Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-184) and index.
Contents
Story of the star-crossed lovers / Charles & Mary Lamb -- Shakespeare simplified and improved an old story / John Erskine -- Forces driving the play's main characters / Edward Dawden -- Characters' impulsiveness is the villain of the play / Bert Cardullo -- Masquerade is the play's central reference point / Kathleen McLuskie -- Echoes of Romeo and Juliet in A Midsummer Night's Dream / Amy J. Riess & George W. Williams -- Meaning of the night visit in the balcony scenes / Jill Colaco -- Physical and spiritual sickness infects the lovers' world / David M. Bergeron -- Social restrictions against illicit unions in Romeo and Juliet / Ann J. Cook -- Recurring image of the inert body in Romeo and Juliet / Brian Gibbons -- Influence of astrology / John W. Draper -- How the lovers' scenes were staged in Elizabethan times / Leslie Thomson -- Shakespeare used extensive character doubling in staging Romeo and Juliet / Giorgio Melchiori -- Editing the play's text / Barbara Hodgdon -- Film version of the play uses visual imagery to enhance the story / Michael Pursell -- Play's spirit retained in musical and artistic versions / Joseph Kestner.