Romeo and Juliet Paperback – November 20, 2019

Film, comic TV series adaptations multiply the story of Romeo and Juliet. I have enjoyed many of its mirrors as the version with Leonardo DiCaprio in Miami, the kung fu version with Jet Li, the black and white classic with Cantinflas ("London! I mean... Paris!"xD), or Juleo and Rumiet by Chespirito, among many others. But just now I dared to read the original and it was jaw-dropping...Shakespeare is invisible. He creates a world where he is not seen and all is doomed to fit or crash by its own accord. The first scenes indirectly set the following drama. In a world where Romeo and Juliet are not meant to be, they violently and inevitably fall in love with each other. There is Rosaline, whom Romeo loved with juvenile passion to her idealized shape. She is there and she is not there to make a contrast with the feelings toward Juliet. Juliet for her part has to clad her tears of love with the disguise of mourning for her cousin Tybalt; she utters words of revenge against Romeo because the world is against her love. Similar to the end of Don Quixote, when he awakes from madness to the tiredness of reality, Romeo also, at his end, has no romance but solitary longing; one that awakes him into a conscious lucidity of his "world-weary flesh" of man. The moment in which he is alone with himself after losing everything at hands of death... is not Hamlet that descends into madness, is Romeo that now seems to understand everything. Rather than romance Romeo and Juliet is about the struggle of small humanity against destiny, to do anything despite to have the whole universe plotting against you. As so this story is a triumph.Borges said that secretly the national book of Englishmen is the bible, not Shakespeare's works; and that Shakespeare's works was secretly the national book of Germany, not Goethe's works. I love so much the diverse authors of the United Kingdom, especially those at the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century. But I have to concord that Shakespeare seems different. Clearly universal, not for the location of his plays, but because the human nature is common to each man and woman; a quality that Romanticism, in its insistence for exotic objects to clad the fellow citizens instead to get to to the heart of the exotic cultures, failed to accomplish (although in fairness perhaps that wasn't its goal). Maybe indeed Shakespeare is more akin to the Germanic and Nordic old sagas, those that have a wise understanding of men and women, with characters that deeply say far more in their actions or in subtle words.About the AmazonClassics Edition it has a minimal of X-Ray to indicate the allegiance of each character to the Capulet or Montague families. Beyond that there are not footnotes nor prologues; and I am happy for that because Shakespeare is better discovered without intermediaries.

If you are a student or new to the works of Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Made Clear) is a handy, must have guide for understanding this great work of literature. The book not only lists modern language next to the original language, it also provides in depth historical information about the play, act-by-act synopses of the play, a cast of characters, the play's major themes, and a section on Shakespeare himself.This guide literally "translates" Shakespeare into modern language that is readily understood by today's audience. Jokes, proverbs, contextual insights, and historical and religious explanations of the original language are also conveniently provided in footnotes below the passages.For example, Romeo says, "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." The modern interpretation of that phrase is, "But wait--what light do I see in the window? It is the east, and Juliet is like the sun." The footnote text further explains: "This scene, like others in the play, contains imagery of light and darkness. For example, Romeo stands in the shadows of Juliet's balcony, and he compares her first to the sun and then to the brightness of the stars in the night sky."Organized in a manner that presents the original passages first, followed by the modernized passages, and the explanatory footnotes, it's an easy read that will expand your knowledge and enjoyment of the Great Bard.

Till now, I had always found Shakespeare's language so daunting that after a while I gave up on reading him. Thanks to the Barnes&Noble editions, this has changed for me. First of all, they have an outstanding introductory essay where I read for the first time that Shakespeare's language is difficult for everybody and why. The realization that the problem was not just me gave me the courage to persevere. But for me the main advantage of these editions is that I get just the right amount of help with Shakespeare's language, without being overburdened with extra information that might be interesting but slows me down and makes me lose interest (e.g. the Arden Shakespeare editions). Especially helpful is that the explanations are split into two. Just beside the text are the translations of archaic words or "false friends", words we know but that were used with a different meaning in Shakespeare's time, such as "jealous". In other editions you are forced to search somewhere far away for these explanations and the editors wrongly assume that explaining such words once is enough (a seemingly minor issue which can become extremely frustrating). On the opposite page of Barnes&Noble Shakespeare more complicated expressions are explained, such as allusions to things we are no longer familiar with or cleverly crafted poetic phrases that probably would have caused Shakespeare's contemporaries difficulties too. Somehow, I found it much easier and faster to look for these explanations on the side rather than at the bottom. I was also agreeably surprised by the cheapness of these Barnes&Noble editions, I don't know how to manage to make money on them. My only disappointment is that they have not brought out the whole Shakespeare yet, I sincerely hope they will.