Um... When Did Romeo and Juliet Have Babies?
Filed under: Classics, Drama, Romance, Deals
They may have been star-crossed lovers, and they might have tied the knot and spent a night together consummating their marriage (even if their warring families didn't know), but I don't think ol' Juliet had time to plop out Romeo's baby before dying. As we've all seen countless times: Romeo went off to banishment, Juliet faked her death, Romeo came back and assumed she was dead and killed himself, then she woke up and killed herself. There was no time for pregnancy and baby delivery.Nevertheless, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Universal has grabbed the rights to a novel called Juliet, from Danish author Anne Fortier. To be published sometime next year, the novel "toggles from medieval Siena to the present day in a story about a woman who discovers she may be descended from the people who inspired one of the most popular and tragic love stories of all time."
Unless they're talking about ol' Shakespeare himself, this is just not possible. Unless ... did both the Capulets and Montagues have new babies that fell in love in the very same way -- and survived? I imagine that the catch-word "inspired" will allow them to twist the Romeo and Juliet story a bit. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I am intrigued.
First Hamlet 2, now a descendant of Romeo and Juliet. What's next? A horror movie called Titus Andronicus 2: Lucius Goes Mad?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-07-2009 @ 6:13PM
Clark Parker said...
Wouldn't the key phrase here be "the people who inspired one of the most popular and tragic love stories of all time."?
I take that to mean she may be decended from the so-called "Real Life" Romeo and Juliet, as opposed to the characters that ol' Billy Shakes adapted them into.
I don't have the slightest idea if he did base his play on real people or not but even if the film only implies that he did for the sake of it's narrative, characters often have little to do with the people they are based on and so the "real" Juliet could have been 45 and had 7 kids before her death... Who knows where they are going with it but it sounds to me like this is the implication... Not the whole 7 kids thing, just that this character may be related to some woman, perhaps named Juliet, who inspired Shakespeare to write his play. This would be backed up by the idea that it sounds as if it takes place in the real world, rather then within a fictional one where Romeo and Juliet is not a play but a part of history.
Either way... It's an odd premise. Even if that is the case I am left wondering why. I'm sure this Fortier lady had her reasons though.
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1-09-2009 @ 12:23AM
summer said...
... I'm pretty sure Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet on the ancient Greek myth 'Pyramus and Thisbe' (it's the play performed by Bottom and co in A Midsummer Night's Dream too) which is the same exact story, but with a lioness.
1-07-2009 @ 7:47PM
Robert Magness said...
What about MacDeath. Macbeth comes back to life to seek revenge on MacDuff.
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1-08-2009 @ 6:13PM
DRF said...
Shakespeare wasn't the first person to write a Romeo and Juliet story. There were lots of other versions. A novel writer could find one to suit her needs easily.
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