I remember a Shakespeare class in college where we discussed how R&J was structured so that up until Mercutio's death, it could have turned into one of the comedies, and even some of the devices at the end (the missed communications and the fake/real poison scenarios) were classic tropes for comedy. I think I would have liked it better that way, and I've always been curious if it might have started out as such.

Slings & Arrows S2 almost made me like R&J. Almost. But it's still just so...silly. It's like the O.C. of Shakespeare plays.

I have mad unreasoning love for Baz Luhrmann's R+J. The play itself? Eh.

It's like the O.C. of Shakespeare plays.

This is the best description I've ever heard of it. Yes, yes, so very, yes.

Reading Romeo and Juliet, it's so clear how silly it is. The O.C. is a good comparison. But seeing it performed, especially the Zeffirelli film, still breaks my heart. Some of the speeches, taken on their own, are still magic to me.

I don't look for bleakness when I read. But I do often seek out the tragic, which is a different animal. It can be cathartic, as JZ and connie, noted, but it can also be sort of ... inspiring? Which sounds Hallmark-y, but something like The Time Traveler's Wife, for instance, always reminds me that joy can be had, and not necessarily be diminished, even if it's going to come to an end.

Re: R&J--there's an hysterical episode of "The Nanny" where some Broadway producer hires Fran to play Juliet in the sequel he was writing.

I adore Uncle Earle's definition of tragedy, the inevitability of it all, the way basic characteristics feed into fate. I do enjoy the artistry of seeing something that came up 200 pages ago suddenly showing its effect. It's like a puzzle where all the pieces could only go into one shape, no matter how much you wish it otherwise.

The Jonathan Firth R&J was the only one that made me feel for Romeo or Juliet.

I am less a fan of unrelenting bleakness than I was from ages 13-22 or so, and I'm not sure what I'd think of Hardy if I revisted him today (I read all of his novels when I was 14, and loved them). I'm still drawn to stories about how each of us is our own worst enemy, more drawn to stories that are critical of The Establishment, and madly in love with a certain kind of self-awareness that's cynical and hopeful all at once.

Really, I'm looking for the novelized versions of post-Various Positions Leonard Cohen lyrics.

I remember a Shakespeare class in college where we discussed how R&J was structured so that up until Mercutio's death, it could have turned into one of the comedies, and even some of the devices at the end (the missed communications and the fake/real poison scenarios) were classic tropes for comedy. I think I would have liked it better that way, and I've always been curious if it might have started out as such.

The play Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) takes that idea as its premise (also including Othello as a comedy but for a "misplaced hanky").

Oh, I love Antony and Cleopatra! I wrote a paper on it in college, and I still love the title: "Hips, Lips, Tits, Power: The Desexualization of Antony and Demonization of Cleopatra in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra."

I can't believe I just pulled that whole damn title outta my ass; I wrote it in....um, 1992?

I'm not sure what I'd think of Hardy if I revisted him today (I read all of his novels when I was 14, and loved them).

That's interesting to me. Because I read Tess at ... sixteen? And loved it, and still do (despite a better appreciation of how he can sometimes be a bit purple). I also wouldn't call all of Hardy "bleak," per se. Tragic, but not bleak. I don't know if that distinction makes sense outside of my head.