Star-Crossed Lovers 1: Shakespeare's Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (Patreon)

This is our post-play analysis for The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

You may wish to listen after your first reading of the play, using the lecture as an opportunity to reread. Or you may wish to listen as you make your way through the play in real time.

We have timestamps indicating the topics, with acts and scenes referenced throughout the video, so feel free to digest our discussion in the way that best serves you.

We also have some questions below the timestamps, which will result in our next Romeo and Juliet video being a collaborative piece.

Video Timestamps:

• 0:00 why read Romeo and Juliet
• 3:00 Shakespeare’s oeuvre 
• 12:30 the prologue to the play
• 13:00 the Shakespearean sonnet
• 18:30 knowing the end from the start
• Act One
• 20:10 comedy as summer festival
• 22:00 the opening street brawl
• 29:00 Romeo as parody of young lover
• 36:00 how to perform Romeo (& Hamlet)
• 40:00 how Juliet becomes Romeo’s tutor
• 44:00 how to forget the one you “love”
• 47:20 meeting Juliet and the Nurse
• 50:00 Juliet, earthquakes, & harvest festivals
• 54:00 “it is an honour I dream not of”
• 58:00 Mercutio and Queen Mab
• 1:07:00 Romeo and Juliet meet
• 1:17:00 kissing by the book
• Act Two
• 1:20:00 consorting with Shakespeare
• 1:23:00 the balcony scene
• 1:28:00 “Wherefore art thou Romeo?”
• 1:38:00 the birds of Romeo and Juliet
• 1:40:00 Friar Laurence & lovers’ lies
• 1:46:00 Shakespeare’s strange temporality
• 1:50:00 the inwardness of Juliet
• 1:55:00 the marriage of Romeo and Juliet
• Act Three
• 2:00:00 the deaths of Mercutio & Tybalt
• 2:04:00 Juliet’s grandest soliloquy
• 2:10:00 the necessity of laughter in tragedy
• 2:16:00 philosophy in times of trouble
• 2:20:00 the parting of Romeo and Juliet
• 2:24:00 Juliet and her father
• Act Four & Five
• 2:27:00 a strong reminder of the time
• 2:30:00 Juliet & the dirge for the dead
• 2:32:00 the lovers take their lives
• 2:33:00 the blessing Shakespeare gifts us

Questions to Consider:

1) What lines/scenes would you like us to focus on and appreciate together? Our next Romeo and Juliet video is the third piece in our “three reads” approach, and will involve comparing different productions.

2) Who would the Romeo and Juliet of today be? And what would they teach us?

3) Did Romeo and Juliet have to die? And did everything have to move at such an incredible pace? 

Bonus - Let us know what your reading experience looked like. If this is a reread, did you experience the play differently this time around? If this is your first read, did the play shatter expectations? 

Happy reading, everybody!