Romeo and Juliet Acts 4 and 5

     It seems an end has come to Romeo and Juliet, and a tragic one at that. It starts with a frantic Juliet, going to Friar Lawrence. Somehow he manages to keep her from killing herself, which he is pretty good at, since he stopped Romeo before. Then he pulls out a weird potion sort of thing for Juliet to drink. If I were Juliet, I would question what would make me look like I was dead when I wasn't, but it is a pretty good way out, providing Romeo gets the message to come and get her. And she does question it, what if the friar wants to kills her? (No) But what if she lies there and goes crazy? She definitely freaks out, but in the end, she goes home, and 'dies'. She gets out of the wedding and put into the tomb, and lies there for a while. Meanwhile, the Friar is waiting for Romeo to come, and then John comes and tells him he didn't give him the letter. So he was going to hide Juliet in his cell, which doesn't work when Romeo gets there first, kills Paris, kills himself, and then Juliet wakes up and kills herself.  I thought it was sort of funny how she gets mad at him for drinking all the poison. (You didn't leave any for me?) Then everyone from everywhere comes running in, and the two families are friendly again.
     I was honestly surprised to find Paris there. It would make sense he was there, but I still didn't expect him to be there or to suddenly want to fight Romeo. Why is Romeo always the better swordsman? What if Paris just pulled out his sword and sliced Romeo up? But no, Romeo is, of course, the superior swordsman and kills Paris. I thought it was a little strange and a little funny when it just says 'He dies'. I think it's just so you know he's not lying on the floor, dying while everyone is running around, worrying about Romeo and Juliet. I also was surprised to hear Paris was related to Benvolio, I think he said. He should feel bad. WAIT! If Paris was related to Benvolio, then isn't he a Montague and should not be marrying Juliet? That's so weird! Why isn't that a big deal?
     That's the other thing that doesn't seem fair. Why does Lady Capulet get to live when Lady Montague  dies? She should die of happiness because there is no longer a feud, but instead she dies of grief from Romeo. Did anyone else catch that? Not much chance for a good relationship anymore. Poor Lady Montague.
     I was actually surprisingly okay with the ending. At first I was mad Friar Lawrence comes in right after Romeo dies, but then I felt better when they said he had been there for a while. One thing bothered me: Why couldn't the friar get there faster? It seems like Romeo, coming from another city, would take longer than Friar Lawrence coming from nearby, but I guess it had to happen. I liked the last two lines about Juliet and her Romeo, and it was very satisfying to see everyone happy with each other, even if Lady Montague died and didn't quite make it there.

Other than that, I also finished a book called Stealing Death, that I may or may not have mentioned before. I takes place in, as far as I know, an imaginary place, but still based on a desert-based land, (Saharan Africa?) It's about a young man named Kipp, whose family is lost in a fire at his house, but he has to take care of his sister, who survives. Then the debt collectors come and he has to go and work at the rich landlord's house, on his farm. Unfortunately, he loves his daughter, Zalika, and his braid has been shorn by a witch, which is embarrassing for a man to be seen without a braid. His religion is a little strange, and I don't completely understand it, but much of the story has to do with the Gwali and a sack called the Kwaja. So the Gwali is a man who rides of a mystical ghost horse with a pack of dogs, and collects dead peoples' souls in this sack, or the Kwaja. Kipp is angry that he couldn't stop the Gwali from taking his family, so he swears to steal the Kwaja from the Gwali. So he goes to the witch to figure this out, who gives him a potion sort of thing to help steal the soul sack. A lot happens in between, he steals the sack, Zalika almost dies, he saves her by not letting the sack take her soul, but at the same time, he's being dragged by the magic of the sack, which wants to collect souls. It was surprisingly able to really catch and keep my attention, and I really liked how the author had this whole culture for the people who lived there, not just one predictable sort of idea. And there is a series of different problems that Kipp faces, making the book a bit more interesting. Quite good. :)

The Third Part of Romeo and Juliet

Excitement, excitement! What's going to happen? Somehow I feel the ending wouldn't have felt so obvious if they hadn't pointed it out in the beginning. (Okay, duh) What I mean is, I don't think I would expect them  to die in the end if it wasn't the best known love story in history. And I'm still sort of hoping it won't happen. But then again, there wasn't really any other way to fix the fight between the two families. So sad, so sad. A lot of bad things happened. Mercutio died, poor guy, and Romeo gets mad and ends up killing  Tybalt, and that gets him shoved out of Verona. Mercutio was weird and sort of frightening, but I think it's still a little for him to die. It's all sort of painful to read, really.

