ROMEO & JULIET – COOLEST LOVERS OF THEM, ALL
By
George Enice Lawhon
Published by George Enice Lawhon at Smashwords
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© Copyright 2011 George Enice Lawhon
ROMEO AND JULIET
Coolest Lovers of Them All
INTRODUCTION
This attempt to color with crude humor a well-known play by Shakespeare, was given a treatment that while different, still does not mask the terrible beauty of a tale well told of tragedy and wasted love and life, sponsored by that unfortunate and all too common attribute of humanity, tribal strife. It was first submitted as a paper in a college class on Shakespeare, pretty much as you see it here.
I used the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli film as a guide; for instance, the Act 1 Prologue, the angry, closing speech by the Prince, and the Narrator's sad, final comments, which in the original play which were also given by the Prince.
I have tried to stay close to the original play's content. Some words are so beautiful and simple, so precisely pure, such as Juliet’s pledge to Romeo in the balcony scene.
“JULIET
"Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed. If that thy bent of love be honorable, thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, by one that I'll procure to come to thee, where and what time thou wilt perform the rite; and all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay and follow thee my lord throughout the world."
It was my hope that they would stand out as untouched contrast to my feeble attempt at a humorous rendition.
Whatever you read here and feel about it, I encourage you to read the play as written, and also watch the Zeffirelli film. Except for the same story told in another form, West Side Story, it is the finest portrayal I know of the two lovers as Shakespeare intended; young, beautiful teenagers passionately in love, caught in a familial web of anger.
If you want to consider the play as a metaphor for tribal warfare in all its forms, you will agree, at least on that point, with my view. Whether it's politics in the world, the nation, your state, or your local government, it is laid before you every day on and in media of all types. You are also aware of family tragedies that are mirrors, at least in process, of what happened when the Capulets and the Montagues allow their angers to govern their lives. It is to weep for them, and us.
ACT I
PROLOGUE
"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,