iirc it was because the opportunities were mostly only open to men, i.e. educated men went to london, apprenticeships, etc. So the inward migration of young men was larger. Shakespeare went to London without his wife, for example.
Obviously first thing kids ask when I teach it is ‘why is Romeo dating a 13 year old’. Generally just hand-wave it away with ‘different time’ etc. but obviously no, an Elizabethan audience would also have found that age gap inappropriate (or would they have cared in the same way we would now?) Is the age gap a Brooke thing, and if so why is it so pronounced?
Dante refers to the "Montechi and Cappeletti" in the 'Purgatorio' 106/108.
Then in 1524 Luigi Da Porto writes a story about the subject (in truth there was still another before) which led to the novel of two unhappy lovers by Mateo Bandello. The last one ended up in the hands of Arthur Brooke and finally W.S. took inspiration to give us Romeo and Juliet. Have a nice week end.
1. "Romeo chose to kill Tybult. Romeo chose violence."
I have to say that Tybalt returning to the scene of the crime seemed too obviously contrived--for me the weakest moment of the play. Even then, is it really fair to say that what happened next was Romeo's choice? I don't totally buy this claim,
2. A quarter of a century before Taylor Swift, Dire Straits released their marvelous reimagining of R&J:
Why were there so many more men than women?
iirc it was because the opportunities were mostly only open to men, i.e. educated men went to london, apprenticeships, etc. So the inward migration of young men was larger. Shakespeare went to London without his wife, for example.
Obviously first thing kids ask when I teach it is ‘why is Romeo dating a 13 year old’. Generally just hand-wave it away with ‘different time’ etc. but obviously no, an Elizabethan audience would also have found that age gap inappropriate (or would they have cared in the same way we would now?) Is the age gap a Brooke thing, and if so why is it so pronounced?
It’s not the gap so much as he is young too— both of the are too young to be doing this, that’s the problem.
Dear Henry,
Dante refers to the "Montechi and Cappeletti" in the 'Purgatorio' 106/108.
Then in 1524 Luigi Da Porto writes a story about the subject (in truth there was still another before) which led to the novel of two unhappy lovers by Mateo Bandello. The last one ended up in the hands of Arthur Brooke and finally W.S. took inspiration to give us Romeo and Juliet. Have a nice week end.
1. "Romeo chose to kill Tybult. Romeo chose violence."
I have to say that Tybalt returning to the scene of the crime seemed too obviously contrived--for me the weakest moment of the play. Even then, is it really fair to say that what happened next was Romeo's choice? I don't totally buy this claim,
2. A quarter of a century before Taylor Swift, Dire Straits released their marvelous reimagining of R&J:
https://genius.com/Dire-straits-romeo-and-juliet-lyrics
There’s some pretty clear language in that scene showing that Romeo choose revenge. I’ll have more to say on this soon!