Why do you think Shakespeare's, Romeo and Juliet, is still as popular today as it was over four hundred years ago? Is it the themes? Characters? Love? Violence? Baz Luhrmann?
Use examples (not necessarily from the play) to support your response.
I can think of two reasons why:
ReplyDelete1. Love is timeless... ...((Apparently))...
Have a look at all the songs in the top40
that are written about love... No matter who
you are the emotion doesnt change...
2. Its a story of a love that cant happen mixed
in the feud of two families. Basically we
get our hit of drama while watching two
people suffer, they take all the hard work
out of it... Example: Days of our Lives
((cringe)), and dare I say it Twilight...
i think it is because basically, when the plays were "written" nobody had any other thing to do, so they would al get dressed up and go to shakspeare's plays, and they all thought they were amazing works of art (as we do today), so even after shakespeare's and his wife's death, a lot of actors then knew the plays out of their heads and they kept right on performing them for the next generation to know and love.. ect.. ect..
ReplyDeleteuntil someone who learnt to write came and wrote them all down. they might not necessarily be exactly the same as how shakespeare had imagined, but perhaps a lot of the reason they are still around today is because while teenagers are growing up, and learning about love and life and stuff like that, it shows us that love is eternal. it means the same thing now as it did 500 years ago. and we use these plays as an example because they tell stories of love and hate in extraordinary ways, and through reading them we are able to learn alot about shakespeare himself.. eg.. ROSALINE and how her name pops up alot in his tetxs...
Wow... i didn't know i knew som much about that topic...
Bec
shakespeare wrote down his plays.....
ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteShakespeare did write his plays down in Quarto form (pages folded twice) although there is very little evidence of this, or that he did this regularly. There is even less evidence to suggest that he worked with anyone who could read his Quartos. Reprinting of his quartos was often dodgy and mistakes were common.
It wasn't until the "First Folio" was published that his plays were collected and published together. Few people could afford it and even fewer would have been able to read it. The author of the first folio often got his research from dodgy quarto texts and actors' memories and no two folios were identical. As a result, many questions are asked about the authenticity of the words.
Not to mention many people believed Shakespeare's plays were written as a collaboration between Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe.
I have to agree with bec. I feel like she pretty much nailed it with 'it means the same thing now as it did 500 years ago.' We express it differently now, and are usually much more vocal and flippant with the term- but when you mean it, you essentially mean it the same as people in Shakespeare's time did.
ReplyDeleteShakespeare was a great story teller. Although we don't really even know the basic facts about him like we do with other authors, he sucked people into his tales. There are only so many storylines out there that will hold human attention in large quantities, and Shakespeare played to a bigger audience.
While we like to think we're a little more advanced intellectually than people in Shakespeare's day who through their sewage into the streets... well, the truth is- the same things still amuse us. (eg. fights, both physical and verbal; wit/ humour; love and hate.) You only have to look at Rugby League to know an idiot these days still gets a kick out of slamming someone into the ground over a leather ball.
*Disclaimer*: I'm sorry for being politically incorrect and no I do not assume all footballers are imbeciles. I simply maintain that most are.
Peace
Is it still as popular....?
ReplyDeleteI certainly have never read it from front to back and im sure certainly not alone. we're forced to read it.
You will never see someone walking around with a Tshirt saying "shakespeare dide it" or something like that. ipods,low pants,myspace are all pop culture, shakespeare is not.
His work is still loved by many,but is certainly not pop culture.
P.S to alex,giverny,goodwin and all them, please dont send me death threats arguing it is and your going to kill me !!!
Lol. I'm not going to kill you. Well... not for that anyway. Jks!
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's not as popular to a teenage audience. However Shakespeare's work is still prominent as a piece of english literature.
Not many teenagers have read it cover to cover. But how many know it exists and the basic storyline? ie. Their parents hate each other, they fall in love and end up dead. (Forgive me because I feel like I just butchered the story to sum it up like that).
So many people who have never read a Shakespeare will recognise it. So maybe as a novel it isn't as popular, but as a story? It's timeless.
That is a very fair point sir. One I do not debate that.
