Shakespeare a load of old tosh
17-May-2008
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Shakespeare a load of old tosh

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One of my ambitions was to visit the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford upon Avon to watch a play by the Bard himself.  I watched a performance of Romeo and Juliet who some say is a tragedy about two star struck lovers, but that is so far from the truth in my opinion.  In fact it’s more like a stupid story about a serial killer called Romeo and his untimely demise.

Here begins a very brief overview of a very overrated and turgid piece of utter nonsense.  Hey, everyone is entitled to be a critic so here’s what I think!

Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

The play begins with Romeo murdering someone from a neighbouring village in revenge for the killing of his cousin (yeah, real nice mate!).  He was summarily banished and in the meantime Juliet’s parents had arranged for a rich duke to marry her.

She rebelled saying she only had eyes for Romeo.  She managed to obtain some poison which she drank on the eve of her wedding.  Next morning her parents were distraught to find her dead so a funeral was hastily carried out and she was interred in the family tomb.

Romeo finds out and visits the cemetery to pay his respects only to find the duke paying his respects also.  A fight ensues and Romeo kills him as well (another nice move from our serial killer!).  Romeo then opens the tomb pulls out Juliet’s body and hugs her.

He says he can't live without her and drinks some poison which he happened to have.  He dies, but incredibly Juliet wakes up, it appears she wasn't dead at all.  But when she finds Romeo dead she picks up a knife and stabs herself and dies again (oh god – the stupidity of the woman!).

Oh, the sheer tedium of it all and having to sit with an audience full of overblown stuck up snobs made the event almost too much to bear.  If you’re planning to watch one of these plays for the first time, FORGET IT.  Go visit the movies instead - even Titanic was a cut above this rubbish!

By: Phil


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I recognise an internet troll when I see one! So, hello internet troll!
*Elanon  03-Mar-2008 03:37

 
I much prefer Marlowe to Shockspur. His Faustus and Tamburlaine are absolute masterpieces, No monotonous monologues like that you get from the Bored. No wishy-washy, airy-fairy nonsense like Midsummer Night's Dream. No poncey plays like Romeo and Juliet. No crackpots like Hamlet or Lear. No historical propaganda like Richard III or the ultra-nationalism of Henry V. With Marlowe one just gets plain horror and drama.
*Globe Trotter  30-Apr-2007 22:02

 
Oops! That "shakespeare" spelling thing will be my fault and not the original author of the gripe. Someone let the administrator loose with and he was having a bad day. Thanks for pointing that out! As for my views on this - definately no comment. I just publish the pages.
*Site Admin  30-Apr-2007 19:06

 
Also, in response to Globe Trotter, Juliet was 13. The nurse states that she had not yet seen the eve of her 14th Lammastide (Juliet's birthday), which would make her 13.
*An English teacher from America  30-Apr-2007 16:38

 
This is not only a very inaccurate depiction of the play's plot, but a very unthoughtful analysis of the play's purpose. I suggest studying a text and perhaps reading it in addition to watching it before you publish your thoughts online. Also, Shakespear is spelled Shakespeare.
*An English teacher from America  30-Apr-2007 16:36

 
I think that shakespeare really isnt as bad as they say it all is, I am currently reading a midsummer night's dream and it is really good!
and I really agree with the ''sad slapper''!, if you watch a midsummer night's dream then they have modernised the humor for the 21st century's sake.
*14 yr old,.studying shakespeare  18-Jan-2007 19:03

 
It wasn't written to have impact on a 21st Century audience, it was written to have impact on a 16th Century audience, and it did, you couldn't write anything that has as much impact now as shakespeare did then and for the hundreds of years that followed. You can't slag shakespeare.
*A Sad Slapper  16-Jan-2007 21:05

 
Help. I need an academic to explain to me why didn't Hamlet automatically become king after the death of his father, and play end in Act I with everyone living happily ever after. We could all go home quite satisfied after the first intermission.

I want to know how old Juliet was. Seems like she was child neglected by her parents. She should not have been out late at night mixing with the riff-raff of her town, not at her age at least. As for taking drugs she's a bad influence on all our youth today.

I have got no idea whether the people of his times really enjoyed the plays at all. Were they hits? Or only two star productions which ended after their first nights, with the actors being booed and jeered off the stage. Where are the contemporary reviews?

Were some of the actors brought down with stage-fright. How did they refer to the "Scottish" and or "Danish" plays in their times?

It seems to me that the plays were produced simply as a catch-penny business to entice the passing trade as the yuppies of the 16th century went home crossing London Bridge, after a hard day's work in the City of London.
*Globe Trotter  18-Nov-2006 08:46

 
Do you lot really have to use student speak to show everyone how extremely intelligent you all are,in which case it hasn't worked.Shakespeare wrote his plays in the language of the day so that the comman man could understand it.Get off your high horses and appreciate the content in whatever language it is written.I hate so called achademics spouting off just to show how clever they think they are.He wrote good plays,just sit back and enjoy them.
*Anon  18-Nov-2006 01:58

 
Your point being? My eyesight may not be my best attribute, but I still see the "e" on the end of Shakespeare?
*Nikki  17-Nov-2006 21:09

 
A Shakespearian Grammar: An Attempt to Illustrate Some of the Differences Between Elizabethan and...
By Edwin Abbott Abbott

Shakespearian Modifications: (Methodical prolegomena)
By Juliusz Krzyzanowski

Dictionary of Shakespearian Quotations: Exhibiting the Most Forcible Passages Illustrative of the... - Page 1
by William Shakespeare, Thomas Dolby - 1851 - 418 pages

G.Wilson Knight: Further Interpretations of Shakespeare's Tragedies, Including the Roman Plays
By George Wilson Knight
*Check your facts further  17-Nov-2006 21:03

 
All text books?

Shakesperian Synopses By J. Walker McSpadden

A Typical Shakesperian Stage: The Outer-inner Stage. The Third Chapter of a Study of the...
By Victor Emanuel Albright

Bah!
*Check your facts  17-Nov-2006 20:57


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