Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet the manga edition

01_097588 ffirs.qxp 1/4/08 8:45 AM Page i

01_097588 ffirs.qxp 1/4/08 8:45 AM Page ii

Adam Sexton • Yali Lin

01_097588 ffirs.qxp 1/4/08 8:45 AM Page iii

Copyright © 2008 by Adam Sexton, and Yali Lin. All rights reserved.

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning orotherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United StatesCopyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorizationthrough payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the webat www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to theLegal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256,(317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, and related trademarks and trade dress are trademarksor registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All other trade-marks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associatedwith any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to theaccuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all war-ranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No war-ranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice andstrategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold withthe understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or otherprofessional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent pro-fessional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable fordamages arising here from. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in thiswork as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that theauthor or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provideor recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websiteslisted in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was writtenand when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical supportplease contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outsidethe U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appearsin print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley prod-ucts, please visit our web site at www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007940644

ISBN: 978-0-470-09758-8

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Book design by Elizabeth BrooksBook production by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Composition Services

01_097588 ffirs.qxp 1/4/08 8:45 AM Page iv

www.wiley.com/go/permissions

www.wiley.com

5Act I

1

Suiting the Action to the Word:Shakespeare and Manga

Act II

Act III

Act IV

Act V139

113

71

41

02_097588 ftoc.qxp 1/4/08 8:46 AM Page v

Adam Sexton is author of Master Class in Fiction Writing and edi-tor of the anthologies Love Stories, Rap on Rap, and DesperatelySeeking Madonna. He has written on art and entertainment forThe New York Times and The Village Voice, and he teaches fictionwriting and literature at New York University and critical read-ing and writing at Parsons School of Design. A graduate ofColumbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, helives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.

Yali Lin works in an animal shelter by day and draws comicsby night. She lives in New York City with her roommate, twocats, and two rabbits. This is her first published work and youcan e-mail her about it or anything else at [email protected] see more of her comics and illustrations please visit www.bloodandtheartofbaking.com.

03_097588 flast.qxp 1/4/08 8:46 AM Page vi

Suiting the Action to the Word:Shakespeare and Manga

by Adam Sexton

Suit the action to the word, the word to the action...—Hamlet (Act III, Scene 2)

Four hundred years after the writing of William Shakespeare’splays, it is clear that they are timeless. This is due in part to theirinfinite adaptability. The plays have been translated into dozensof languages and performed all over the world. Famously cre-ative stage productions have included a version of Julius Caesarset in fascist Europe during the 1930s and a so-called “voodooMacbeth.” Nor have gender and age proved barriers to castingShakespeare’s characters. The role of Hamlet is occasionallyplayed by a woman—an appropriate reversal, considering thatboys acted all the female roles in Shakespeare’s day—while theteenaged Romeo and Juliet have been portrayed by couples intheir forties and fifties.

It is common knowledge that the plays of Shakespearetransfer especially well to the movie screen. Such has been thecase since Thomas Edison made one of the first sound films everusing a scene from As You Like It. Recent cinema standoutsinclude William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, directed by BazLuhrmann, and Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet. Both take place inthe present day or near future: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Romeowears a Hawaiian shirt—and Julia Stiles’ Ophelia wears a wire,so Claudius and Polonius can eavesdrop on her conversationwith Hamlet. Otherwise, these adaptations remain surprisinglyfaithful to Shakespeare’s texts. And both hit the audience ashard as conventional stage productions in which the actors are

1

04_097588 intro.qxp 1/4/08 8:46 AM Page 1

outfitted with doublets and hose, crossed swords, and whatHamlet calls “a bare bodkin”—his unsheathed dagger (replacedin Almereyda’s movie by a gun).

Shakespeare’s plays have been set to music as well, inoperas and ballets by composers such as Verdi, Tchaikovsky,and Prokofiev. The early comedy Two Gentlemen of Verona wasadapted for Broadway by the composer of Hair, and it won theTony award for Best Musical the same year that Grease wasnominated. In the words of theater critic Jan Kott, Shakespeareis indeed “our contemporary.”

In short, though some consider the plays of WilliamShakespeare to be sacrosanct, they have been cut, expanded (itwas common in the Victorian era to add songs and even happyendings to the tragedies), and adapted to multiple media, emerg-ing none the worse for wear. Although we cannot be sure of this,it seems likely that the writer, who was a popular artist and asavvy businessman as well as an incomparable poet, wouldapprove.

The graphic novels known as manga (Japanese for “whimsi-cal pictures”) are a natural medium for Shakespeare’s work.Like his tragedies, comedies, histories, and romances, which arethrillingly dynamic if properly staged, manga are of coursevisual. In fact, a manga is potentially more visual than a stageproduction of one of the plays of Shakespeare. Unbound by thephysical realities of the theater, the graphic novel can depict anysituation, no matter how fantastical or violent, that its creatorsare able to pencil, ink, and shade.

Take Romeo and Juliet’s famous Queen Mab speech. Even themost creative stage director cannot faithfully present the minus-cule fairy described by Mercutio. Manga artists can. The same istrue of the drowning of Ophelia in Hamlet. It is precisely becausethese vignettes are unstageable that Shakespeare has his charac-ters describe Queen Mab and the death of Ophelia in suchgreat detail—they must help us imagine them. In its unlimitedability to dramatize, the graphic novel more closely resembles a

2

04_097588 intro.qxp 1/4/08 8:46 AM Page 2

contemporary film with a colossal special-effects budget thananything produced onstage in the Elizabethan era or since.