ReplyDeleteI was responding to Beccy's response:
"so even after Shakespeare's and his wife's death, a lot of actors then knew the plays out of their heads and they kept right on performing them for the next generation to know and love.. etc.. ect.. until someone who learnt to write came and wrote them all down."
In terms of why R&J is still popular... i believe its because the themes and emotions it depicts are so universal.
We all fall in love, fall out of love or fall in love with someone who doesn't feel the same way. We have rules we're meant to follow and in turn those we have to break.
We all have people (*cough cough* parents) who think they know whats best for us, even if they're wrong and those friends who "always know whats right".
We also know what it is to hate someone or something and to be hated in return.
The list continues.... but the fact that everyone experiences these things remains the same!
This is why we still love romeo and Juliet. Even though we aren't veronian nobles in the 1590s, we can still relate to their somewhat ill-fated escapades.
Plus, it has sex and violence in it....
(the words are nice too..... ;) )
You're entitled to your opinion, Jeff. That is why I posted the question. I'd be upset if everyone merely agreed with each other and gave the same answer.
ReplyDeletePlease, everybody, I want honest opinions and thoughts. I don't want any class member to feel nervous about voicing their ideas.
Some good responses so far, but we need lots more. C'mon, 10-1!
In my opinion, the reason Romeo and Juliet is still so popular is sort of a "chicken or the egg" answer. Basically, Romeo and Juliet was heaps popular back in his time, and it sort of rode on this popularity through many years. However, it has now become one of those things where because everyone else thinks it's good, we autmoatically think it's good too, and it becomes sort of a cycle. I honestly believe, that if Shakespeare had never written Romeo and Juliet, but then someone did today, no one would be impressed at all. It's just that bacause we know it's good we go along with it. I'm sorry if that didn't really make sense, I'm just trying to say that RAJ is popular because it's popular if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeletei like josh's point.
ReplyDeletein terms of themes, Romeo & Juliet has a couple to offer, there's romance (between the titular characters, but also the other side of it: hate), drama (the families, the love twists, etc etc) and the occasional fight scene..
ReplyDeletefor Characters, i find that each character develops more as you read into it... Romeo would seem like the typical asswipe kind of person who, like a butterfly, flits from flower to flower as soon as hes had a taste, but as his character grows, you see that he really does care for juliet and is willing to commit to her even if he has to give up everything....
Juliet would seem like your typical 13/14 year old - naive and young - but when you're reading, she grows into the character that calls the shots, not letting someone else control her the way her parents do... and so she proposed marriage...and decides to fake her death for their relationship....
And as for Baz Luhrmann, i love the movie, not that ive ever sat down and watched it from start to finish, but it is so wierd how they are in modern times but talk like they are back in the 15th Century, i still love the novel tho
Hmmm...is anyone else finding joshs "chicken or egg" analogy kinda irelevant, dont really see how that ties up with the story... :P
ReplyDeleteP.S Goodwin, i think u no a lil too much about Shakespeare !!!
yeah the analogy doesnt make sense - but his point is valid.
ReplyDeleteWhat I meant by that is "Is it popular because it's liked, or is it liked because it's popular?" I know that's still not quite the same thing, but it's similar.
ReplyDeleteI think Josh offer's a valid point. Though it opens up a completely new discussion on peer pressure and pop-culture.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jeff, Goodwin is right, you can't have a group discussion or debate if everyone has the same opinion. Some of us are just a little louder when it comes to voicing them. Don't be scared to argue your own view back at us.
There are people who dislike Romeo and Juliet. Some call it cliche and outdated as well as over-told.
Though I'd also like to disagree with Josh. If R&J was written today, although it would be in a comtempory language, it would still be well recieved. You only have to look at the slightly ridiculous fanbase of 'Twilight' to see this.
There's a difference between basically everyone everywhere loving something (ROJ in it's time) and all teen-age girls falling in love with one of the characters in something (Twilight).
ReplyDeleteYou actually made me thin about that josh. Perhaps all the girls were in love with Romeo? Or the boys with Juliet.
ReplyDeleteThe fact remains that both are still well written. Despite how much the fan hype has killed it for some.
