Romeo and Juliet: Compare and Contrast Essay

Getting to read “Romeo and Juliet” was a great experience that will never be forgotten! A tragic story of young lovers with innocent hearts who attempt to fight their “star-crossed” fate. It was very interesting to see how different directors interpreted the play compared to the original by Shakespeare. Viewing the story from different angles helps you develop a better understanding of the story. In the original text version of “Romeo and Juliet”, the letter that the Friar has prepared for Romeo including details of his plan for Juliet fails to be delivered. Therefore when Balthasar tells Romeo that his beloved Juliet is dead, Romeo goes into self-destruct mode and purchases poison from a man of medicine. (While all of this is happening Paris and his page have arrived at the tomb to admire Juliet. Paris has his page keeping watch for anyone who might approach.)

He wants to go to the Capulet Tomb ASAP and find out if the news is true. Romeo and Balthasar travel to the tomb and once they are approaching, the page alerts Paris to hide. Therefore, he does. Romeo arrives and tells Balthasar to leave him, then he breaks into the tomb. Romeo begins to serenade Juliet when he is rudely interrupted by an unknown figure which he warns and then kills. Discovering that the figure was Paris, Romeo is remorseful. He finishes his serenade and with a drink of poison, dies. The Friar arrives at the time of Juliet’s awakening and they both discover the dead bodies of Romeo and Paris. Juliet then also goes into self-destruct mode, and attempts to get poison off of Romeo’s lips. This failing she stabs herself with a knife.

The “watch” whom was alerted by the page arrives and questions the Friar. The two families later arrive and are scorned by the Prince . They agree to end the feud and bring peace between their families. The Capulets are to build a pure gold statue of Romeo and vice versa. There are currently two film interpretations of “Romeo and Juliet”, one made in 1968 which was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and another in 1996 directed by Baz Luhrmann. The death scene in both films was similar to the original text. Zeffirelli- Romeo is banished from Verona and again the letter that Friar Laurence has sent to Romeo, ends up failing to be delivered. Benvolio gives him the tragic news and he wants to go to Juliet’s tomb immediately. When he arrives he serenades her, takes his last drink, and dies beside her. The Friar comes for Juliet’s awakening and they both discover Romeo’s body.

Juliet stabs herself with a knife. The Prince again scolds the family and they bring peace, along with golden statues of their loved ones. Luhrmann- Romeo still doesn’t receive the letter that was sent to him by the Friar, although he does receive news that his newly wed wife is dead. He is rattled and frantically hurries to buy poison and head to Juliet’s shrine of death. On the way he is caught up in a police chase, and holds a gun to a hostage’s head to get to Juliet. Once there, he again serenades her “lifeless” body. As he drinks his vile of death, Juliet’s eyes slowly open. Before he realizes that she is full of life it is too late, he says his last words and dies. She picks up the gun beside her and shoots herself in the head. The mayor also scolds the two families while they are mourning. They agree to build a golden statue of the opposite family’s lost child and bring the feud to an end.

Between both of the films and the original text, they all had some similarities. The Zeffirelli film took a more traditional approach, as to what the original would’ve been like. Each version had a letter that was sent to Romeo that he didn’t get, causing a chain of tragic events. Also Juliet succeeds in fooling everyone that she is dead in every version. In all of the interpretations after Juliet discovers that her dear Romeo is dead, she kisses his lips in attempt to get one last drop of poison. There was a notable similarity that really stuck out and that was the line “Thou are not conquered!”, which Romeo says when he is giving his last heart-wrenching speech to Juliet as she lies on her death bed. Above all of the similarities listed, there is one that is bolder.

It is a quote that almost everyone knows and it is “For never was a story of more woe, Than of Juliet and her Romeo”, which was at the end of all three interpretations. The Zeffirelli film was definitely a more accurate interpretation. There were also many differences that were quite noticeable between the original play and its two interpretations. Instead of going for a traditional approach, the Luhrmann film went for an all out modern approach, which in turn didn’t match up well with the traditional script. A huge difference was that neither of the films included Paris, in their death scenes! He was the one who started all of this! Also, in the original and the Zeffirelli no one knows that Romeo is in town, whereas in the Luhrmann he is chased by the police on the way to Juliet’s tomb.

Another big one was that in the Luhrmann film, Juliet awoke after Romeo had taken the poison and they made eye contact as he died. This was an interesting twist on the death scene that made you sick at your stomach. After Romeo is dead in the Luhrmann film, Juliet kills herself with a pistol instead of a knife like the other two versions. The Luhrmann film was the black sheep of the three versions. All three versions of the story even though they might’ve been different, kept you entertained. They all told the same story just with a different style. Viewing the story from a different angle was very interesting and made it more clear. The experience of reading and watching “Romeo and Juliet” will always be remembered.