Romeo and Juliet

jdluvr06 · June 2014

I love Shakespeare. I just bought several prints (it is actually what caused me to start this discussion) of random quotes from classic literature and four of the ten are from Shakespeare. We're going to hang them in a room that is suppose to be a formal living room but that we are turning into a library/office area.

jdluvr06 · June 2014

shrekspeare said:

jdluvr06 said:

I love Shakespeare. I just bought several prints (it is actually what caused me to start this discussion) of random quotes from classic literature and four of the ten are from Shakespeare. We're going to hang them in a room that is suppose to be a formal living room but that we are turning into a library/office area.

Link us!

I don't have a link. I bought them in an antique store.

mysticl · June 2014

I've been in both A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Scottish Play. Midsummer Night's is my favorite of his work. Yes, I totally believe the superstitions surrounding the other one and you will not get me to type out the name of that play.

beethery · June 2014

phira said:

Not romantic. And neither is the Great Gatsby. Good lord, Gatsby is SUPER DEPRESSING.

I might not be remembering Romeo and Juliet correctly, but I seem to remember that Mercutio was all, "Guys I'm dying," and no one seemed to notice till he was dead.

FUCKING YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS ON THE GATSBY THING. YESYESYES.

What a fucking depressing-ass story, my god. The Great Gatsby aka Everyone Is Awful Why Is This Even A Story: Don't Drive Like An Asshole.

I like the 2013 movie because Baz Luhrmann knows how to make a VERY pretty movie. That's it. I like pretty things. I could honestly watch the MF on mute and be just as happy.

Also, Mercutio is the fucking best.

jdluvr06 · June 2014

shrekspeare said:

jdluvr06 said:

shrekspeare said:

jdluvr06 said:

I love Shakespeare. I just bought several prints (it is actually what caused me to start this discussion) of random quotes from classic literature and four of the ten are from Shakespeare. We're going to hang them in a room that is suppose to be a formal living room but that we are turning into a library/office area.

Link us!

I don't have a link. I bought them in an antique store.

Oh! Well that's even better!

I know! I love shopping in vintage stores, antique stores, and flea markets. I shop online too but I'd much rather see something in person and buy than order it.

wandajune6 · June 2014

CMGragain said:

Anyone familiar with "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)"? We saw it in London, and laughed all the way through it!

I saw it in London years ago too! I'd love to take FSS when he's a bit older.

ohannabelle · June 2014

Love love love Hamlet. And Macbeth. And Twelfth Night. I think in that order.

Saw a weirdly hilarious and gruesome production of Titus Andronicus. The first three rows were given tarps for the blood splatter.

(Adorable Daughter finished her last year of school at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She loves Wm more than I do. Her favorite t shirt is Shakespeare's portrait. It says: Prose before hoes.)

mrsmorales2be · June 2014

Julius Caesar was probably my favorite in HS. I was less than interested in R&J, but I loved the Franco Zeffirelli film version with Olivia Hussey, mostly for the costuming and music. I liked Hamlet better than Macbeth; A Midsummer Night's Dream was fun, and the Tempest was kind of weird. Just love theatre in general.

JCbride2015 · June 2014

Anybody who lives near NYC-- have you heard of Drunk Shakespeare? We went a couple months ago and it was fantastic. Booze and the Bard!

http://www.drunkshakespeare.com

Blergbot · June 2014

mysticl said:

I've been in both A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Scottish Play. Midsummer Night's is my favorite of his work. Yes, I totally believe the superstitions surrounding the other one and you will not get me to type out the name of that play.

But it's only in a theatre that you can't say the title

I don't think typing it on the interwebs counts unless you are typing it from on stage.

doeydo · June 2014

I find it kind of romantic, but they were too young, immature, and fast acting.

My favourite is Much Ado About Nothing.

CMGragain · June 2014

wandajune6 said:

CMGragain said:

Anyone familiar with "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)"? We saw it in London, and laughed all the way through it!

I saw it in London years ago too! I'd love to take FSS when he's a bit older.

It is available on DVD!

Blergbot · June 2014

Ok, I do love both the movie versions of Much Ado, particularly the Kennthe Brannagh version, but I don't get how it can be anyone's favorite. It's such a problematic play. It's like saying you love Taming of the Shrew--which is also very sexist.

mysticl · June 2014

Blergbot said:

mysticl said:

I've been in both A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Scottish Play. Midsummer Night's is my favorite of his work. Yes, I totally believe the superstitions surrounding the other one and you will not get me to type out the name of that play.

But it's only in a theatre that you can't say the title I don't think typing it on the interwebs counts unless you are typing it from on stage.

I don't care, not taking any chances.

