Romeo & Juliet, one of the most famous plays that William Shakespeare, the great English Playwright wrote without using a computer, still continues to make us laugh, cry, post, comment, and… now even TWEET (Such Tweet Sorrow)! Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare is a timeless play, where the characters and the situations continue to change, but the story remains the same. What if, the characters tweaked the story a little?
The Caricature – Romeo & Juliet:
Here are our Romeo and Juliet, but unknown to Romeo, there’s mush flying out of the balcony as our modern tattooed and pierced Juliet tries to utilize her time more productively than her Shakespearean counterpart.
And now…
A Verbal Caricature:
Our Modern Juliet looking resplendent in her tattoos, piercings, and purple hair visits the Caricaturist in her Dreams!
Now, my dear visitors, I shall make you privy to a secret. The Juliet that you see in this caricature – yes, the purple-haired tattooed beauty – well, she visited me in my dreams. I repeat our conversation here – verbatim.
Juliet (sizing me up): So you are the caricaturist who made this caricature?
I (displaying the artist’s pride in her work): Yes:)
Juliet: You don’t look like much – but artists never do. So, tell me – You really think I’d do that – kiss an idiot while I wait for my Romeo?
I (With my artistic features ruffled by her offhand judgment): Yes, Juliet. I think you would.
Juliet: That just tells me how naive you are!
I: Will you care to explain that insult, my dear!
Juliet: Do you think I am ugly?
I: Of course not – you look like a colorful box of candies…gift-wrapped in purple!
Juliet (confused – wondering whether it was a compliment or not): Hmmm. Okay, so you agree that I am beautiful and sexy?
I (not wanting to give in): What did I say just now?
Juliet (not willing to reason it out any further): So what makes you think that there’d be just one joker that I’d be smooching in the balcony?
I (with my eyes popping out of my head): You’d be smooching more?
Juliet: Smooching? What are you? Ancient or something?! You’ve got to be joking. I know the Romeos of my day – there’s no way they could ever climb a rope to reach the balcony, and even if they could, It’ll take them at least a day – So I’d have the whole day, and also the night! I don’t know about Shakespeare’s Juliet, but I’d be bored to death if all I did was kiss them!
I: Oh! I didn’t see it your way – so while poor Romeo struggles to reach you…
Juliet: Struggle? What struggle? It isn’t like I’ve switched my mobile off or something.
I: What’s with the mobile?
Juliet (trying to see if my hair were gray): There’s an obvious generation gap here. Don’t you understand, I’ll have to SMS the poor guy continuously – it’ll keep his morale up!
I: Oh, I though you weren’t interested in Romeo.
Juliet (assessing me): What are you, seriously. A moron? Of course I’d be interested in a Romeo. At the end of the day, I’d need someone I could trust to get me my cough drops and take me to the hospital when I am seventy! In the long run, every girl needs a Romeo!
And so, dear visitors, I realized how naive I had been when I drew this caricature. Nevertheless, what’s done is done. I’ve promised Juliet that someday I’ll make another caricature, which will be closer to reality.
Until then – you be the judge!
Shafali,
I love the drawing and your discussion with the modern day Juliet. Both are inspired! The Romeo is great too. His skull t-shirt and absolutely gormless expression are perfect.
Beautiful work.
(I apologize for the delay in getting around to visit – just been rather busy as of late.)
All the best,
Don
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Hi Mr. Mills,
Thanks for visiting. At your age, one must be quite busy – those appointments, the complaint letters, and of course, your amazing blog-posts.
I am, in fact, honored that in midst of your busy schedule you found time to visit us (Juliet and me.)
Thanks for appreciating the skull t-shirt – I’ll pass some part of the appreciation on to the young man who lives next-doors and whose t-shirt inspired Romeo’s.
