Stardust Motel
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,
And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
I was listening to the play, dramatically, read aloud. There are nuances and interpretations that I can pick up that sometimes aren’t available in the written form. Performances vary, and Romeo and Juliet is a popular performance piece.
It’s about missed communications, in part. The tragic end is based upon important pieces of information that are not delivered in a timely fashion.
Couple of plot pieces, not in any order, really, but there’s the “Romeo in love with Rosalind,” which is Mercury Miscue, then there’s Romeo in real love with Juliet, which isn’t a Mercury Miscue, except, well, the whole family feud thing. That’s a family blood feud.
The tragic end is when a missive, alerting Romeo to the trickery afoot, the idea that his beloved Juliet isn’t dead, just sleeping in a death-like state, that letter never arrives, and the undelivered message means Romeo offs himself. To add to the pain, then Juliet wakes to find him dead, and she kills herself. All because a simple note didn’t get through.
“You got my last e-mail, right?”
Apparently, not.
Romeo and Juliet plus Mercury in Retrograde?
There’s an earlier scene, Mercutio sword fights with Tybalt, and that goes badly, but it only goes badly when Romeo tries to stop the fight. Again, a typical mercurial misdirection instead of what was intended.
“Ask for me tomorrow you shall find me a grave man,” I think is how Mercutio exits.
Ben Affleck as the actor who plays Mercutio in “Shakespeare in Love,” his character has a grand entrance, that character recently returned from being on tour. As such, that’s the way I always thought the person who played Mercutio should play it. Starring roll, ends up dead a little too early, but that’s the way the plot tumbles.
There’s also the obvious hint that this is a mercurial moment with that character’s name, Mercutio.
I’ve watched, from my professional point of view, any number of relationships that are built on shaky ground, I’ve watched as those relationship crumble under this kind Mercury in Retrograde. Like Mercutio’s role, short-lived.
Hey, just look what happened with those Mercury Missteps for Romeo and Juliet?
Killer ending, huh.
E-mail is still best.
The Portable
Mercury Retrograde