Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m sharing my review of Searching for Juliet.
Synopsis
A cultural, historical, and literary exploration of the birth, death, and legacy of the ultimate romantic heroine – Shakespeare’s Juliet Capulet
Juliet Capulet is the heartbeat of the world’s most famous love story. She is an enduring romantic icon. And she is a captivating, brilliant, passionate teenage girl who is read and interpreted afresh by each new generation.
Searching for Juliet takes us from the Renaissance origin stories behind William Shakespeare’s child bride to the boy actor who inspired her creation onstage. From enslaved people in the Caribbean to Italian fascists in Verona, and real-life lovers in Afghanistan. From the Victorian stage to 1960s cinema, Baz Luhrmann, and beyond.
Sophie Duncan draws on rich cultural and historical sources and new research to explore the legacy and reach of Romeo and Juliet far beyond the literary sphere. With warmth, wit, and insight, she shows us why Juliet is for now, for ever, for everyone.
Review
Like many other people in my age bracket, one of my first introductions to Romeo and Juliet was the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It wasn’t the first time I’d read the text; I had children’s versions of the entire Shakespeare collection when I was young, and when I was slightly older I read the full text, finding myself absorbed and addicted to it. The film was the first time I saw it performed, however, and all these years later it is still carved into my mind.
While I’d like to think I’m aware enough to consider Shakespeare’s problematics and keep them in a historic position theoretically, this book pointed out so many things I simply hadn’t considered. It was fascinating, terrifying, worrying, exhilarating… Searching for Juliet is here to take you on a journey through every emotion you might have.
Intricately researched and written with a pounding heart, Searching for Juliet has layer upon layer of education, starting before the very writing of Romeo and Juliet, and stretching right up to modern performance art. Certain things, like the fact the original text did not contain stage directions, will be little pub quiz type facts that will be useful forever. Other parts were more emotionally charged, asking you to consider the way teenage actresses were overly-sexualized in the role.
I listened to this as an audiobook, and found it brilliant to relax with while still absorbing what I was learning about. It was narrated wonderfully, and I think I’ll absolutely be reading this book again as it had so much to give.
Thanks for stopping by for this non-fiction review today. Along with my recent romance kick, I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction, so there will be plenty of reviews to come of all different genres.
And On She Reads 