The deaths in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ were unnecessary, but the tension of life was overpowering. Insanity drove Romeo to end his life, yet the insanity was caused by life itself. His character throughout the play had loved passion. Romeo now had nobody to love. Rosaline had bewildered him but she had not returned his love. He had then been astonished after his eyes had feasted on Juliet. Her beauty had made him feel enthralled for her. When he thought she had died, he immediately thought that he was destined for bad luck. His emotions overcame him at this point and the suicidal thoughts in his head made him feel like his heart had been ripped out. “I do remember an apothecary…’And if a man did need a poison now…Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him.’” His thoughts without delay turned to suicide. He took his own life because he knew it would stop the hurricane of feelings from taking control of his mind.
The figurative structure leads up to this essential moment in the play, when Romeo dies by his wife. He spends a long time working up to the moment, and his speech is extensive and ends with a dramatic climax. One perspective of Romeo could be of a suicidal teen that thinks his life is the worst thing that ever happened to him. Most teens can relate with something that has happened in Romeo’s life. His death was not an act of passion, but an act of hatred for existence. “How oft when men are at the point of death Have they been merry.” He was happy to die, and so unbalanced that his emotions took over. I believe Romeo would have grown up to be a very psychotic man. He had killed two men, and had been dealt bad luck since this time in his teenage years. One viewpoint is that of Romeo not being in love, he yearned for ladies, and after he had been knocked down he was unwilling to get back up. He believed death was the answer to his problems, like many teens in the world today. Romeo, Romeo, Why do you die? The answer is not for love, but for the love of love, and for the love of nothing else. The nothing he had to live for.
Juliet was also destined for death while she was still young and irrational. She does not always think about her actions before she commits them. She utters, “Shall I be married…No, No, this shall forbid it”. She does not think of the repercussions of her actions. Her thoughts are not followed through and the deaths of Romeo and herself could be thought of as her responsibility. The Chorus refers to the death of the “star-crossed lovers” as Juliet verbalizes, “My grave is like to be my wedding bed.” She marries Romeo just as her parents agree that she should be married to Master Paris. Instead of rationally thinking about her circumstances, Juliet decides to fake her own death. And this later initiates her grave suicide.
Her mind is immature and she does not know how to handle her situation. She goes to Friar Lawrence, who has been on occasion wrong and illogical. He earlier asked Romeo “was thou with Rosaline?” because he wrongly believed this to be so, but the truth was hidden from his sight. His advice is thought of as prudent but Shakespeare suggests this is untrue. The “counsel” sought by Juliet has many repercussions culminating in the suicides of the couple. When Juliet is feigning death, Romeo sees her lifeless body. He gives away his own life, and then subsequently Juliet awakens from her slumber.
Her remembrance is acute and the thought of her husband appears into her young psyche. “I do remember where I should be; And there I am. Where is my Romeo?” Friar Lawrence finds Romeo dead by her side and compassionately mentions that she is now solitary in the world. “Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead…come, I’ll dispose of thee Among a sisterhood of holy nuns.” Juliet’s childish, immature consciousness is unable to cope with this thought. She does not take long to think about the circumstance that she is in but finds the best solution to be suicide. “Go thee hence for I will not away.”
This solution causes more problems that it is meant to solve. The abruptness of her end in the world is another sudden surprise to her family. “O heavens! O wife, look how our daughter bleeds!” Her sentiments about life were of the utmost importance in understanding why she no longer wanted to live it. Juliet thought her only option was death and she was happy with it. “O happy dagger” is a statement proving she is jovial to end her life. She later says “and let me die” which also confirms her pleasure from death. She believed in her juvenile mind that she had nobody to turn to. Because of a number of misunderstandings caused by a holy Friar the bride is now dead.
John Madden directed a film about Romeo and Juliet; he called it ‘Shakespeare in Love’. The title shows the story of Romeo and Juliet is a true account of the author, Shakespeare, falling in love. In the film Shakespeare actually plays the part of Romeo in the play, and his true love plays Juliet. It is ironic as in the play and out of it the lovers will be separated. John Madden emphasizes the deaths by shortening the speeches so only the crucial elements are left. Romeo only says a short amount of his last soliloquy that we read in the book. In this film the members in the audience are very significant. They show emotions such as melancholy, grief, shock, and the effect of real life. They believe the play is really happening and try to get involved. They wanted to stop fate from taking over. The film is set at the time the play was being written and so the costumes are typical of the time. The play, in the Globe theatre, had outside sound effects; this enhances the drama and tension building up inside everybody watching. There is also a lack of scenery in the theatre making the actors work harder to keep the attention directed towards them. The film has a distinct feeling that fate always has the last say. It is dramatic and intense and shows that we do not have say in our lives. Things happen if we want them to or not.
Baz Luhrmann has a very different view to what should have happened. His film of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is set in modern times. Romeo is wearing a Hawaiian shirt and carries a gun. Capels’ monument, where Juliet is buried, is full of candles and neon crosses. Juliet is set at the altar, very peacefully, as though she has been given to God. The sound effects are morbid and depressing, Wagner’s Liebestod is playing in the background. The title of the music is German for love death, as the lovers inevitably die. In Baz Luhrmanns’ version of the play the order of deaths is divergent the play Shakespeare wrote. Juliet wakes before Romeo dies. He does not see his wife awake until after he has drank the poison. She holds him in her arms as they say goodbye, and ‘with one last kiss I die’ is uttered from Romeo’s lips. This is a very emotional part of the film as Baz Luhrmann uses the actors’ features to give the effect that this is real, and nothing can stop it. You cannot help but pity them as fate takes control of their lives. You want to shout out and tell Romeo Juliet has life, but then it is too late. When Romeo has died in Juliet’s arms she cries out and her voice echoes with loneliness throughout the church. Juliet is alone and as Romeo has a gun she takes it and uses it as an escape. A loud bang is then the only sound you hear. A modern day version of the play has turned out to be very different to the play Shakespeare wrote in 1994.
And so both directors are extremely unique yet they both have one main issue they are trying to address. Fate controls everyone, and everything. The ‘star-crossed lovers’ were destined to die, no matter what happened. These directors showed it in a different form, from a perspective that nobody else has. These people stand out from the crowd, and as a result they have directed some great films that touch the hearts of people that watch them.
“How oft when men are at the point of death Have they been merry” Romeo was happy to die, as was Juliet. He was tired of being alive, and alone, and hated his existence, as he had no one to turn to. This play has such intense hatred and unbelievably powerful verse. Shakespeare has included real feeling that a youth of Romeos’ age would feel. Stress, loneliness, and the lack of hope; many teenagers suffer from these feelings. This causes them to do as Romeo and his bride did; suicide becomes the answer. Shakespeare uniquely showed real emotions at such an intense way without damaging his play. Many interpretations are that ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a great play, a play of truth, a play of death. With just one tiny hope left in Romeo the lives of the couple might not have ended at such an early age; or maybe fate took over and nothing could stop bereavement, not even all the hope in the world.