Then Juliet's parents decide that in a few days she's going to marry Paris. I love how Juliet reacts. Of course, she's really upset that her parents would do anything, but she covers everything so well. She's crying for 'Tybalt', which she was upset about at first, but then she decided that she needed to side with her husband, even though he was the person who killed him. I think she probably realized that it would be hard to hate Romeo, anyway. But then she says "I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear/ It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,/ Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!" I laughed at this, because it seems so obvious, but it really isn't for her mom. It seems like Romeo would be a weird person to bring up, but since she's 'crying about Tybalt', who was killed by Romeo, it's not strange. I still think it's strange how well Romeo fits as being hated by her, and then she says she would rather marry him than Paris. (Little does her mother know she's already married) How much I love Juliet.

Other than that, the story wasn't especially cheerful. We find out Romeo is jealous of the mice that will get to be with Juliet when he can't. Poor Romeo. I did always feel a little bit like the Capulets were the 'bad' people and the Montagues are 'good'. It's hard to love Tybalt, so I don't blame Juliet for not being that sad. It would be sad to know your cousin died, and you would generally be mad at the killer, but how do you excuse his killing Mecrutio without sort of excusing Romeo? At first Juliet is really upset that Tybalt died, and mad at Romeo, but then she sort of drops the anger and realizes it will be more painful to be without him. (She never really did see him as the murderer sort of guy) I feel like I should be angry that Romeo was so irrational to fight Tybalt and kill him, but I also feel like it would be hard to see your close friend die.

Well, anyway, I am still wishing that maybe everyone will live and Mercutio comes back to life. And that everyone will be happy and that Juliet's dad will realize that Paris is not the best person to marry. If only everything could end up happy.

Romeo and Juliet Act 2

So, this week I had almost nothing to do on Wednesday in the afternoon, other than homework for this class. So I read Romeo and Juliet. I was so focused on reading that I really over-read. (Meaning then end of Act 2 is long gone) But I will attempt to remember everything and talk about it. This week, it was both easier and more frustrating. But I think I got it. It's hard not to pay attention too much to one character. I'm trying to catch everything for my character, but then I tend to ignore other people. Not flat out ignore, but sort of focus more on one. I don't really know what to say. If I were Juliet, I would honestly 1) Be freaked out to find Romeo below my window and 2) Calm down. She is really freaks out when the nurse doesn't come back with news from Romeo. Honestly, even if it has been three hours, it's not that terrible to wait for news (She knows Romeo loves her already) I can just see the whole of Scene 2 being ruined by Juliet staying away from that window, or even him going to the wrong window. How does he know which window is hers? I still think it's weird he stood outside her window. Maybe she was really happy to see him there, but I can just see so many things happening. 1) Someone else looks out the window. 2) Someone notices Juliet talking to herself. 3) The window to Juliet's room doesn't open 4) Romeo or Juliet can't hear the other person without talking too loudly to be heard. It's just hard for me to place (Probably because the window to my bedroom is a) Basically behind a little tree b) looking out on what would be my neighbor's driveway c) Only the top half opens - to a screen (which rarely opens), which is still hard to hear out of and d) I share a room with my sister. Her bed blocks off any access to the window from my bed or the doorway. Yeah, it's a little hard for me to picture now, but it is not too difficult to imagine all of it as I'm reading.
     I'm also glad they both like each  other. Honestly, what is Romeo fell in love with Juliet, but she thought he was a terrible person? Then his heart would be broken twice, and the poor guy would feel terrible. I think it's better than they fall in love and die together than not falling in love and not dying together. What else? Romeo excusing his absence was interesting. They demand to know everywhere he's gone! I am puzzled to think how he managed to get out of that one. Then they go and get married. That also confuses me, they never show them getting married? You see them both go to the cell and they leave for the church, but it never continues on to the church. Oh well. Anyway, I do like this play, and I would like to finish it soon! (Unfortunately, I read most of the next Act... Sorry)

