This is the play about the star-crossed lovers that this tragedy, set in Verona, Italy, can be no other than this with love and death. First published in 1597, Shakespeare wrote this as original text from 1591 to 1595. Over four hundred years later, the Sparknotes team came and study the play to write down the notes so it's easy-to-understand as modern text. I didn't know what to expect from Shakespeare when I was fifteen. One year later, when I was sixteen, I joined Drama and I became a Thespian by the end of junior year. When I started blogging by the time senior year rolls around, I need to know what to expect as a Thespian - "Act well your part, and there all the honor lies." That's a catchphrase to support Drama and the International Thespian Society. I've seen four plays in high school - The Mouse that Roared (The Tale of Despereaux meets Red October), Anything Goes (Disney version of Titanic), 4AM - Is anybody out there? (Millenials at Night), and Arsenic and Old Laces (the old-timely 1940s Clue short story in 2 hours and 30 minutes), The Nutcracker (the popular late Victorian ballet is loosely based on the book, but indeed, a good adaptation for every Christmas season). Soon, comes down to the play to be performed again on a Thursday afternoon - Romeo and Juliet. The last time it played was last Monday morning - the few hours before the Induction ceremony.
According to the Banned Books Guide by Robert P. Doyle, it appeared two times - the 2011-12 edition and the 2012-13 edition. It says, in May of 2012, "some parents in Liberty, South Carolina are furious about the book their kids are reading in middle school. They say it's too mature for their kids because of the sex. The book in question is an easy-to-read version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet." In my own words, let's say it contains sexual references, mild language, some mild kissing content, brief dual violence and little intensity.
This challenged book is said to be part of No Fear Shakespeare, as I can tell it takes 146 online pages for you to read the whole entire thing from beginning to end. Five acts in one play - a great study for the play to analyze it. It's really free for you to do the new perspective if you studied it in your academic education like once, twice or several times since high school. I studied it once. It's very good that I was feeling a bit pressured to get it on with "this format of studying" in order to watch the play. I know I got more Shakespeare to do from Sparknotes - if any of his plays don't appear on Sparknotes, then I guess we'll have to study the old-fashioned way: notebook and pencil. My sister Lauren read the Folger Shakespearean Library edition of this play last year - she was impressed by the playwright Shakespeare. My mom and dad read Shakespeare literature before and I had never read anything Shakespearean before except maybe a few lines - but as Regionals came, I played Helena from A Midsummer Night's Dream after Antigone from Antigone as a single Monologue audition. Did you know that the 2013 film version of Romeo and Juliet was the worst film adaptation? It lacked the impressiveness of an historical touch for boring, cheesy things; so that's why it's awfully fun to be placed in the Bad Movie Night theme: Worst Adaptation from Books and Plays. It needs to be dragged on forever once when I got the DVD (it's already released).
This has been the Banned Books review. Remember no banned book is without sin except for the right religious text for the right religious people. Next time: we're talking about Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. WARNING: A rabbit hole leads to the real-world ahead of you! Readers, time for your individual reading pick from the Banned Books Guide - it's your choice to read and review. If you read banned books before prior to seeing in shock on the Banned Books list from ALA (American Library Association)/ILA (Illinois Library Association) or world.edu, send me your ideas on the comments section below. If you're interested in this blog, do subscribe and let me know!
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