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A Taste of Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet

A Taste of Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet

Like the other programs in the series 'A Taste of Shakespeare,' the purpose of this video is to help modern audiences, especially students, identify with the universal themes in Shakespeare's plot line. This is done by having actors tell the story of the play, act key scenes and, in asides to the camera, explain and comment on the attitudes and relationships of the main characters.

ROMEO AND JULIET is not just the story of young lovers defying their families' hatred, it is also the cautionary tale of death-obsessed teenagers who rush into suicide with the same abandon as they rush into the consummation of their love.

Juliet is a thirteen-year-old girl falling in love at first sight, for the first time. Romeo is a few years older, miserably infatuated with the elusive Rosaline when he is suddenly overcome by Juliet's delicate beauty. The lovers are passionate and vulnerable; the grown-ups have their own agenda; and even when they want to help, they give bad advice. Everything happens too fast, and with a little bit of bad luck disaster overtakes them all.

Every one of us can identify with different aspects and characters at various stages in our lives. The thrill of being in love and having that love returned; the pleasure in helping clandestine lovers find a way to be together; the terrible power of parents that makes teenagers desperate to escape; the pitiful finality of death that comes too soon.

Because we all either are, or once were, young; and because this story of vulnerable love has such instant, and long-lasting appeal; we owe it to our students, and ourselves, to teach the play with great empathy and care.