Resources

On the Internet

• Mr. William Shakespeare & the Internet is the most helpful and user-friendly internet web site for students of Shakespeare.
• You may want to see how Shakespeare's plays were revised not long after his death. The great actor of the 18th century, David Garrick, rewrote Shakespeare's plays. In Romeo and Juliet, he removed mention of Rosalind (because Romeo's love for Rosalind makes Romeo look bad; he had Juliet wake up before Romeo died; he removed much of the vulgarity from the play. You can see these and other changes here.
• The Internet Shakespeare site provides excellent background on Romeo and Juliet.
• Roger Ebert has listed the Zeffirelli version as one of the best films. Ebert's review is worth reading.
• Part of Zeffirelli's autobiography on the making of the film.
• A fan's pretty complete site of Zeffirelli's film.
• Twentieth Century Fox site for the DiCaprio/Danes version.

Bibliography

Burton, S.H. Shakespeare's Life and Stage. Edinburgh: Chanmbers, 1989.

Halio, Jay L. Romeo and Juliet : A Guide to the Play. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1998.

Hapgood, Robert. "Popularizing Shakespeare: the Artistry of Franco Zeffirelli." Shakespeare the Movie. Ed. Lynda E. Boose and Richard Burt. London: Routledge, 1997.

Hodgdon, Barbara. "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet: Everything's Nice in America?" Shakespeare and the Globe. Shakespeare Survey 52. Ed. Stanley Wells. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Holmer, Joan Ozark. "The Poetics of Paradox: Shakespeare's versus Zeffirelli's Cultures of Violence." Romeo and Juliet and its Afterlife. Shakespeare Survey 49. Ed. Stanley Wells. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Schoenbaum, S. William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life. Oxford: Oxford U.P.