Romeo and Juliet, Act I, and Other Reading

     The first act of Romeo and Juliet. I thought it was pretty good. Of course my mind blanks at specifics, but I did like it. I didn't find it cumbersome to read or anything, but sometimes I would get bored when someone talked for a long time (Mercutio and dreams, the Nurse and her... joke) because I wanted everything to keep moving. It wasn't bad to listen to the long talk about 'Queen Mab', but after the first twenty lines or so, it wasn't holding my attention. But really, I don't mean it was bad, in fact, I thought it was very good poetry. Speaking of that, I also really liked that little four line rhyme Juliet says at the very end of the last scene. (Scene 5, 147-150) I thought it was beautiful.

     I agree with, well, probably almost everyone, that it is, although not unusual for the time, not favorable that Juliet is almost fourteen and Romeo is a few (five-ish, I'm think) years older. Of course, Paris doesn't sound like the youngest guy, either, certainly older than Romeo. But I actually find it more alarming that they (Juliet's mother, her nurse, people then in general) thought of marriage at such a young age, rather than the gap in age between the Romeo and Juliet. I guess her dad did say wait a few years, but that's still young. To me, though, neither seems particularly young. Romeo doesn't seem really old, and Juliet seems as if she might be closer to his age than she is. They do seem to fall in love particularly fast, but I guess when you have two hours to put on a show, you have to keep things moving if they need to die by the end.

     I am pretty excited about reading this play, so far it is very good, and I enjoy the poetry. I'm glad that Romeo can get over Rosaline (Although alarmed at the speed...) and that there was a masquerade ball. I have always thought it would be neat to go to one of those, as long as everyone truly was disguised well. I would love all the mystery to it! You would never know who you were dancing with. Hmmm, maybe I don't like the idea. (Besides, I doubt I could ever dance fancily like they did)

     Other reading this week: actually, a few things. I read a book called 'The Haunting of Charles Dickens' by.... someone or other with a weird last name, Buzbee, maybe? I thought it was a sort of strange, kind of cheesy book, but at the same time I did like it. Basically this girl's brother disappeared and with the help of her friend, Charles Dickens, they discover where he disappeared to. So Meg (the girl) does all sorts of sneaking around (tunnels, deserted houses, mansions, factories with child workers) and acting. I felt like everything worked out a little too well and that Charles Dickens wasn't really necessary in the story. First of all, the basically jump from clue to clue without any trouble, other than Meg's father doesn't want her to be in any danger, so he tries to stop her for looking for Orion (her brother). Everything is figured out very easily (with the exception of the letters MR) and there is little suspense. Now that it's all over, as I've said, I'm not quite sure why Dickens was important. I have read a few books by Dickens, and reading this does give me inspiration to read more, but he didn't really seem vital to the plot. The characters that are give them clues are from Dickens' books. For example, Mr. Micawber (David Copperfield) and Jenny Wren (Our Mutual Friend) both help Meg and Mr. Dickens to find Orion. The unfortunate thing is, without having read all books by him, I probably missed some characters that were from his books, and assumed this author made them up. (Some characters clearly were Dickens' and others clearly not) When reading it, I wanted to catch all the names, and it was annoying to only catch a few. I probably wouldn't have caught any at all if the first person they met wasn't Mr. Micawber and didn't clearly share his personality.

     Things I did like about it, though, were also important. I loved this picture of London, back in Dickens' day. I don't know what it is about it, but I enjoyed that part of the setting. I also enjoyed these pictures that were put in every so often. There were probably less than ten in the whole book, but each one helped to form an idea of what a scene or object looked like. I also liked how the author made each character with a purpose to help in the discovery of Orion. In the end, although I felt the writing was sort of weak and predictable, I did enjoy the story.

     I also read a few comics this week, which I will only write briefly about. I read a Foxtrot comic called 'And When She Opened The Closet All The Clothes Were Polyester!'. I think Foxtrot is probably one of my favorites. I also have Calvin and Hobbes comic that I'm reading. While I was at the library, looking for Foxtrot, I found this one about a duck on an island, which I don't remember other than that, and I was going to take that, but in the end I didn't.