Authority, Resistance, and Woe - Romeo and Juliet and Its Afterlife - Edited by Lisanna Calvi

Aug 26, 2026

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Scholarly collection examining authority, resistance, and forms of woe through Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and its wide afterlife. Essays explore how language shapes authority and interpretation, how characters and institutions resist or appropriate social signs, and how economic and rhetorical power operates within the drama. Further contributions trace Victorian theatre and Japanese manga adaptations, Italian contemporary staging, and generational conflicts across screen and stage, including rewriting practices and challenges to canonical love narratives.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Introduction - Lisanna Calvi

LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND THE ECONOMY IN SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO AND JULIET

“Refuse thy name”: Some Further Notes on Language, Authority, and Roses - Iolanda Plescia

Resisting, Appropriating, and Becoming the Signs in Romeo and Juliet - Lucia Nigri

“We can clear these ambiguities”: Escalus’s Econoliterary Authority in Romeo and Juliet - Enrico Reggiani

A STORY OF WOE: PATHETIC ADJUSTMENTS IN VICTORIAN THEATRE AND JAPANESE MANGA

“Wherefore art THOU Romeo?” - Henry Irving and the Dark Side of Romeo and Juliet - Maria Serena Marchesi

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Its Manga Version - Cristina Vallaro

MARGINALITY AND DESECRATION ON THE ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY STAGE

Mercutio Can’t Die. Romeo and Juliet Re-created by Carmelo Bene and Armando Punzo - Nicola Pasqualicchio

Leo Muscato’s Romeo & Giulietta: “a Shakespearean massacre” - Maria Elisa Montironi

THE YOUNG AND THE LESS SO: GENERATIONAL CONFLICTS ONSCREEN AND STAGE

Young Violence versus Institutional Duress. Questions of Authority and Challenge in Romeo and Juliet on Screen - Anne-Marie Costantini-Cornède

A Story of Greater Woe. Sean O’Connor’s and Tom Morris’s Juliet and Her Romeo (2010) - Lisanna Calvi

Index of Names

Authority, Resistance, and Woe Romeo and Juliet and Its Afterlife Edited by Lisanna Calvi book preview [read more at www.edizioniets.com](read more at www.edizioniets.com) Edizioni ETS [www.edizioniets.com](www.edizioniets.com) Volumepubblicato con il contributo dell’Università degli Studi di VeronaDipartimento di Lingue e Letterature Straniere © Copyright 2018 Edizioni ETS Palazzo Roncioni-Lungarno Mediceo, 16, I-56127 Pisa [info@edizioniets.com](info@edizioniets.com) [www.edizioniets.com](www.edizioniets.com) Distribuzione Messaggerie Libri SPA Sede legale: via G. Verdi 8-20090 Assago (MI) Promozione PDE PROMOZIONE SRL via Zago 2/2-40128 Bologna ISBN 978-884675287-1 Contents Introduction Lisanna Calvi 7 Contributors 23 1. LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND THE ECONOMY IN SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO ANDJULIET “Refuse thy name”: Some Further Notes on Language, Authority, and Roses Iolanda Plescia 29 Resisting, Appropriating, and Becoming the Signs in Romeo and Juliet Lucia Nigri 37 “We can clear these ambiguities” Escalus’s Econoliterary Authority in Romeo and Juliet Enrico Reggiani 47 2. A STORY OF WOE: PATHETIC ADJUSTMENTSIN VICTORIAN THEATRE AND JAPANESE MANGA “Wherefore art THOU Romeo?” Henry Irving and the Dark Side of Romeo and Juliet Maria Serena Marchesi 65 William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Its Manga Version Cristina Vallaro 81 3. MARGINALITY AND DESECRATION ON THE ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY STAGE Mercutio Can’t Die. Romeo and Juliet Re-created by Carmelo Bene and Armando Punzo Nicola Pasqualicchio 103 6 Authority, Resistance, and Woe Leo Muscato’s Romeo & Giulietta: “a Shakespearean massacre”Rewriting as an Act of Challenge and Defiance Maria Elisa Montironi 113 4. THE YOUNG AND THE LESS SO: GENERATIONAL CONFLICTS ONSCREEN AND STAGE Young Violence versus Institutional Duress. Questions of Authority and Challenge in Romeo and Juliet on Screen Anne-Marie Costantini-Cornède 135 A Story of Greater Woe. Sean O’Connor’s and Tom Morris’s Juliet and Her Romeo (2010) Lisanna Calvi 153 Index of Names 171 Introduction Lisanna Calvi Hombre 1 Venimos a felicitarle por su última obra. DIreCtor Gracias. Hombre 3 originalísima. Hombre 1 ¡Y qué bonito título! Romeoy Julieta. (Federico García Lorca, El Público, 1930)1 Not long ago I happened to teach a class on Shakespeare’s Romeo andJuliet to a group often-year-old school pupils. After I had summarized the plot, pointing out the various unfortunate turns of the action that lead to its deadly ending –which unsurprisingly astounded my young auditors, probably more familiar with the sugar-coated tourist-wise tale than with the original one – a couple of them raised their hands and very worryingly asked:“Why did they have to die? Who’s to blame for all this?” As naive as this question may sound (and is), we could say that, after all, it is exactly about this that Shakespeare’s drama makes us wonder. In the final scene of Romeo and Juliet, before Friar Laurence’s final recapitulation, delivered in front of the dead bodies of the two “star-crossed lovers”(Prologue, l. 6)2, the Captain of the Watch muses over the murderous events he has just discovered atthe Capulets’ vault. the “true ground”, he says, quibbling on the double meaning of cause and earth,“of all these piteous woes | We cannot without circumstance descry” (5.3.180- 1). moments later, the Prince will close the “lamentable tragedy” of romeo and Juliet on the same note of pity and woe anticipated in the Captain’s cue, while the two mourning fathers, Capulet and montague, seal a mutual pact of remembrance of their children’s tragic deaths. but before coming to this, Shakespeare’s drama questions the notions of authority, liberty, but also the nature and cause, the “true ground” of the play’s sorrowful ending: is it the feud, is it parental coercion and duress, is it the rashness of adolescent love or just an unfortunate serie

FAQs

What themes does the book focus on regarding Romeo and Juliet?

It focuses on authority, resistance, and woe, examining how language, institutions, and social power shape the play’s conflicts and tragic outcomes.

How does the collection treat adaptations of Romeo and Juliet?

It analyzes how various adaptations and appropriations reshape the story, including Victorian theatre, Japanese manga, Italian contemporary staging, and screen treatments, often emphasizing or suppressing different aspects of conflict and death.

Which types of perspectives are used to study authority in the drama?

Contributors use linguistic, economic, rhetorical, and performance-based approaches, linking sign systems, institutional duress, and generational tensions to the drama’s portrayal of authority and challenge.

Aug 26, 2026

Upload by Angel