Romeo and Juliet (Vol. 33) | Ronald B. Bond (essay date 1980)
Ronald B. Bond (essay date 1980)
SOURCE: "Love and Lust in Romeo and Juliet," in Wascana Review, Vol. 15, No. 2, Fall, 1980, pp. 22-31.
[In the essay below, Bond argues that Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy concerned with the intensity of youthful love and its consequences.]
In his survey of precursors to Shakespeare's most popular early tragedy, Geoffrey Bullough argues that Shakespeare has significantly recast the story of Romeo and Juliet so as to transform its moral purpose almost beyond recognition. Prior to Shakespeare's dramatic version of the story, Luigi da Porto had said that the tale was meant to disclose "'What great risks and what rash deeds lovers will commit in the name of love,'" Bandello had said that his story meant "'to warn young people that they should govern their desires and not run into furious passion,'" and Brooke had said that he presented "a couple of unfortunate lovers, thralling themselves to...
[The entire page is 4088 words long]
Navigate
