So I have a bit of an issue with Shakespeare; or at least, how people perceive Shakespeare. When asking about the like of Shakespeare, many people will reply with "Oh yes, I love Shakespeare! Romeo oh Romeo where for art thou Romeo...." LAME. Firstly, Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's weakest creation by far. Secondly, quoting such an overused phrase does not make you intelligent; it just makes you a douchebag who's seen Baz Luhrman's interpretation. Which brings me to my third point. BAZ LUHRMAN'S ROMEO AND JULIET IS NOT SHAKESPEARE! Saying that you love Shakespeare based on a modern interpretation with Leonardo DiCaprio in it does NOT make you look cool or educated. Go and see a live showing of Hamlet or Midsummer Night's Dream and THEN tell me you like Shakespeare.
Jesus Christ!
That's all for now, folks.
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Romeo and Juliet is
ReplyDelete1) Ripped off from a poem written by someone else.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tragical_History_of_Romeus_and_Juliet
2) Rather unbelievable. They weren't in love. That's lust/one night stand.
Uhm.
ReplyDelete1. Baz Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet is, in fact, Shakespeare. The script, you see, was written by William Shakespeare. That makes it Shakespeare -- interpreted weirdly, yes, but Shakespeare nonetheless.
2. Have you read Julius Caesar? It sucks much worse than Romeo and Juliet. Don't say that Romeo and Juliet is his "weakest creation by far" just because it's his most popular creation. The language in Romeo and Juliet is beautiful. I should know -- I've read it at least three times. I consider The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest and Othello to be even lovelier plays, but I love Romeo and Juliet and certainly wouldn't place it below A Comedy of Errors.
3. Many -- even most -- of Shakespeare's plays were adapted from other material (legends or history or poetry, etc.). A lot of people write beautiful things adapted from the work of other people. That doesn't mean it's "ripped off" -- it means he wrote the subject matter in his own interpretation in a way that could be enjoyed by a wider audience.
Shakespeare isn't my favorite writer in the world or anything -- I'm pretty much just being a Devil's advocate here because I think your problems with him are fallacious. Sorry to be such an ass.
Romeo and Juliet is far too overdone. I want to see more Titus Andronicus or Measure for Measure or other lesser done shows. I agree that Shakespeare was brilliant but I love seeing his work interpreted in different ways.
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