Universality of Romeo and Juliet
There seems to be an on-going debate as to
whether we should attempt to "modernize" Shakespeare (or any of the
other classics for that matter). I think that you can look at it
two ways. Both appeal to the universality of the work. Either:
1. It is universal and modernizing it only emphasizes that fact, or
2. It is universal and modernizing it is not necessary. I think you
can play it both ways, and I think Romeo and Juliet is a good example
of this. The story still touches the lives of the audience whether
they see it set in the Elizabethan time period it was written in, or
the present. I even think it works well for other time periods, for
example, I have seen it set in Civil War America. I also think that
it would work equally well set before the Elizabethan era or some time
in the distant future. The story is that universal.
Imagine these scenarios:
Romeo is African-American; Juliet is Caucasian.
Romeo is from Mars; Juliet is from Venus.
Romeo is a backwoods country boy; Juliet is a city girl.
Romeo is Protestant; Juliet is Catholic.
Well, you get the picture, there are any number of variations on the
theme: Boy and Girl come from different worlds. There are great
obstacles between them. In spite of those obstacles they fall in love.
They marry. Catastrophe befalls them. They are separated. Fate works
against them and they die in tragedy. Through their deaths their
different worlds realize their common bonds and lay aside their
differences toward a unified future. It does not matter what the
differences are. The underlying theme still works.
There seems to be an on-going debate as to
whether we should attempt to "modernize" Shakespeare (or any of the
other classics for that matter). I think that you can look at it
two ways. Both appeal to the universality of the work. Either:
1. It is universal and modernizing it only emphasizes that fact, or
2. It is universal and modernizing it is not necessary. I think you
can play it both ways, and I think Romeo and Juliet is a good example
of this. The story still touches the lives of the audience whether
they see it set in the Elizabethan time period it was written in, or
the present. I even think it works well for other time periods, for
example, I have seen it set in Civil War America. I also think that
it would work equally well set before the Elizabethan era or some time
in the distant future. The story is that universal.
Imagine these scenarios:
Romeo is African-American; Juliet is Caucasian.
Romeo is from Mars; Juliet is from Venus.
Romeo is a backwoods country boy; Juliet is a city girl.
Romeo is Protestant; Juliet is Catholic.
Well, you get the picture, there are any number of variations on the
theme: Boy and Girl come from different worlds. There are great
obstacles between them. In spite of those obstacles they fall in love.
They marry. Catastrophe befalls them. They are separated. Fate works
against them and they die in tragedy. Through their deaths their
different worlds realize their common bonds and lay aside their
differences toward a unified future. It does not matter what the
differences are. The underlying theme still works.