William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet

short multimedia tutorial

Digital text from Folger Shakespeare Library; The Folger Library Shakespeare Editions, on which the Folger Digital Texts depend, make this editorial process as nearly transparent as is possible, in contrast to older texts, like the Moby™, which hide editorial interventions.

Because the Folger Digital Texts are edited in accord with twenty-first century knowledge about Shakespeare’s texts, the Folger here provides them to readers, scholars, teachers, actors, directors, and students, free of charge, confident of their quality as texts of the plays and pleased to be able to make this contribution to the study and enjoyment of Shakespeare.

Arthur Brooke (or Arthur Broke) (d. circa 1563) was an English poet, whose only known work is The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562). The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet IS considered to be William Shakespeare's chief source for his famous play Romeo and Juliet. Though professedly a translation from the Italian of Bandello by way of a French version, the poem by Brooke is a free paraphrase.

Rebecca Sheir, host of our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series, talks with theater scholars and artists about how Romeo and Juliet has been cut and molded to fit certain cultural expectations in different time periods.

The actress Charlotte Cushman was a theatrical icon in 19th century America, known to the press by her first name, like Beyonce today. Her fame was not, however, for conventionally Victorian feminine portrayals.

Cushman specialized in playing male roles, principally Romeo and Hamlet, competing on equal terms with leading actors like Edwin Forrest and Edwin Booth. She was not the only actress of her time to attempt these parts, but Cushman’s style was uniquely assertive and athletic. When Queen Victoria saw Cushman as Romeo, she said she couldn’t believe it was a woman playing the part.

"...a YouTube Fireside Chat on the play. Lindsay and Craig discuss a variety of clips from different versions of Romeo and Juliet."

Shakespeare didn't even know what a balcony was—so how did one end in his most famous scene?