'Romeo and Juliet'

Everyone knows about the play Romeo and Juliet; the story of two young star crossed lovers from two rival families who marry in secret and take their lives. A simple, straight forward story, right? So why are there so many diverging versions of it??? I mean all the versions I’ve seen have the same story line as its base, but takes liberties with how we see it. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. But it adds so many layers to an already established story.

'Romeo and Julie't (1968)

This was the version I believe I saw in high school for an English class. We had discussed parts of the play and had watched the movie (after having to read it over the summer). The setting and costumes were perfect. The story flowed beautifully. It was tragic. It was love in its purest form. Sure I still was confused on the language, but that didn’t make it any less interesting to me. I believe there was also a 'blink and you miss it' nipple shot but, hey, I went to an all girls high school so we didn’t make a big deal on that for too long.

'Romeo and Juliet' (1996)

Now this one is my first favorite version! Mainly because Leonardo DiCaprio is playing the titular Romeo. But this version was just so much fun! The setting is still the beautiful Verona, but in a modern setting. Swords are swapped for guns, but still referred to as swords. Carriages are swapped for cars. The Capulet ball is a masquerade ball. The pace of it is a mix between fast and mellow. But even in the modern element, the original language is still the same. When I discovered this version, it seemed more interesting.

'Romeo and Juliet' (2013)

This version was... interesting to say the least. For one, they gave Romeo’s normally unseen first love interest (Rosaline) a physical character (which we see at the Capulet Ball). But aside from that, it took some liberties with how things go. Like how the invites for the ball were sent out, the man running the errand unknowingly ran into Romeo and Benvolio and just casually tells them the Capulet are throwing a party and they can attend, if they weren’t of House Montague. There were also some additional scenes that weren’t in any other version I had seen previously, like one of the men under the Father Laurence being sent out to send Romeo a message about Juliet’s fake death and getting stopped by a man to pray for his ailing son. But hey, in each iteration of the story, something happens that prevents Romeo from knowing what really happened to his beloved so it doesn’t drive him to die to be with her.

'Romeo x Juliet' (2007 anime)

And now for my final and second favorite version of this tragic play. The anime version. Holy cow, where do I even start with this?! First off, all of the original players are still in the anime... except for House Capulet! The entire Capulet family, with the exception of Juliet, was murdered in the very first episode, by Leontes Montague (Romeo’s father) because he coveted power! Benvolio is Romeo’s best friend instead of his cousin, Tybalt is Romeo’s half brother instead of Juliet’s cousin, the city of Verona (or Neo Verona) is a floating continent in the sky held up by a massive world tree, Romeo gets a fiancé named Hermione, Mercutio is a scheming leech who wants to replace Romeo, William Shakespeare himself gets a character in this version. Juliet has to dress and live as a boy to hide from Lord Leontes Montague so she isn’t killed, and so much more. But even with all that, Romeo Candore De Montague and Juliet Fiammata Art De Capulet still meet at a party (this time held by the Montagues) and fall in love, and ultimately die together in the end in a twist I shouldn’t spoil. The anime is 24 episodes long and just as beautiful as any iteration of this story. And it may give you the urge to surround yourself in irises.

My ending thoughts

Honestly I don’t know how, much like which of the aforementioned versions, or any other versions of this story there are out there. The only thing that still leaves me stumped about all above mentioned versions (except the anime) is why the Montagues and Capulet are rivals to begin with. But it was never explained in the original play either so that’ll always remain a mystery. But I think in the end, so long as we enjoy this story and any of Shakespeare’s other works, who says different iterations aren’t a good thing?