palm to palm, as holy palmers' kiss

So what is Romeo and Juliet?

Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. It tells the tragic story of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, two young lovers from feuding families in Verona, Italy. Theirs is a forbidden love, and both take many desperate measures to preserve their secret love but ultimately end up together in death. It is a tragic story, but one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, despite many flaws.

One of the main draws to this play, other than the famous love story that has been repeated for centuries in operas, ballets, reinterpretations, and parodies, is the rich store of characters--Mercutio, who is so witty that he must be killed off before he takes over the play, the Nurse, who is Juliet's true mother figure, Friar Laurence, an ambiguous figure depending on the interpretation of his role, and Romeo and Juliet themeselves. It is a fascinating play, and although it has been performed and re-performed, there is just something inherently special about this timeless classic.

So why do you like it?

When I first read this play several years ago in my freshman year of high school, I was a jaded fourteen year old with little interest in the stodgy performances of my classmates as we were forced to read it out loud. I felt nothing but disinterest; disinterest in a story that had been told over and over again, performed through tacky delivery in countless sitcoms and rehashed in meaningless and easily forgotten young adult literature. Therefore, what could I gain from it?

But then I reread it this year, and I discovered something.

I never really disliked it at all. In fact, I've always been a fan, as covertly as I may have hidden my interest. I always liked the story of Leyla and Mejnun, the Persian equivalents to Juliet and her Romeo, and I absolutely adored the story of Tristan and Isolde. I was inspired by Juliet's personal growth throughout the tale, and Mercutio's laughs in the face of death. I was left wondering whether Paris was truly the ass that Baz Luhrmann portrayed him as in his mid-90s modern adaptation, or simply a confused young man who wanted to marry a good friend. I was haunted by how young the two lovers were in the 1960s production, and truly, how many ways this play can be staged- and the different messages that come across depending on how it is presented.

Queen Mab can become a trippy speech about LSD.
The Nurse can become a defiant example of flouting unconventionality.
The Monk may be an interfering and cowardly busybody, or a well meaning man who just happened to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Prince? Or Captain Prince?
There are simply so many ways this play can be interpreted; it is limitless, boundless.

What is this story truly about? Reckless teenagers in love? Or is it an allegory for something greater? I suppose it all depends on your interpretation, and it is this process of personal interpretation that continues to make this play so fascinating; in the face of all the tropes it has used that have since become tripe, regardless of the balcony scene that has been performed by so many, over and over again, for hundreds of years, intrepid and innovative individuals continue to find new ways to make it new--make it amazing, and a beautiful thing to watch.