Warm Regards,
Shafali
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“you look like a colorful box of candies…gift-wrapped in purple!” 🙂 If this isn’t the best compliment on looks- I don’t know what is! You made me start my day with a huge smile on my face- thank you for the amazing caricature & the dialogue Shafali!
And yay for being 16 forever! 🙂
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Yay!
Sixteen forever!
🙂 🙂
But do note that it says “a colorful box of candies” and not “a box of delicious candies” – the contents of the box matter the most:)
Regards,
Shafali
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Hello, Mr. Dewster!
Thanks for pawing in your views on this caricature (which is a special one – with that green mush – as you call it:))
Juliet – the Hardware store! Haw, Haw! I loved the image that it painted. Dewey, you are an artist with words.
That needle-nosed guy is there with Juliet on invitation:) and about Romeo – he can climb all day and all night…Juliet’s got his rope on the pulleys, and so he’ll never reach her! A smart Juliet, if you ask me – but yes, we should caution her about the magnets! She looks like a metal factory!
Tickles behind the ears for you:)
Shafali
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Aw Mercury….
I think Juliet needs ta step back a few paces from the needle-nosed guy that’s tryin’ ta kiss ‘er……why he’ll add a few holes ta her ears….’n nose too…. with that huge pointed proboscis he has……she needs ta get away from him…..fer sure…..
I see ya were dreamin’ in color…..nice touch of green ya added….is that the mush ya were talkin’ about ???? We didn’t know mush was green but then we don’t see much of it…so we shouldn’t really know…it doesn’t look edible anyway so what good is it other than fer Romeo ta climb up on….as we see it’s got a hold of the rope he’s clingin’ ta……hope it holds tight…..
Oh yeah….nice job sidesteppin’ the question about Juliet ‘n her looks…..all the hardware people wear taday kinda makes Gram ill……us too……bet those tongue, lip and nose piercings hurt like the devil when they’re gettin’ done….not ta mention all the other unmentionable places people feel the need ta pierce and decorate……..I told Gram, I don’t want anything clingin’ ta my body that wasn’t there when I was born…….our collars with the usual tags are more than enough ta lug around….we have that and our fur coats….’n that’s plenty……
Juliet….. Iwanna tell ya….don’t get close ta any magnets…ya might be sorry…..
Dewey Dewster here…..
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I was horribly tempted to respond with a teenage “wotever! complete with shrug….
but this is superb. This is satire.
for the record, Juliet in the play was probably about 13/14 years old and Romeo at least 18 which to modern eyes changes things to something quite unacceptible. But back in that time, girls got married just as soon as they reached a certain stage (being delicate here)
The wherefore is not meant to be asking where are you lad, but why? Juliet’s soliloquy is basically asking why do the Gods make her one true love from a family at war with her own. We don’t use wherefore any more and so the archaic language gets misunderstood.
I have never liked this play, because it just seems so stupid. They make daft decisions (IMHO) and kill themselves.
A modern Juliet of appropriate age would probably have a few suitors chasing her and she’d enjoy every second of it.
Thank God I’m past all that nonsense!!!!
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Hi Viv,
Thanks for the the info about the age-factor. It explains the senselessness of it all!
Could it be then that the women(girls) who play Juliet’s role are much older…they seem to be:-( About Juliet’s one true love being from a family hers is at war with – I think humans like challenges and they are drawn towards what’s difficult to take – so Juliet had only herself to blame.
I don’t know about being past all this nonsense:) I guess I’d never be…psychologically, I’d never grow up – I’ll always be sixteen.
Warm Regards,
Shafali
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Yeah they almost always are but you have to remember that originally the part would have been played by……*roll drums* a teenage boy! Women were not allowed on stage during the time of Shakespeare; it wasn’t exactly a law but it just didn’t happen. Later on actresses were regarded as little better than prostitutes, which was even less reason to go on the stage.
I am a little bit older than you, stuck permanently at 19, so I can at least get us into clubs, as long as you don’t talk and give the doormen a clue that you’re underage…..
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