Romeo And Juliet Comparative Essay

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Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet is no stranger to the big screen. The play has been adapted to the big screen numerous times and has seen derivative plays and works pop up throughout the years. Every new adaptation released by a director has had its own special charm to it -- whether it be positive or negative -- and has brought a new vision and look and feel with it. When reading the play, each reader imagines their own version of the environment, a big screen adaptation simply delivers a director’s vision and atmosphere to alleviate the need for the reader to try to create their own world. However, when adapting any work of literature to the big screen, some scenes and details of the original work must be looked over in order to keep …show more content…

This age difference in relation to the ages of Romeo and Juliet in the original play affects the whole stigma of the young adolescent love talked about throughout. Next, the characterization is on-point with the descriptions given by the play, a major plus for Zeffirelli’s movie adaptation. The movie makes it feel as though the viewer is looking at the world painted by Shakespeare himself. Lastly, Zeffirelli paces material in a good manner that delivers an upbeat and sweet take on the balcony scene. Moving right into the next adaptation, which actually is not quite Romeo and Juliet, it instead is a cartoon with a balcony scene influenced by the one in Shakespeare’s play. Aladdin (1992), a Disney work all in its own, features a balcony scene where both parties are not quite in love with each other -- at least not yet. Jasmine, our Juliet in this case, is not too familiar with our Romeo, Aladdin. In addition, the scene is set in a totally different environment than the one pictured in Romeo and Juliet (1968), this one is set in the Middle East. Contrast to what looks to be the ages of the leading characters in Zeffirelli’s adaptation, Jasmine and Aladdin are right on top of the age range Shakespeare was going for. In the same way, the characterization and pace is much different than the aforementioned movie

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