#Romeo and Juliet Today

[academyoftheheartandmind]

Marble Poetry and Other Poems

By Shakti Pada Mukhopadhyay Marble Poetry We visited the Taj Mahal, the Crown of Palaces, on a tour. The artist’s Shangri-La was bathed in a Full Moon. Love-stitched marbles, while in color but gnawed by time, failed to shine with its stolen youth. The love of Shah Jahan and Mumtaj enlivened the moonlit Taj. The writing on the gate, “O soul, thou are at rest”, made time timeless and love…

[heartorbit]

the narcissist fools himself

[achillesleftheel]

newtmas x romeo and juliet (5:3)

[lukamodric]

CHARLES LECLERC looks at his tifosi, after qualifying 3rd in monza, italy 2023.

📸 pier marco tacca

[tybaltism]

day 42: couldn't help myself

[adam-scott]

idk who wants to hear this but some of the songs from the romeo + juliet soundtrack including the iconic young hearts run free track is back on spotify after being unavailable for like 7-8 years?

[essaytime]

I think the main thing that absolutely infuriates me about the "Romeo and Juliet were just dumb, horny teens" take is this implication that because they were so young, their relationship had to boil down to them being dramatic and inventing some great romance to moan about, or lust and hormones. As a teenager, it makes me want to tear the speaker apart with my bare hands. Interchangeably with stabbing, maybe.

When you look at the text, you can clearly see that there is some emotional connection between Juliet and Romeo. Their first conversation is literally a sonnet - which already indicates some sort of understanding and mutuality, and it's also beautiful poetry. They are the only characters in the entire play that they are really fully comfortable talking to. The adults are caught up in the feud, Nurse loves Juliet, but cannot understand her (and makes a dirty joke at her expense in Act I, which for a person Juliet's age would be awfully unpleasant), Romeo's friends, though I Iove them, don't get his sensitivity - Mercutio laughing at it and Benvolio worried by it - which Juliet, in turn, appreciates. They speak of each other with respect and admiration, quite unusually in Verona, where all is conflict and even Juliet's own father insults her: look at the sonnet, the balcony scene, Romeo comparing his sweetheart to the sun or a jewel (in contrast to his earlier quotes about Rosaline, which are literally a compilation of clichés stacked on top of one another). Even when Juliet awaits their wedding night, in a speech clearly centered on sexual matters, there is a visible softness and affection with which she treats Romeo ("cut him out in little stars"...). She waits for the night because it's him, not "I want to sleep with someone because I want to sleep with someone". The two genuinely care about each other, and are fond of each other. Of course, we can wonder if this love would last if they were given an opportunity to grow older, but when the play takes place, this love is there, and it's beautiful.

(Off-topic, I'd also like to note that this is an Elizabethan play that takes place in even earlier times, presumably late medieval - early renaissance Italy. They wouldn't live in the modern world where you can date many different people and settle well into your thirties or fourties. The average marriage age for girls in Shakespeare's time was about twenty, in fifteenth century Florence it was eighteen. Both of them were from wealthy families, so they'd likely be expected - even if Juliet's parents did not force her into a marriage with Paris - to marry earlier, for financial and political purposes. There couldn't be a "growing older" like we imagine it. Even their hypothetical different relationships would be early relationships for today's standards)

And it makes my blood boil when the visible genuine bond between these two is reduced to just "dumb kids being horny". The motive behind these words being partly, of course, the high-school-acquired All Required Reading is Nonsense edginess, but also a deeper issue - the inability to comprehend the fact that teenage love is also often real love.

Being capable of having deep and meaningful romantic relationships does not come baked into your birthday cake when you turn eighteen or attached to your first ever bill. Not every single feeling a teenager might harbour is at its core shallow lust and wanting to get laid. Of course, there's lots of cases of shortsighted infatuation where the pair really have nothing in common! I could name at least a few examples I have seen personally. But still, on every street and every corner of the world, and often a few metres from these pointless infatuations, teens fall in love because there's something more to it. Because they find they have a lot in common, because they get along well with each other, because they are able to see the good in the other person - their kindness, their intelligence, their enthusiasm, you name it. "Teens" including the younger teens, from thirteen to fifteen. And this love is a deep emotional bond. Sure, in most cases it will not last until death (and to be honest, relationships not working out is not really a teenage-specific phenomenon and a sign that young love of all is inherently doomed and it has to die so the curse of growing up is fulfilled), but it doesn't make it less of a love when it still remains, and it includes all the things love is about. Young couples go on dates, and have fun. They confide in each other. They support each other through hard times, they show care, they sometimes make sacrifices for their loved one's good. As any person in love does, at any age.

