I really enjoyed reading the well-known play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare.  It is a very cool story, although many people already know how it goes.  It is fun to read, and has dramatic moments. I recommend it to everyone, because although it was written a long time ago, it still has a lot of meaning in today’s world.  If you like romance stuff or even action stuff, this book is definitely for you. The one downside is that it is very very hard to read, as it was written hundreds of years ago.  The words are different, so you have to read it slowly and try to understand everything that it is saying. That does, though, add to the story, I feel. I like the way it is written, it also gives insight into words from the past, and gets pretty creatively descriptive.  

I really appreciate how Shakespeare divides the story into the exposition, conflict, rising action and climax, falling action, and denouement, each an act in the play.  This distinct categorization of each act makes it much easier to follow the play Another aspect I really like, which I wrote my essay about, is Shakespeare’s use of dramatic irony.  It adds excitement and suspense to the plot, and it also keeps the audience feeling surprised, excited, and frustrated. For example, when Romeo visits Juliet in the tomb, he states, “Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, and death’s pale flag is not advanced there."   This obviously frustrates the audience, as they know she is coming out of her sleep, but Romeo has no idea of the plan. I like how the use of dramatic irony creates these sort of feelings and emotions in the reader. I did not, however, like how there were so many coincidences they could have easily avoided, as it seemed kind of unrealistic.  Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong, and it led to the avoidable deaths of Romeo and Juliet. I also did not like the language in which Shakespeare wrote the book. Although his plays are in English, because he wrote them 400 years ago, many of the words Shakespeare used have changed meaning, so it took time to decipher what the text says sometimes.  

I did not learn a lot about myself after reading this play, but I did learn several life lessons.  Firstly, it is important to take things slow and not rush things, as we see the fatality of rushing through things like Romeo and Juliet did with their relationship.  Going along with that point, it is important to consider the outcomes of things before doing them. This play displayed to me that coming of age can occur with love. As Juliet falls in love with Romeo, she becomes more independent and mature, having her own opinions and standing up to her father.  Overall, I learned some valuable life lessons from Romeo and Juliet. It is a great book to learn a lot of life lessons from, and I recommend you read it.

Check out Romeo and Juliet at the Newport Beach Public Library.