this show, as it was part of the 25th anniversary and the last tour with the original founder of Shakespeare by the Sea.

I hadn’t been interested in Shakespeare and had just come along to watch the play because my mom asked if I wanted to. There was nothing I had to do that day, and I had never actually seen Romeo and Juliet yet, so I had no reason not to go see it. I was not disappointed. It was your usual Romeo and Juliet play, following the original story, but I had plenty of laughs and it was a lot of fun. There were a lot of moments, especially in the beginning of the play, that made me laugh out loud and smile. They spoke in the old, english dialect, but I understood it just fine. The actors did an amazing job, in portraying their character, the emotion, and making it fun for everyone. The actors help set up the stage, perform the entire thing, and take it down afterwards. The entire venue is outside and they work and perform for over an hour. The actors and people who work with Shakespeare by the Sea are honestly so amazing and put in so much time and effort in it. 

Shakespeare by the Sea has sparked my own interest in Shakespeare and his works and I am so happy to have been able to see them perform. If you ever get the chance to see one of their performances, I highly recommend going because they work super hard for their productions, and it is completely free to watch them. It is super fun to watch them perform and if you do ever end up going to a performance, make sure to give them a donation for their dedication to performing!

-Nicole R.

Romeo and Juliet: What’s in a name?

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Romeo and Juliet are madly in love after meeting for just a short time and are willing to give up many valuable things in their life to be with each other, which shows how blinding falling in love can be. The two discuss what is in a name, and agree that what “we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (2:2:46-7). Romeo is a Montague, Juliet is a Capulet, and their two families have been enemies for an extensive time. If Romeo or Juliet gave up their last name, they would still be the same person, just as a rose would be just as pretty and sweet if it had a different name.

The name of an individual does not change who they are as a person. After hearing Juliet speak about her troubles and Romeo’s family name on her balcony, Romeo says, “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized” (2:2:54). Romeo is willing to give up his family to be with Juliet, which is surprising considering he just met her and he has been with his family for years. In addition, Romeo completely forgot about Rosaline, whom he professed his love to right up until he met Juliet. Romeo would “deny thy father and refuse thy name” (2:2:36), showing that he would abandon his whole life just to marry Juliet, which is a very bold action. Romeo’s surname not only signifies his relationship with his parents and family, but also their family’s reputation, their inheritance, and personal identities. Romeo and Juliet would both be giving up more than just a name if they decided to marry each other. This decision could affect and impact their future forever.

However, both Romeo and Juliet do not understand the significance of their names as Juliet says, “What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to man” (2:2:43-5). Juliet is right that a name is not identified with certain body parts and who one is as a person. However, giving up one’s surname does impact one’s future and relationship with their family, which could, in turn, end up affecting their life together.

-Abby V.

Argument: The Careless Consultant (Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare)

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Cover of Romeo and Juliet

There is a reason why people often say they have “escaped into their favorite story” or “jumped into the pages” of a book. This is because the literary world is a place where writers express their thoughts, feelings, opinions, and imaginations so readers can discover them. Every piece of literature will exemplify different beliefs or opinions, but there are some things that stay the same–one of these is the respect for a mentor. In one of the most influential American novels, Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is the father to young Scout and Jem Finch, but he is also a teacher, a guide, and role model to his children. A mentor exemplifies leadership, righteousness, and a trustworthy presence, but the character of Friar Laurence is in stark contrast as he let two young children who looked up to him die by their own hands. William Shakespeare, in his tragic play Romeo and Juliet employs the character of Friar Laurence as the person responsible for Romeo and Juliet’s suicides in order to portray the detriments of an irresponsible and wrongly focused mentor.

Friar Laurence’s failed counseling is seen in his infatuation with the bigger picture, the larger impact, the greater significance. In this mindset, he fails to recognize the minute details and comparatively smaller consequences. When the excited Romeo arrives at Friar Laurence’s cell to ask the friar to marry him and Juliet, Friar Laurence disapproves, but later changes his mind. He shows no interest in the happiness of Romeo and Juliet; instead, he expresses his desire to end the feud between the Montague and Capulet families. The friar’s focus on the larger impact causes him to fail to see the impact of this marriage on Romeo and Juliet themselves. 

A sketch entitled "Friar Laurence gathering herbs" from Mary Evans Picture Library
“Friar Laurence gathering herbs” from
Mary Evans Picture Library

The character of Friar Laurence also exemplifies the trait of irresponsibility. As a respected teacher of both Romeo and Juliet, the friar must understand his role as a mentor to both children and be able to teach them to make responsible decisions. However, Friar Laurence exemplifies the contrary when Juliet arrives at his cell, desperate. She is engrossed in her dilemma of avoiding marriage to two men; moreover, she is grieving the banishment of Romeo. Despite Juliet’s hysterical state, Friar Laurence asks Juliet how desperate she really is, and proceeds to give her an outrageous solution, after Juliet’s “approval.” It is absolutely ludicrous to ask Juliet, in her present condition, for such an opinion. The friar demonstrates reckless thinking and proceeds to give Juliet a potion that will send her into a death-like state for hours without even attempting to discuss or reason another solution with her.