When I fell in love four months ago, I did not fall in love because I wanted to sleep with someone so bad. In fact, I do not want to - not for the next several years. I realise it's something I might want someday, but it's not today; and above all, I'm way too young. If anything, what I want is to kiss someone, or run my fingers through his hair, or read with his head in my lap - but it's not something I'd go out of my way and date a random person to get, come on. I fell in love because he is actually the first boy that reminds me of myself so much, the first I can understand so well. Because I also have a penchant for history and writing, I also tend to use formal and flowery language in very informal situations, I also enjoy people's attention (though I seem to worry more about being a potential inconvenience than he does), I also believe that we should judge people as individuals, because there's too much nuance in one person to make proper statements about large groups - and I find in him so many things that I can relate to, though of course I can't say I know him well enough to speak much for sure. Besides, he's simply a wonderful person, not flawless, of course, but he has a good heart. He is always kind, and well-mannered, and intelligent, and you can laugh with him. I think he would care if something bad happened, no matter if he says that he wouldn't. I think I know him well enough to say this at least. And if he loved me back (a thing I consider unlikely for now, but not entirely impossible), would we stay together forever? Heaven alone knows! Maybe not! It is up to the higher power. But even if we broke up, that wouldn't erase the fact that I loved him, and I would have done a lot for him, and we were able to have meaningful conversations. Just because a love isn't forever, doesn't mean it was never there.

Because - what the "dumb kids" people don't seem to grasp - teenagers are also human beings with a functioning, even if not fully developed, brain, capable of having complex feelings and thoughts just like an adult. Note that Shakespeare's leads, at least Juliet, actually do that - hence the pre-wedding night monologue, the "deny thy father and refuse thy name", her statement (I don't know the English original of that one, to be honest) that she is too soft and loving towards Romeo already, but it's because she has such profound feelings for him she can't even pretend to be strict. It's noticeable that she has some emotional maturity, at least - she shows some critical thinking abilities, she understands the consequences of many actions, she is able to see that the feud is pointless and a name is just a name. She's a teenager, and someone in their teens is also a Homo sapiens specimen, not a being from a different planet. Teens think and feel. It might not be the same reality as the adult one, and they don't deal with emotions with such ease as an adult would, but that doesn't mean they are unable to truly love and care, to enjoy talking to someone and want the best for them, like grown-ups do - as developing an affection for someone that makes you happy is a very human thing, and I can guarantee you a thirteen or fourteen-year-old is a developed enough human being to experience it.

So, to sum it up, if I hear any "Romeo and Juliet were just dumb kids being horny" on my watch, the author of this statement will presumably be mercilessly killed, and then I'll do as Fulvia allegedly did to Cicero and stab something through their tongue, except instead of a hairpin, I'll probably use one of the darts my little brother got for Christmas. They are very sharp. We have several holes in the floor already.

[arkadiusz1597]

the ending of the queen mab scene perhaps:)

[deadpoetsandlivinglegends]

Look I know I relate Neil to a new character every other post (one day I will do a tumblr poll on which character is most Neil-coded but not today) but also Ophelia and Neil parallels go so hard???

Both in a Shakespeare play that results in their death by their own hands (Ophelia obviously is a character in Hamlet which is a Shakespeare play who, when she fell in the lake, giddily sang until her dress became too heavy and drowned her some saying it a suicide as she was consumed by grief over the loss of her father, and Neil acting as Puck in Midsummer Nights Dream starts the fight with his father that results in his suicide)

Both associated with the color green and with nature

Both were obedient to their controlling fathers who used them to fulfill a plan they didn’t want to be apart of which also ties to the loss of their autonomy at the hands of their fathers (Ophelia’s father used her as a pawn without her knowledge, which is taking away her autonomy, in the plot against her lover hamlet who she did not want the demise of, through having her tell him all of Hamlet’s actions so he could figure out his motive and such, and Neil’s father wanted Neil to follow the life plan he had planned out for him even though Neil didn’t want that, which is taking away his autonomy)

Both their lovers hate their fathers

Both to some extent were believed to be liars that caused people to be angry with them and want to send them off potentially for ‘what’s best for them’ but also potentially for punishment (Hamlet believing Ophelia was deceitful because he was thinking all women were deceitful because mommy issues so he rejects her and says for her to go to the nunnery, some say to preserve her innocence and some believe it could’ve been slang meaning for her to go to a brothel because he wanted nothing to do with her because he thought she was part of the plot against him, and Neil’s father believed he was a liar because he went behind his back and joined the play, and he was going to send him away from welton to a military school and then make him go to med school to become a doctor, one interpretation being that it is because he believes this is the best path to make sure Neil is successful, and another interpretation being he wants to punish him through isolating Neil and taking him away from his friends for disobeying him)

