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Sep 27, 2015gogo12127 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Romeo and Juliet are young lovers separated by the ancient and enduring hatred between their families. I didn't realize Romeo and Juliet had a history going back some fifty years prior to Shakespeare's play, first in a 1530 narrative and then in a 1554 novella, both published in Italy. The latter was translated and adapted into French in 1559. The French adaption was translated into English in 1567. That formed the basis for the long narrative poem by Arthur Brooke, The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, published in 1562, Shakespeare's primary source for his play. More than any other Shakespeare play I have read, Romeo and Juliet is replete with plays on words, malapropisms, innuendos, and double-entendres, many of which are spoken by Mercutio. The Pelican edition notes of this play and others I have read, I think, are intrusive and not very useful. In contrast, I find that the Folger Shakespeare Library editions of the Shakespeare plays are useful and avoid being too intrusive.