Despite the trust Romeo and Juliet placed in him, Friar Laurence is to blame for the suicides of Romeo and Juliet. Through his irresponsible mindset and wrongly placed focus on the larger impact of Romeo and Juliet’s actions, Friar Laurence failed at his role as a mentor. Unlike Prince Escalus, a merciful leader who well carries his responsibilities, Friar Laurence neglected his responsibilities of demonstrating proper decision making and instead offered an outrageous solution to a young girl who was unable to collect herself at the time. Unlike Atticus Finch, who paid proper attention to how his actions would impact his children, Friar Laurence disregarded the consequences of his actions on Romeo and Juliet and was instead consumed by the idea of him being the one to restore peace in Verona. Compiled by the pen of William Shakespeare, Friar Laurence well portrays the horrible consequences of failed mentorship.

-Ayati M.

Romeo and Juliet is available for checkout at the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Who Was To Blame in Romeo and Juliet?

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William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is often considered to be the ultimate tale of romance – two children of warring families meet, fall hopelessly in love, and commit suicide in a woeful twist of fate. However, fate itself has quite little to do with the actions undertaken by the two lovers throughout the play. Though the tragic events of Act V, Scene III of Romeo and Juliet are often attributed to the two lovers’ distinct lack of luck, the blood shed at the end of the play is truly the fault of one character: Friar Lawrence, the trusted adult who both Romeo and Juliet turn to in their time of need, only to be led astray.

Despite knowing the potential tragedy that could follow, Friar Lawrence nevertheless encourages Romeo and Juliet in their wish to wed, not because he wants to see two young lovers be happy, but because of his own desires. Though the friar appears old and wise, he does not dissuade Romeo from his course, for the friar does not seem to particularly care about Romeo’s happiness – he has an underlying motive. He later tells Romeo that he will consent to wed the two lovers not because he believes in the true love between them, but because he wants to end the feud between their families. 

The marriage between Romeo and Juliet eventually leads to ruin, when Romeo is exiled from the city and Juliet is being forced to marry Count Paris. To avoid this, Juliet visits Friar Lawrence and desperately begs him for a solution to the problem. Friar Lawrence concocts a plan, in which Juliet will fake her death to both avoid marrying Paris and reunite with Romeo in Mantua. This plan is infamously imperfect. For one, the entire plan hinges on Romeo being aware that Juliet had faked her death before Friar Lawrence retrieves her from the Capulet tomb. Unfortunately, the exact opposite occurs, and, in his grief, Romeo commits suicide. Juliet, upon waking to Romeo’s corpse, stabs herself and dies.

The irony of the play is that, in the end, Romeo and Juliet’s deaths, not their marriage, is what ends the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, which was Friar Lawrence’s intent all along. Friar Lawrence, supposedly the wise and reasonable adult of the play, ends up being the most blameworthy character, both because of his deliberately neglectful and ignorant words and actions in regards to the lovestruck pair, as well as his continual promotion of his own overarching agenda. 

All in all, while it may appear that the tragic events of Romeo and Juliet can be solely credited to the cruel hand of destiny, the true blame for the two lovers’ deaths lies in the hands of Friar Lawrence, the trusted adult who leads Romeo and Juliet into a situation from which the only escape is death.

-Mahak M.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

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I read this play last year and had my own thoughts on there. I did like the characters despite their overdramatic characteristics. Moreover, the plot was generally not tedious and did offer some twists which I like such as Juliet faking her death and Romeo not receiving the letter explaining all of it in time.

Through this play, I also learned how family feud can lead to very bad results. If both families would just allow this pair of young lovers to unite then nothing of this sort would have occurred at all. It also shows how distant and nonchalant are parents toward the psychological activities of their children. All they possibly think about is the reputation of their standing in society and who they think upon marrying their child with will bring them the most benefit. Nonetheless, I was touched by the avid love between Romeo and Juliet and how they were willing to sacrifice everything for each other’s sake.

One of the other things that I find interesting is the duel scenes. Originally, Tybalt might not have hated Mercutio and Romeo so much if it wasn’t for the fact that they are rival families. So again the theme of family feud plays a part where blinded hatred caused the two to break the probable peace between them since Romeo and Juliet were already married. So overall, my opinion on this play is that although it can be overdramatic and a little unrealistic in our life, it teaches the fact that parents should give enough attention to their children to prevent any suicidal thoughts.

-Coreen C.

