No fear Shakespeare to Titanic

No fear Shakespeare to Titanic

For this project we had to compare the No Fear Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet graphic novel, to the movie “Titanic”, both the movie and the book were very interesting. They did have some major things in common, as well as some big differences. One thing interesting in common with both the movie and the book are the initials R and J, these are the initials of both the main characters in the separate stories; Romeo and Juliet and Rose and Jack. But that is only a small thing in common out of many, the subjects I will be talking about that are in common with the two stories are both loves are forbidden and unaccepted in society; Romeo and Juliet’s because of the two family’s hate for one another, Rose and Jack’s because of the social classes, rich and poor. Second, the couples are separated, Jack is framed as a thief and Romeo is banished for killing Tybalt.

Lastly, both Romeo and Jack sacrifice themselves because of their love for Juliet and Rose. In both stories the lovers are faced with the challenge of forbidden love, because something keeps them from being able to openly show they’re affection, in Romeo and Juliet there love is forbidden because the two families (the Montague’s and the Capulet’s) have a fierce hatred for each other, so intense, that they have banned Romeo and Juliet from being together. It makes the story much more interesting. In Titanic’s case, Rose and Jack are separated by two things, first because of the social class issue; Rose is in first class, rich and taken care of, while Jack is in third class and doesn’t even have a home. Second because of Rose’s looming potential marriage, she must make a decision to run away with Jack or stay rich and naive. Next, at some point in both story lines the two couples are separated, by fate or by consequence. In the story of Romeo and Juliet, as punishment for killing Tybalt, Romeo is banished making his and Juliet’s situation even more complex. In the Titanic, Jack is framed for the theft of the “heart of the ocean” this creates momentary distrust from Rose, thinking Jack had betrayed her, also separating them as Jack is held prisoner. In both cases the challenges they must overcome show there true love for each other while also complicating there love. Both the couples go through this and they both overcome this challenge.

The last similarity I am going to focus on is most likely the most important and memorable of both the stories. How both Jack and Romeo sacrifice themselves for their love of Rose and Juliet. Everybody remembers the scene from Titanic right after the massive ship has given in, when Jack puts Rose on the plank of wood sacrificing himself as he descends down into the ice cold, freezing waters. Who could forget when Romeo finds his love sleeping. Thinking she is dead, he drinks the poison, saying “Thus with a kiss, I die…”. These parts are very well known because they are what set themselves apart from regular old stories, surviving the length of time and new stories because of the memorable endings they have left. These are some of the similarities that I found between Romeo and Juliet, and Titanic. Both these stories are well known by many people, because they are good stories and as the saying goes great minds think alike, as James Cameron and Shakespeare have shown. The evidence to back it up is in the similarities of these two stories. Although these two romantic dramas have very different vibes, they both are two great thrillers that have earned the attention they have received.