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This graphic novel is a great introduction to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet for teen readers.
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and adapted by Gareth Hinds. Candlewick, 2013. 128 pages.
- Reading Level: Teens, ages 14 and up
- Recommended For: Ages 14 and up
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.
The “two households” are racially as well as uncivilly divided, though Hinds states in his introduction that he’s not making a statement about racial conflict so much as underlining the universal relevance of the story. The Montagues are African, the Capulets are Indian, and Friar Lawrence adopts the robes of a Buddhist monk. Otherwise, a Renaissance theme dominates, with all its color and pageant and passion.
The presentation of the story is faithful to Shakespeare’s original, with language intact though much truncated. This includes the sexual innuendo among the lackeys in the first scene, but young readers won’t necessarily notice that. They will notice Romeo getting dressed after his wedding night (while Juliet remains chastely gowned), but by the time they’re old enough to read a Shakespeare text, they’re also old enough to know what wedding nights are about.
In the appendix, the artist explains some of his interesting depiction choices (such as why he decks Tybalt in tattoos) and cites actual places in Verona that were used as settings.
Gareth Hinds is known for his graphic adaptions of the classics, such as Beowulf and other Shakespeare plays. Overall, Romeo and Juliet is beautifully done and an excellent introduction to the play. Shakespeare was primarily meant to be seen and heard, not read. If a live stage production can’t be had, a graphic novel adaption makes a lot of sense.
Considerations:
- Sexuality: Hinds faithfully renders Shakespeare’s original, including sexual innuendo and the implications of a wedding night (see above).
Bottom Line: An excellent treatment of the familiar play for high school students.
Related Reading at Redeemed Reader:
- Reviews: Other graphic novels by Hinds that we’ve reviewed include The Iliad and The Odssey. He also did a masterful adaption of Poe: Stories and Poems.
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This quote from Fairy Tales and After: From Snow White to E. B. White by Roger Sale, not a book with which I generally agree, nicely sums up Baum’s artistic limitations, I think.
“The essence of Baum is his careless ease, his indifference to the complexities of life, his eagerness to describe what enchanted him without ever exploring or understanding it. Such people often become entertainers of one sort or another, but they seldom become writers. It might be said he had a knack for writing the way some people have a knack for singing or dancing or hitting a baseball. He obviously enjoyed writing but his view of himself as a pleaser of audiences and his indifference to any disciplining of his genius meant he often wrote a good deal he didn’t want to write.”
I never got into the Baum books. I guess that’s why.