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet

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You’ve all heard about this book/play before, and if you haven’t read it yet, sooner or later your teacher will make you read this word-famous play. But don’t dread reading this wonderful work of art. Despite the fact that it’s written in an archaic language and set in a rather alien world, it still remains very relevant today, which is why people are still reading and discussing it to this very day.Image result for romeo and juliet

Romeo and Juliet, as you probably know, is the story of two star-crossed lovers who come from two noble families of Verona, Italy that have had a vendetta for so long that nobody remembers why anymore— and since this is 13th century Italy, and the Renaissance only just started, it’s quite a medieval world, where people often died before 40 and marriage for girls at around 13 was quite common in that part of the world. Romeo is a Montague, which means that his parents are nobles but not as rich as the Capulets, Juliet’s family. What they do have, however, is genuine love, while the Capulets have more than enough family drama to go around. Romeo is passionate and a very eligible bachelor, but also rather impulsive and melodramatic. Juliet is quite smart and beautiful, but has been taught to be passive and agree with her parents her entire life, not thinking for herself. Romeo is “recovering” from being rejected by Rosaline, who was “the love of his life” and “brighter than the sun”, before he spies Juliet at a Capulet masquerade and forgets all about Rosaline. Later that night, Juliet and Romeo confess their love for each other and vow to get married. As you can see, it really is divine love at first sight.

Unfortunately for these two, they have to keep their affair a secret from everybody but the ones they know they can trust. Romeo and Juliet get married not even a day after they first met. But an unfortunate twist of fate leads to Romeo exiled and Juliet’s father forcing her to marry the noble but extremely uninteresting Count Paris, not knowing that she is already the wife of Romeo. Juliet takes great risks to avoid having to marry Count Paris, fooling her parents into thinking that she is dead by drinking a potion, and the plan almost works out, but due to a misunderstanding and an undelivered message, Romeo believes that she is dead, and ends up killing himself. Juliet awakens from her comatose state and sees Romeo’s corpse, and then kills herself too, before the two families arrive at the scene and finally end their feud.

While this story would be more disturbing than sweet if it took place today (a 13-year old and 17-year old getting married hardly a day after they first met, then killing themselves?), it is still very much a very well-written romantic story, and not for nothing is it known to practically all of the literate world. Definitely read The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, and watch one of the many movie adaptations also to see it played out.

-Michael Z.

The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

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Shakespeare’s classic play, “Romeo and Juliet,” sheds a light on young love and risky decisions. Depending on what you think of Fate, you either really enjoy this romantic story or get extremely annoyed with its resolution. It’s a light fun play that touches on youthful passion but ends on a dark twist.

Taking place in Verona, Italy, this tragedy illustrates the romance between two teenagers from two feuding families. Ultimately, Romeo and Juliet are enemies but after they meet at a party, their family names are nothing more but a barrier between them. They get married in secret with the help of a few characters and plan to run away together. However this plan is altered when a series of unfortunate events results in both of them tragically dying. Many simple mistakes and the tragic ending could all have been avoided with a little more communication and clear thinking but Shakespeare wanted Fate to play a huge role in the outcome of the play.

In my opinion, the best aspect of this play is the flow of words and the speech that brings everything alive. The writing style itself is beautiful and Shakespeare finds a way to use words to shape the plot. For example, Romeo’s speech is dull and full of misery when he is rejected by Rosaline but as the play progresses and he meets Juliet, his words are bedazzled with figurative language. Juliet also has lovely soliloquies that are fun to annotate and dramatically read aloud. Another way Shakespeare really enhances his play is the use of characters. He provides the young and inexperienced Romeo and Juliet, the hysterical and crude Nurse, the outspoken and verbal Tybalt, the self-righteous and semi-helpful Friar Laurence, among many others to advance the play and add comic relief. Shakespeare skillfully writes this play to demonstrate Romeo and Juliet’s forbidden and rebellious love and the painful cost that hateful feuds bring.

-Jessica T.

Romeo and Juliet, and collective works of William Shakespeare, is available for checkout form the Mission Viejo Library. 

Romeo and Juliet, A Theatre Review

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Recently, I sat in the audience of the Laguna Playhouse Youth Theatre in Laguna Beach as I watched actors both young and old act out Shakespeare’s famous play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. To be honest, I had no complaints about the play itself. The actors were all very well rehearsed and the performance was very polished, a difficult feat given how hard it is to read Shakespearean dialect, let alone memorize and perform it.

romeo and juliet

“Romeo and Juliet” by Frank Dicksee

Many parts which I remember from reading the play itself were identical in the stage adaption. A couple scenes were edited, but only slightly. Additionally, a few scenes were different than what I had pictured as well as from what the movie versions of the play depicts. A main example of this is the fight that the Capulet and Montague families have in the middle of the market in the beginning of the play. I imagined there to be more characters on each side while the Laguna Playhouse adaption maintained a smaller crowd. Regardless, these slight differences did not necessarily take away from the overall play. It was still very enjoyable.

If you are someone who enjoys watching student theatre productions, I would definitely recommend looking into the Laguna Playhouse productions. I have watched a variety of productions there, from Tom Sawyer to an adaption of Lois Lowry’s The Giver to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I have always been extremely impressed by the performances because these students are all able to produce a polished and entertaining performance in addition to handling the stress of school.

– Leila S., 10th grade