Over the past few years, I have visited three Italian towns and one island that feature in WS's plays. The island was Sicily (The Winter's Tale) and the cities included Padua (The Taming of the Strew), Rome (Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar and Coriolanus) and Verona (The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Romeo and Juliet.) Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to visit Messina (Much Ado About Nothing) and Venice (The Merchant of Venice and (Othello).
In this blog, I want to tell you about 'fair Verona' and its most famous female citizen, Juliet Capulet.
Note: Apart from the above photo, all of the other photos in this blog were taken by the writer.
The two 'star-cross'd lovers belonged to two rival families: Romeo, to the Montagues, who supported the Pope, and Juliet, to the Capulets, who supported the Emperor. Juliet's famous Gothic style house - Casa di Giulietta) can be found at 23, Via Capello. To visit this modern-day tourist trap you have to enter through an archway/tunnel which contains a wall on which hundreds, if not thousands of lovers have written their names and then continue through to the famous courtyard and balcony.
The graffiti covered wall in the entrance arch to Juliet's courtyard.
As soon as you emerge from the long archway/short tunnel, you will find yourself in the courtyard surrounded by tens of happy tourists all armed with their copies of the play, cameras and smartphones. You will also probably hear more than one person (mis)quote, "Romeo, Romeo, where are you Romeo?"
Without trying to sound snooty, this is a dumb question and a misquotation. It is obvious where Romeo is. Juliet can easily see him from her balcony. What she is saying is, "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" 'Wherefore' means 'why,' and Juliet is really asking, why is Romeo a Montague? i.e. a member of the rival family who she must have nothing to do with. (Think of the modern equivalent of the Jets and the Sharks in West Side Story.)
From here I moved on to Juliet's tomb but was disappointed to learn that what I saw was not the original but a later substitute. The original was destroyed many years ago and the present tomb may be found in the cloisters of the Church of San Francesco al Corsontiere at 35 Via del Pontiere - the church where Romeo and Juliet had their secret and rushed wedding ceremony.
Romeo and Juliet's modern-day tomb.
Notice and quotation outside the tomb.
Japanese statue of Romeo and Juliet outside their tomb.
Statue of Shakespeare in the garden outside the tomb.
From here I continued to wander around this beautiful city looking for more evidence of the world's two most famous lovers. Here are some photos of some of the kitchy stuff I saw. I was not annoyed to see this as I hadn't expected otherwise. Also, it is kitch like this (also to be seen in spades in Stratford-upon-Avon) that keep these towns going. To expect to see Verona, Stratford et al as they were four hundred years ago is to be sorely disappointed as your expectations are not going to be met.
Another more modern example of Juliet's name is on this Alfa-Romeo Guilietta.
After several hours I left the city centre, but not before taking note of its ancient walls, complete with their decorative swallow-tail battlements.
And finally, I could not resist having the the classic tourist photo taken of me with the heroine in her courtyard - Signorina Juliet Capulet.
In this blog, I want to tell you about 'fair Verona' and its most famous female citizen, Juliet Capulet.
The two 'star-cross'd lovers belonged to two rival families: Romeo, to the Montagues, who supported the Pope, and Juliet, to the Capulets, who supported the Emperor. Juliet's famous Gothic style house - Casa di Giulietta) can be found at 23, Via Capello. To visit this modern-day tourist trap you have to enter through an archway/tunnel which contains a wall on which hundreds, if not thousands of lovers have written their names and then continue through to the famous courtyard and balcony.
As soon as you emerge from the long archway/short tunnel, you will find yourself in the courtyard surrounded by tens of happy tourists all armed with their copies of the play, cameras and smartphones. You will also probably hear more than one person (mis)quote, "Romeo, Romeo, where are you Romeo?"
Without trying to sound snooty, this is a dumb question and a misquotation. It is obvious where Romeo is. Juliet can easily see him from her balcony. What she is saying is, "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" 'Wherefore' means 'why,' and Juliet is really asking, why is Romeo a Montague? i.e. a member of the rival family who she must have nothing to do with. (Think of the modern equivalent of the Jets and the Sharks in West Side Story.)
From here I moved on to Juliet's tomb but was disappointed to learn that what I saw was not the original but a later substitute. The original was destroyed many years ago and the present tomb may be found in the cloisters of the Church of San Francesco al Corsontiere at 35 Via del Pontiere - the church where Romeo and Juliet had their secret and rushed wedding ceremony.
From here I continued to wander around this beautiful city looking for more evidence of the world's two most famous lovers. Here are some photos of some of the kitchy stuff I saw. I was not annoyed to see this as I hadn't expected otherwise. Also, it is kitch like this (also to be seen in spades in Stratford-upon-Avon) that keep these towns going. To expect to see Verona, Stratford et al as they were four hundred years ago is to be sorely disappointed as your expectations are not going to be met.
Another more modern example of Juliet's name is on this Alfa-Romeo Guilietta.
After several hours I left the city centre, but not before taking note of its ancient walls, complete with their decorative swallow-tail battlements.
And finally, I could not resist having the the classic tourist photo taken of me with the heroine in her courtyard - Signorina Juliet Capulet.
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Nest time: Shakespeare & the Jews.
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