"Romeo and Juliet"

Title: "Romeo and Juliet"
Author: William Shakespeare

Reviewed by: Jessica Jia

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Romeo and Juliet is the classic tale that has steeped itself in cultural references and is one of the most well known love stories of all time. I was very excited to read the play because I had never read Shakespeare before; I was reluctant to read it though because I already knew how it ended; and I was baffled when I found out that even Shakespeare foretells the ending in the beginning of the play. So, why tell the audience the ending before the story even started? I would think that he just gave away his whole tragedy, but actually the ending is not the most important part, it's the events and emotions that lead up to the ending. Of course anyone who knows anything about English literature knows about Romeo and Juliet, but not everyone has read the whole thing as it was meant to be perceived.

Reading the whole play is so much more fulfilling than just knowing the ending. Also, having a translated text and a teacher to further point out what Shakespeare meant made reading the book a very nice experience. I never knew that the story was so intense and deep. It is a genius work of literature. Shakespeare must have been a genius or, like some suspect, more than one man. How could a single brain possibly churn out something with layers upon layers of meaning and wit?

Even if you thought that you knew the gist of "Romeo and Juliet" I still recommend that you read this book. I cannot begin to explain how much more enjoyable it is to read the tale with deeper perception and meaning. It is so much more than just pretty scenes that we have seen in high school plays and major motion productions. Reading the book gives a more profound meaning to the story and deep insight of the culture of Shakespeare's time. The side-to-side translation is very helpful and I have no regrets whatsoever for buying it. I already had the "Complete Works of Shakespeare" at home, but I tried reading that and I fell asleep. This book however was very interesting and could keep my attention. I definitely give it my full recommendations, and 5 out of 5 stomps.


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