106 ROMEO AND JULIET
or two. Shakespeare’s story is
faster, and this serves to heighten
the tragic brevity of the romance.
Shakespeare has a very different
attitude toward the lovers. Brooke
thoroughly disapproves of them;
they are “unfortunate lovers,
thrilling themselves to unhonest
desire, neglecting the authority
and advice of parents and friends.”
Shakespeare, however, is on their
side. In Romeo and Juliet, they
are innocent victims—Juliet is
just 13—and in the beauty and
ardor of their love, they soar
far above their parents’ bickering
and bitterness. It is this large-
hearted sympathy that gives
Shakespeare such wide appeal,
and made his message so
subversive at the time.
While the characters in
Brooke’s poem are largely
archetypes, in Romeo and Juliet,
they are much more fleshed out
and real. Shakespeare also brings
minor characters such as the
well-intentioned Friar Laurence
and the chatterbox Nurse fully to
life. Romeo’s quick-witted and
earthy friend Mercutio is entirely
Shakespeare’s creation, one of his
most appealing. It is Mercutio’s
death in a sword fight at the
beginning of Act 3 that wrenches
the mood of the play dramatically
from comedy to tragedy.A stage revolution
It is hard to appreciate today just
how revolutionary Shakespeare was
in bringing this story to the English
stage. Italian novels were certainly
becoming increasingly popular
with the younger generation at
the time—Shakespeare was not
yet 30 when he wrote Romeo and
Juliet—but no one had put this kind
of story on stage before. Previously,
tragic drama had been mostly
about noble lords and mighty
warriors in grand settings.
Here, the hero and heroine are
just two ordinary contemporary
teenagers, distinguished only by
their love and their way with
words, in an ordinary city that
happens to be called Verona, but
could be anywhere. The young
Shakespeare’s play was no
slowly unfolding, grand epic as
most earlier tragedies had been,
but fast-paced, down, and dirty.
In the brief and measured verse
with which the Chorus outlines
the scenario, Shakespeare seemsMy bounty is as boundless
as the sea,
My love as deep. The more
I give to thee
The more I have, for both
are infinite.
Juliet
Act 2, Scene 1Lady
Montague MontagueMarried to
Capulet Lady CapuletMarried toRomeo
their sonBenvolio
his nephewMercutio
their friendAbraham
BalthasarTybalt
her nephewJuliet
their daughterPetruccio
his friendNurseSamson
GregoryHouse of Montague House of Capulet Friend ServantsThe feuding houses of Verona
Secretlymarried to