Both spoke in rhyme before their death (Neil reciting Puck’s closing poem and Ophelia died singing a hymn or poem while still floating in the lake)

Both were giddy when they were not supposed to be, same day as their deaths too (Neil preforming in the play earlier that night that he wasn’t supposed to be in and Ophelia going mad which caused her to be uncharacteristically giddy to cope with her grief)

Both have a flower crown/wreath which them taking off to set down was an important part of their death

Both were drowning metaphorically and Ophelia literally due to a lose in their lives that leads to their death at their own hands

Both fell at their deaths even if it wasn’t how they died, as a way to literally show the characters metaphorical downfall (Neil hitting the floor of the study after shooting himself and Ophelia falling in the lake she drowns in when trying to put her flower crown on the branches of a willow)

[mostmagical]

no one has ever been more disappointed than me on my first ME1 playthrough, looking up how to romance the dinosaur alien only to get results that said “garrus only romancible in ME2.” then thinking to myself, okay— I’ll try to romance ashley. only to find that you can’t as femshep 😔

[beanghostprincess]

the directing of this scene is outstanding because despite being surrounded by darkness and crying, sanji is the one bathed in the sunlight of luffy's hopeful and loving words. his brothers are the ones laughing but they're covered in gloom and their narcissistic, evil selves. while sanji is acting in the most selfless and self-sabotaging way, wanting to go into the dark so his crew doesn't get hurt by the past he's been running away from for so long. he feels like he deserves this and luffy will not let him drown in his self-harm and the despair his family is. luffy literally is sanji's light, sun, hopes and dreams personified.

[today-it-is-this]

today, it is this — i watched romeo + juliet on broadway yesterday. yes the one starring kit connor and rachel zegler <3 i had written so many of my thoughts in my journal yesterday but i have more today so i thought i'd type them here. i'm so in awe of the whole ensemble, truly. and this applies to most theatre! day in, day out, they show up and consistently perform for a different group of people every single time. that must take so much energy, and for romeo + juliet specifically, they're on stage, running up and down the aisles, climbing up and down the ladders, jumping off the ledges, executing fights and choreographies... all while balancing delivering those shakesperean lines with absolute precision and emotion. two hours and 30 minutes almost everyday, sometimes even twice a day. it's mind-boggling to me! and the fact that they'll be doing this for five months total is even crazier. kit and rachel are amazing on stage and have such intimate chemistry. it's wild to me to watch these two, who've always been on film and tv, give live performances. it is such a privilege to watch them perform live (and SING live too!!!) with no cuts or edits. pure and raw performance. they draw you in and take your breath away. i remember feeling so mesmerized by kit when he was speaking to benvolio, really close to my side of the stage. the pure joy and relief in his eyes! his and rachel's soliloquies are so beautifully done! however, i do think that the rest of the ensemble really solidify the whole show for me. every single one of them is so ON it. and of course, sam gold's direction, sonya tayeh's choreo, and jack antonoff's music. this idea to make romeo + juliet for gen z was so off-putting to me that i thought it was gonna be dumb and corny, but sam gold did it so well. it makes so much sense. it's old english, yes, and the emotional beats are never taken lightly, but certain intricacies and mannerisms here and there feel so accurately rooted in gen z culture. it's unafraid to be hedonistic (lots of close make-out calls, grinding on each other, and vaping) and gen z humor was incorporated so seamlessly (especially from gian perez. so iconic I LOVE). i love that despite being limited to a small circle stage, they maximize and think outside the box to make it feel as BIG as possible, using all the aisles, under the stage, the overhead walkways. it's brilliant and just adds to the production value. i'm so happy to have my doubts proven wrong. this was such a blast, i hope everyone involved is so proud of themselves.

13/10/24

[tybaltism]

day 54: puppet on a string

[tonymarias]

KIT CONNOR AND RACHEL ZEGLER behind the scenes of ROMEO&JULIET promotional shoot

coming to broadway fall 2024

[readingwriter92]

ACTUALLY HAD TO GO FOR A WALK AFTER BANANA FISH 22 I FUCKING-

[vciousevrvale]

the urge to read some of shakespeare after reading if we were villains is insane