ROMEO & JULIET
DRAMATURGY
INSPIRATION AND ADAPTATION
HISTORY OF THE STORY
In spite of being an "old" story, William Shakespeare was not the first write to put the tale of these two star-crossed lovers to paper. Sam Seaborn taught us that good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright.
THIS SITE has compiled a useful history of the origins of the story.
HERE is another overview of Shakespeare's inspiration.
ELIZABETH'S ENGLAND
In his entire career, William Shakespeare never once set a play in Elizabethan England. His characters lived in medieval England (Richard II), France (As You Like It), Vienna (Measure for Measure), fifteenth-century Italy (Romeo and Juliet), the England ruled by Elizabeth’s father (Henry VIII) and elsewhere—anywhere and everywhere, in fact, except Shakespeare’s own time and place. But all Shakespeare’s plays—even when they were set in ancient Rome—reflected the life of Elizabeth’s England (and, after her death in 1603, that of her successor, James I). Thus, certain things about these extraordinary plays will be easier to understand if we know a little more about Elizabethan England. (MORE)
ADAPTING ROMEO & JULIET
THE JULIET LETTERS
History can work in reverse! The "Juliet Balcony" is an identified landmark in Verona. Thousands of visitors come to this site annually-- many of whom leave letters in the "official" Juliet mailbox. You can also mail a letter to Juliet. Listen to the NPR story about that below.
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