Perhaps they aren't all that different.
*reminiscent sigh* oh giv, do you remember the days when WE read twilight.... such a LONG time ago.... *vengeful muttering* silly teenage fan girls....
ReplyDeleteto make this relevent... how could you NOT fall in love with romeo....?
While I do think he's a complete tool, at least Romeo isn't an Albino...
ReplyDeleteRomeo and Juliet is still popular because it is the basis for every love story ever written these days.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the story of Tristan and Isolde was told first shakespeare had a bigger impact on society and therefore his stories are well known.
If you havnt noticed any stories that use the basis that romeo and juliet provides look at twilight. AND NO i'm not comparing shakespeare to twilight i just know many have read it.
A human (capulet) and a vampire (montague). There love is forsaken from the begining as a bird may love a fish but where would they live?
Because the forat is still used today it remains popular.
Amy
Well first off all, we do need to keep the love of Romeo and Juliet 'alive'.Alot of things that are well re-knowed at the time will remain that way for many years to come but obviously its our responsibilty to pass it down or it`s true meaning will be diminished.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above(not that i could be bothered to read them all)but i`m just coming from a different angle.p.s Josh your comment makes no sense what so ever and it made me laugh.
I always hated this kind of literature but ever since i got chosen to read a part i really got a grasp on the purity of the touching/emotive language in which Shakespeare uses.I appreciate it MUCH more now.
Yer any girl would love for a guy to speak like that to her...
You've just made my list Marie.
ReplyDeleteamy: i love tristian and isoldle!!! have you seen the movie?
ReplyDeletejosh,
ReplyDeletea) what list did she make?? and
B) i just thought you should know i also find your chicken or the gee thing kinda irrelevant too. in the way "is it popular because it's popular", then no, i dont believe that's the case, mmyself, like marie, has really started to like romeo and juliet. i have never fully read or veiewed the play before, but now i really enjoy it. i thin k even though we are forced to study shakespeare in english like jeff said, a lot of people come out on the other end with a loit of knowledge. half the stuff i wrote above, i never could have written before this year and lats years study's and discussions of shakespeare, and they really have taught me alot, and i have taken alot from the way they used to live.
i guess what im trying to say is that it really makes us appreaciate what we have today, compared to what they have. at least we can write down our stories instead of telling them by mouth so they get changed and altered.
Ok. Bec and Marie. A LOT is two words girls >.< grrrrr =P
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm happy studying Shakespeare in school can give people a taste fo what they otherwise might have avoided.
The list of people/things I feel have wronged me and therefor I shall take my revenge upon. It includes:
ReplyDeleteMarie
Spotlight
Cessknock movies
Steven Speilberg
Twilight
and much more.
im curious: how has spotlight wronged you?
ReplyDeletedidn't have the right type of glitter for your scrapbook?
No, in Drama we had to make a mask, and we had to buy the base thing from spot ight. The guy tried to charge me too much, and didn't believe me when I told him the price tag said differently to him.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMarie,
ReplyDelete"I always hated this kind of literature but ever since i got chosen to read a part i really got a grasp on the purity of the touching/emotive language in which Shakespeare uses.I appreciate it MUCH more now."
Hahaha, I think you said those exact same words to me in class the other day.
Sorry bout the l8 reply i 4 got my password =(
ReplyDeletemy opinion:
Lyk u said in class those 4 words in the balcony scene has impacted for hundreds of years...it's something so simple that has changed plenty....example natural disasters....hav an impact on ppl's lives for a few years.....( even if it's not 500..heheh) it's simply a disaster but changes and affects people in all different ways as does romeo and juliet.....we still remember ash wednesday which won't b forgoten in australia...just lyk we won't 4 get those 4 lines.....may sound dumb....but it makes sense in my head
to josh: what a dodgy dodgy spotlight guy =P
ReplyDeleteHmm...i think ppl are loosing focus on wat the question was, Therese, i find your thingy confusing. Are you calling Romeo & Juliet a Disaster ?
ReplyDeleteAnd im glad it makes sense in your head, at least it makes sense in someones head :P hahaha!!!!!