Comparing Star-Crossed Lovers In Zeffirelli's Romeo And Juliet

In the book Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, the two main characters are star crossed lovers from two feuding families. After meeting just one day before, they marry secretly. But, later that week Romeo gets caught up in a fight between the feuding families and kills Juliet’s cousin Tybalt. COnsequently, he is exiled from the city of Verona. On top of that Juliet's father, Lord Capulet, not knowing about her marriage, agrees to marry her to another man named count Paris. Frantic and not wanting to dishonor her marriage, Juliet asks Friar Lawrence for help. He gives her a potion which will make her sleep for forty-two hours and during this time she will appear dead to her family members, thereby avoiding being married off to Paris. Originally

There were quite of few differences between William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet play and Baz Luhrmann’s movie based on the play. For example, the ending scene in the movie left out a lot. Paris never showed up at the cemetery to place flowers at Juliet’s tomb. Thus, Paris and Romeo never got in a quarrel that had ended in Paris’s death. Baz Luhrmann probably left out this small part in the movie because Paris wasn’t a major character in the movie. Also at that part in the scene there was already a lot going on, so leaving out that fight between Romeo and Paris wouldn’t have taken a huge toll in that certain scene. In the play that small detail told the readers that Paris’s love was true for Juliet. However by leaving out that part out in the movie it didn’t tell the audience if Paris was actually into the marriage for true love. Also Juliet was awake before Romeo died as well. However he didn’t notice that she was awake quick enough before he had drank the poison. By having Juliet wake before Romeo passed away made that

Romeo and Juliet was written about 421 years ago and is still one of the most famous love stories in literature today. Zeffirelli’s film was produced in 1968, only 48 years ago. The film was made 373 years after William Shakespeare’s play, yet Zeffirelli was able to capture the essence of various themes from the play. The theme of Act II scene ii from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was best represented in the film.

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and were left with the final thought of, something was missing. In the Luthrman in Zeferelli edition of Romeo and Juliet there were several of events that were not added into to the movie that were clearly an ineffective. There is no reasoning behind why the events weren’t implemented. Some huge events in Romeo and Juliet included, Romeo and Paris dueling, Romeo’s final soliloquy and Friar Laurence’s speech to the families. All being big events that were left out. To completely understand the viewer would have to read the play, or else they are not getting the full side of the story. Clearly many of the creative choices made by the movie directors were ineffective.

Romeo and Juliet is a famous play, written by 16th century English poet, play wright and actor, William Shakespeare. There have been several adaptions of this, portrayed in many different forms, as modern interpretations of the timeless classic. One well known conversion is a film, created by the Italian director Franco Zeffirelli in 1968, which remains largely true to the original text written by William Shakespeare, however does make some alterations based on his own perception of the original text.

In the play The Tragedies Of Romeo And Juliet written by Shakespeare, the film made my Zeffirelli is more closely related because of where the scene takes place. In the playwright, this scene in Act 3, Scene 5 starts off with Lady Capulet telling Lord Capulet of Juliet's reaction to her newly announced marriage. Which is the same in Zeffirelli’s film that shows the scene taking place in the stairway nearest to Juliet’s room (3.5.115-135). However this is not the way the scene starts in the other film by Luhrmann in which Lord Capulet hears of the news by walking into Juliet's room and overhearing the conversation between Juliet and her mother. Also, in the playwright the text states, “Lady Capulet enters” then later on “Capulet and Nurse enter”

I chose to do a scene from the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli. The music was composed and conducted by Nino Rota and it was produced by Neely Plumb.

In both the movie and the book, there were parts that were on spot with similarities. One part that was very similar was when Romeo goes by Juliet’s tomb and talks to her “dead” body in a monologue and afterward, both the movie and the book have Romeo drink a poison where he talks about how strong the potion is. When Juliet wakes up, for both, Juliet does not want to leave her tomb because of the fact she did not see Romeo until she looks around and finally sees him. To that, she stabs herself with a dagger to be with Romeo

In the play everybody gets around on like horses or carriages, when in the movie they all have cars to get around faster. Another difference is the fighting scene in the movie took place at a beach with people in bathing suits and swim wear when in the play, it just took place in the Verona streets. In the movie the houses have ranges and oven tops, which in the play they would not have had them because it was far back in the day. Another difference is that in the movie they had used payphones to contact from far away instead of just sending letters across the place like Friar did in the play. When Romeo went to the poor apothecary to buy a fast acting poison, in the play he had payed him in gold coins but in the movie he paid the apothecary in hundred dollar bills.

The term “star-crossed lovers” is depicted toward a relationship that is doomed to fail. People that study astrology say that “star-crossed” lovers are “thwarted by a malign star,” or that the stars are working against the relationship. Star-crossed relationships are sometimes said to be doomed from the start. Most of these relationships involve people that are kept apart no matter how hard they struggle to be together. In both Dear John and Romeo and Juliet you will learn about two relationships that were doomed to fail from the start.

As one can see, the film and the script can be compared using many different scenes. The play was more tragic than the film and had a very clear context. The film had more sound effects and visuals whereas in the script you had to imagine what everyone would look like and picture what all the scenes would be like. Romeo and Juliet is the greatest love story ever written, although it ended in a tragedy.

In my opinion I think the Zefferelli’s version of the balcony scene is better, that's just my opinion maybe it’s because it’s the original version.

In both the movie and the play the Montagues and Capulets hate each other. Even though the families hated each other Romeo and Juliet fell in love at first sight. Both had showing the struggles the Romeo and Juliet had to go through to be together. They both were spot on how the character Mercutio acted,

Both open with an epic fight scene. Moving later into the play, Romeo and his friends stumble across a Capulet servant who cannot read. The servant asks Romeo to read the list of names Lord Capulet has given him for a party taking place later that night. The servant then invites Romeo to the party as long as he isn’t a Montague. This scene sets up the meeting of Romeo and Juliet and, sadly, not in the movie version. Later in the play, the men show up to the party at the Capulet's house. In the play this party, a masquerade ball, describes everybody in disguise; so nobody can really say who is who. In the movie, however, not many people seem in disguise at all. In fact, in the movie, only Romeo and his friends seem dressed to the

The character of Lady Capulet is mainly different in both text and film. The comparison of Lady Capulet in both text and Luhrman film is that she feels more comfortable talking to Juliet with the nurse in the room and to prove this she says: