This is undoubtedly the greatest love story ever written. The tragic feud between "Two households, both alike in dignity/In fair Verona", the Montagues and Capulets, which ultimately kills the two young "star-crossed lovers" and their "death-marked love" creates issues which have fascinated subsequent generations. The play deals with issues of intergenerational and familial conflict, as well as the power of language and the compelling relationship between sex and death, all of which makes it an incredibly modern play. It is also an early example of Shakespeare fusing poetry with dramatic action, as he moves from Romeo's lyrical account of Juliet to the bustle and action of a 16th-century household (the play contains more scenes of ordinary working people than any of Shakespeare's other works). It also represents an experimental attempt to fuse comedy with tragedy. Up to the third act, the play proceeds along the lines of a classic romantic comedy. The turning point comes with the death of one of Shakespeare's finest early dramatic creations--Romeo's sexually ambivalent friend Mercutio, whose "plague o' both your houses" begins the play's descent into tragedy, "For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo".
After having read it a couple of times during my youth , I recently re-read 'Romeo and Juliet'. I always thought that 'Hamlet', 'King Lear' and 'Othello' were the finest plays of Shakespeare but this time I just happened to remember why these two characters -beloved to the reader as they are between themselves- are engraved in our minds forever as the tragic pair of literature. Furthermore I had forgotten how sharp and darkly witty this play was and how easy it was to become so emotionally attached to the characters. This is never more so apparent than at the absolute climax of the play that leaves you with the bitter-sweet feeling that you have just experienced one of the finest works of fiction coupled with the ironic sacrifice of the two most famous characters in history.

RELEASE NOTES:

Στα πλαίσια του "my bloody Valentine's day release challenge 2" άφησα αυτό το βιβλίο στα σκαλάκια του Δημοτικού Θεάτρου στο κέντρο του Πειραιά, συγκεκριμένα στο πρώτο σκαλάκι δεξιά-δεξιά περίπου στις 4.00μμ. Είναι δεμένο με κόκκινη κορδέλα κι ένα κόκκινο γλυφιτζούρι σε σχήμα καρδιάς, από εκείνα τα μεγάλα διαφανή γλυφιτζούρια, που συνήθως πωλούνται από μικροπωλητές στο δρόμο στα καροτσάκια με ποπ κορν και μαλλί της γριάς, και φυσικά με εμφανές bc post-it στο εξώφυλλο. Αυτή είναι η επίσημη ενδυμασία των βιβλίων που θα απελευθερώσω στα πλαίσια της συγκεκριμένης πρόκλησης!

Κατά τ'άλλα δε νομίζω να χρειάζεται αιτιολόγηση. Αν δεν είναι αυτός έρωτας, ποιος είναι;

This book was let free in central Pireas, at the stairs of the Municipal Theatre at 4.00pm during "my bloody Valentine's day release challenge.

If this is not love, what is?