As weird as Romeo + Juliet
is at times, I do have to give it credit for its portrayal of the tragic end, which
by adding the little fact that they had a moment alive together kept it tragic.
It seems that often today the label “tragedy” is either technical or negative
when applied to entertainment. It’s a sarcastic comment for something that has
so far overdramatized something sad that it’s not sad but boring or even funny.
The story of Romeo and Juliet has a
reputation for fitting in this category. I had never before read or seen any adaptations
of the tale and I still shook my head at references to balconies and the over
used “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” (thanks to Tin-Man). Before this I had read A Midsummer Night’s Dream for a different
class where Shakespeare himself makes fun of this kind of tragic scene. The
clowns of the play stage a play that is uncannily like Romeo and Juliet. The lover, Pyramus, kills himself with these
words:
Thus die I, thus, thus,
thus.
Now am I dead,
Now am I fled;
My soul is in the sky.
Tongue, lose they light
Moon, make thy flight.
Now die, die, die, die,
die. (5.1. 295-302).
At this the nobles laugh; it is so overly dramatic
and badly constructed.
So I was surprised how genuinely
tragic the film managed to make their deaths; I watched it over breakfast and
that scene ruined all that day and half the next. Someone in class (I don’t remember
who. If it’s you take credit; if not take it anyway) said that they tear up every
time they see this scene. Perhaps a major part of what keeps Romeo and Juliet
alive is the fact that they die. It not just about love, but it’s about a sad
end to love, and sad endings things seem to stick around better than the happy
ones (not in all cases I’ll grant). Sadness in love is a very common but potent
feeling one that Romeo and Juliet can
appeal to over and over again.
