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| The Little Extras - Myths and Fantasies | |
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| The Little Extras - Myths and Fantasies | |
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Juliet
(drawing by Arthur Rackham) Juliet Capulet became one of literature's most famous women thanks to William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Forever living, she is a worthy incarnation of the woman who loves. At the beginning of the 15th century, Luigi da Porto transported the legend of the two unfortunate lovers from Sienna to Verona and gave the heroine and hero new names: Giannoza became Giulietta and Mariotto became Romeo. In two novellas da Porta emphasized the young people's passion and especially Juliet's fearless yet chaste love. The story attracted Matteo Bandello, who rewrote the tale adding further details. This version was translated into French and then into English. In this form it reached Arthur Brooke, a 16th century poet who freely reinterpreted the tale in The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. Shakespeare used Brooke's version as a source for his plot but refined and remodeled the characters. In his hands, and through his genius, an original work and the Juliet we know today came into being. The action takes place over five days in 1300 AD, in beautiful Verona, a city divided by the hate between two important families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Young Romeo Montague, who thinks he is in love with a girl named Rosaline, goes to a masked ball given by the Capulets and meets Juliet, who is betrothed to Paris. Romeo asks himself: "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." Juliet, in learning the identity of the young man who has charmed her, cries out: "My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathèd enemy." This sudden and spontaneous love changes their lives. During the night Romeo visits Juliet. She consents to a marriage, which takes place the next day in the greatest secrecy. That very day, Romeo intervenes in a quarrel between his friend Mercutio and Lady Capulet's nephew Tybalt. But Mercutio is killed by Tybalt, whom Romeo in turn kills. Realizing that his action condemns him to exile, he spends a furtive night with his wife and leaves for Mantua. Juliet then learns that her father has fixed the date for her marriage to Paris. Taken by surprise, Juliet agrees to a plan proposed by Friar Lawrence. She will drink a potion that will make everyone believe she is dead but will wear off after forty hours. Friar Lawrence will tell all to Romeo, who will come to her burial vault and take her to Mantua with him. Juliet drinks the potion but, in an unfortunate chain of coincidences, Romeo does not receive the friar's message and is told his beloved has died. He procures poison and returns to Verona. When he arrives at the Capulet vault that night, he encounters Paris and kills him. Then Romeo kisses Juliet for the last time and swallows the poison. When she awakes, she finds his body. Juliet kisses Romeo for the last time and fatally stabs herself. The two families, seeing the catastrophe born of their hate, reconcile over the bodies of their children. Romeo and Juliet are the ideal couple. From the moment they meet, they think and act as one, a unity made larger by innocent love born in the midst of hate. Juliet is the ideal woman. Although she is chaste and pure, she is capable of defying paternal authority because her love is true. Of the two lovers, Juliet has the stronger character. She knows how to act alone as an independent human being, whereas Romeo surrounds himself with advisers. Thoughtful and wise, Juliet also proves intuitive. Love transforms this shy child of fourteen into a mature woman, yet she does not lose the freshness of her youthful dreams. Juliet faces both life and death courageously. Her death, joined with that of Romeo, demonstrates the triumph of love over hate. One of Shakespeare's most popular plays, Romeo and Juliet has inspired countless imitations in many languages and genres. The tale was transposed, transported and set to modern song by Leonard Bernstein in West Side Story. Other composers have used the story too - Niccolo Zingarelli, Vincenzo Bellini, and Charles Gounod in opera (Zingarelli's had a happy ending!), Hector Berlioz as the theme of a symphony, Peter Thchaikovsky for an overture, Sergei Prokofiev for a ballet. In these many forms, Juliet continues to live and die before our eyes.
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