Cookie Pusher · June 2014

JCbride2015 said:

Anybody who lives near NYC-- have you heard of Drunk Shakespeare? We went a couple months ago and it was fantastic. Booze and the Bard!

http://www.drunkshakespeare.com

Drunken Shakespeare... that's my entire college career! (English Lit, concentration in Shakespearean lit and Bar Crawling)

artbyallie · June 2014

CMGragain said:

Anyone familiar with "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)"? We saw it in London, and laughed all the way through it!

We've been to two different performances, the second at the tiny secondary stage of our local theatre, where we sat right up against the stage. My dad got picked on during part of the audience participation because he wasn't saying our section's line loud enough, so they made him do it by himself. I loooove this show.

R&J is about teenagers who do stupid shit. It is not a romance. And in spite of how much I otherwise adore Shakespeare, I hate hate hate Romeo and Juliet. That and Midsummer Night's Dream. Both of which were the first plays I read of his, in middle school and ninth grade respectively. I don't know why those are the ones so often used, because they suck compared to most of the rest of his works. Julius Caesar and Macbeth (also read in HS) I liked much better. My current favorite is Much Ado About Nothing. I also like Taming of the Shrew, though the adaptations (Kiss Me Kate, 10 Things I Hate About You) are much more enjoyable and less potentially disturbing, though that really comes down to how one portrays Petruchio.

Also, Shakespeare in Love is a good movie. The title character also happens to bear a striking resemblance to my H, yum.

SammiNJonni · June 2014

Romeo is in love with love and Juliet is rebelling against her parents to get out of an unwanted marriage this is not a love story it is stupid teenagers.

KytchynWitche · June 2014

I hate R+J as a love story. It's a hell of a play, loads of fun to act (especially if you get to be Tybalt or Mercutio), and contains some incredibly beautiful language, but it isn't romantic at all. It's disturbing, and I really think that it's not being taught properly if the kiddies think it's about love everlasting or whatever. Romeo is clearly a spoiled, petulant, and idiotic child of a man, and fickle too, as pointed out by PPs. Juliet, well, she's just your average teenage girl, pushing the boundaries, rebelling, and throwing hissy fits because she's oh-so-misunderstood. More disturbing to me than their behaviour is that of the friar. I mean, seriously? Anyway, it bugs me that the Luhrman R+J gets as much flack as it does. It's a beautiful film, well-cast and well-scored, and I know more than one young person who had trouble understanding the story off the page but got it instantly with the movie. And that's honestly how it should be, Shakespeare's plays are meant to be performed, not read. My personal favourite has to be Macbeth. I got dumped at my grandparents' house one weekend when I was 8, and I found my grandfather's bookshelf. He'd kept ALL his books from school, all the plays, all the poetry. So I grabbed one at random and started reading. I finished it that weekend, and even though I didn't really understand about half of it, the words were magic, and I was hooked. It has always been, and will always be, my favourite. ETA: I swear I put paragraphs in.

AddieCake · June 2014

Macbeth is my favorite. Getting to teach it is one of my favorite things about teaching seniors.

beethery · June 2014

Blergbot said:

It's a toss up between Hamlet and King Lear for me. Macbeth is a close third. R & J is waaaay down the list for me, though I love the Baz Luhrman version. Anyone else love Cymbaline?

Luhrmann R+J is fucking amazing. I need to watch it again soon.

monkeysip · June 2014

Completely agree with everyone about Romeo and Juliet... not a great love story at all.

At the same time... I LOVE West Side Story. Maybe I'm just a hypocrite because West Side Story also features overdramatic young people who decide they're in love after like an hour. But for some reason I still love it.

Oh and I loved the Great Gatsby but NOT because it's romantic at all. Anyone who thinks it's romantic is disturbed.

jdluvr06 · June 2014

For the Great Gatsby I don't think people find the story romantic so much as the atmosphere of the 1920s.

beethery · June 2014

jdluvr06 said:

For the Great Gatsby I don't think people find the story romantic so much as the atmosphere of the 1920s.

Exactly. Pre-Great Depression was a super fucking cool time. Jazz Age, Harlem Renaissance, all of that was cool as hell.

The characters and the story are fucking depressing as hell. I just liiiiiiive for the visuals.

CMGragain · June 2014

Odd thing is 1920's wedding dresses were just ugly IMHO! I love the veils, but the dresses - ugh!

beethery · June 2014

CMGragain said:

Odd thing is 1920's wedding dresses were just ugly IMHO! I love the veils, but the dresses - ugh!

I also agree with this. Hankie bias hems... not my jam. Juliet caps are also not my jam and FUNNY COINCIDENCE, they're called Juliet caps!!! Weird!

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