Romeo and Juliet

By William Shakespeare

Book Overview

The Annotated Shakespeare series enables readers to fully understand and enjoy the plays of the world's greatest dramatist

"Burton Raffel is surely one of the profession's top linguists and scholars, and the application here of his vast knowledge of linguistics to Romeo and Juliet provides any reader (whether specialist or not) with the best glimpse available of the great range of Shakespeare's stunning use of the English language."--Tita French Baumlin, Southwest Missouri State University

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most read and beloved of all stage works. This extensively annotated version of the play to date makes it completely accessible to readers in the twenty-first century and offers a rich resource for students, teachers, and the general reader.

Eminent linguist and translator Burton Raffel offers generous help with vocabulary and usage of Elizabethan English, pronunciation, prosody, and alternative readings of phrases and lines. His on-page annotations provide readers with the tools they need to comprehend the play and begin to explore its many possible interpretations. This version of Romeo and Juliet is unparalleled for its thoroughness and adherence to sound linguistic principles.

In his introduction, Raffel provides historical and social contexts that increase the reader's understanding of the play. And in a concluding essay, Harold Bloom argues that Romeo and Juliet is unmatched in the world's literature "as a vision of an uncompromising love that perishes of its own idealism and intensity."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300104537
• ISBN13: 9780300104530
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Great for Teaching "Romeo and Juliet"

This book has saved me more than once! I used it just the other day when teaching the famous balcony scene, "What's in a name....". Out textbook suggested having the students translating this particular passage into modern English, but gave no translation. So, I pulled out this book and it saved the day! I also suggested it to another teacher who was having the same problem. It would be nice if a school district would purchase these books for all of their students (with today's budgets, that won't happen). This book is well worth the money spent.

Romeo & Juliet

Romeo & Juliet takes place in Verona in Feudal times. In that times women weren't given any rights. They couldn't hold property or discuss with their husband. This is shown during the whole book. Another thing different from nowadays was the language. Shakespeare uses a language, which I can't understand. So, in some parts were I don't know what a word means, the book becomes boring. Shakespeare, in a way, wrote female characters more intelligent and reflective than male, which in those times, women were objects. The story has different little stories in it. For example; the quarrel between the Capulet's gang and the Montague's; the impossible love between Romeo and Juliet; the trouble that Romeo has in Verona after killing Tybalt; Juliet has to marry Paris but she doesn't want and discusses bravely against her father; these make the story more interesting and it attracts the reader until the end.

Romeo & Juliet - Dover Thrift Edition

For the cost of ..., you can own a copy of the world's greatestlove story: Romeo & Juliet. Made possible to own ... by the DoverThrift Edition line of books, this edition of Romeo & Juliet iscomplete and unabridged. Use this copy for your performance of theplay, for an English class when you have to buy (or want to buy) abook to have of your own to highlight and annotate as you wish, orsimply to read at your own leisure. The only downside of this editionis that there are no notes of any kind, so you have to throroughlyknow the play itself. Outside of that one setback, the book isdefinitely worth purchasing if you need it or want it, but don't wantto spend lots of money on a copy.