This play by Shakespeare is probably the most famous love story in history. Everybody knows the plot: Romeo Montecchi and Juliet Capulet marry in secret, because their family are enemies, and when Romeo gets banished from Verona, Juliet drinks some poison to seem dead, so she wouldn’t get married to count Paris.
When Romeo finds her and thinks she is dead, he kisses her for the last time and kills himself; after that, Juliet wakes up and in desperation she stabs herself.
All of us feel the power of this tragic love story where the central theme is adolescent love: even if Romeo and Juliet are young, their passion is pure and all-encompassing. It is not an idealized and crystallized passion, but rather a real, visceral and chaotic force, which leads the two lovers to the ultimate sacrifice: death.
But this story deals with another important theme: the conflict between parents and their children. In fact Juliet rebels against the rules of society and the will of her father. The gap between them causes misunderstandings and the making of various mistakes. But her love to Romeo is a force that makes Juliet strong and mature. Anyway she is not completely impulsive. She is ready to make her choices when she finds the support of another adult, Friar Laurence, who listens to her and understands her.
This masterpiece gives us a universal message: the power of love, if deep and sincere, can overcome all hatred, conflicts, separations and marginalization.
Usai Sofia, Pertegato Angela