At the same time, manga are potentially no less verbal thanShakespeare’s spectacularly wordy plays, with this crucial dif-ference: in a production of one of the plays onstage or onscreen,we can hear the words but can’t see them. Though Shakespeareis never easy, reading helps. And that is precisely what mangaadaptations of the plays allow. Perusing a Shakespeare manga,the reader can linger over speeches, rereading them in part oraltogether. Especially in the long and intricate soliloquies typicalof Shakespearean tragedy, this allows for an appreciation of theplaywright’s craft that is difficult if not impossible as those solil-oquies move past us during a performance.

Overall, turning the pages of a manga version of one ofShakespeare’s plays is something like reading the text of thatplay while attending a performance, but at one’s own pace.Manga is not merely a new medium for the plays of WilliamShakespeare, but one that is distinctly different from anythingto have come before.

A note on authenticity: In order to fit our adaptations intobooks of less than 200 pages, the writers and editors of TheManga Editions have cut words, lines, speeches, even entirescenes from Shakespeare’s plays, a practice almost universalamong stage and film directors. We have never paraphrased theplaywright’s language, however, nor have we summarizedaction. Everything you read in The Manga Editions was writtenby William Shakespeare himself. Finally, footnotes don’t inter-rupt the characters’ speeches here, any more than they would ina production of one of Shakespeare’s plays onstage or on film.

If the plays of Shakespeare are cinematic, then Romeo andJuliet might be the most cinematic Shakespeare play of all. Thescreen adaptations of this tragedy directed by Luhrmann and

3

04_097588 intro.qxp 1/4/08 8:46 AM Page 3

his predecessor Franco Zeffirelli have succeeded at the boxoffice compared not only to other films of Shakespeare’s workbut to other films in general. As motion pictures and graphicnovels resemble one another closely, it follows that Romeo andJuliet and manga are something like a perfect fit.

Most likely it is the close proximity of violent action andromantic love within Romeo and Juliet that makes it equallyadaptable to movie screen and manga page. The story openswith a riot and concludes following a double suicide, and itsturning point is the unintended slaying of one character byanother, followed quickly by a revenge killing. Yet the narrativeis set into motion by a mutual instance of love at first sight, andRomeo and Juliet contains the most famous love scenes in theEnglish language. Unlike productions of Shakespeare’s plays onstage, movies allow us to watch action scenes from multipleangles as well as intimate close-ups of kisses. So do manga.

In fact, a single page of manga can present two or more sepa-rate scenes simultaneously, a technique the movies rarely utilize.On page 24 of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: The Manga Edition,Juliet tells her mother that she will do her best to like Paris, theyoung man chosen as a suitable husband for her, when they meetat the Capulets’ party that evening. On the same page, Romeoreiterates to Mercutio his imagined love for Rosaline, which hesays has given him a “soul of lead” that will make dancing withher impossible. In other words, Juliet promises her family to feelsomething she doesn’t, while Romeo insists with his friends onfeelings he lacks—a combination that will contrast starkly withthe true love both feel when they meet that night.

In dramatizing this story of “two households, both alike indignity,” a manga can show us both households at once.

4

04_097588 intro.qxp 1/4/08 8:46 AM Page 4

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 5

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 6

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 7

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 8

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 9

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 10

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 11

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 12

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 13

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 14

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 15

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 16

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 17

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 18

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 19

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 20

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 21

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 22

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 24

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 25

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 26

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 27

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 28

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 29

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 30

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 31

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 32

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 33

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 34

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 35

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 36

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 37

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 38

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 39

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 40

05_097588 actI.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 23

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 41

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 42

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 43

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 44

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 45

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 46

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 47

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 48

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 49

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 50

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 51

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 52

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 53

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 54

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 55

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 56

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 57

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 58

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 59

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 60

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 61

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 62

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 63

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 64

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 65

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 66

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 67

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 68

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 69

06_097588 actII.qxp 1/4/08 8:47 AM Page 70

07_097588 actIII.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 71

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 113

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 114

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 115

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 116

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 117

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 118

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 119

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 120

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 121

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 122

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 123

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 124

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 125

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 126

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 127

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 128

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 129

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 130

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 131

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 132

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 133

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 134

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 135

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 136

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 137

08_097588 actIV.qxp 1/4/08 8:48 AM Page 138

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 139

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 140

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 141

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 142

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 143

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 144

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 145

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 146

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 147

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 148

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 149

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 150

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 151

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 152

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 153

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 154

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 155

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 156

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 157

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 158

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 159

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 160

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 161

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 162

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 163

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 164

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 165

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 166

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 167

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 168

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 169

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 170

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 171

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 172

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 173

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 174

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 175

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 176

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 177

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 178

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 179

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 180

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 181

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 182

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 183

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 184

09_097588 actV.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 185

ore full-throttle action and ambition

gone haywire. More dreams and schemes. Alliances and betrayals. Murders and mayhem. Passions and poisons. Shakespeare has it all, and now you can experience the action and appreciate the intrigue in these manga editions. All of these books combine the classic art form and classic literature and feature an introduction that sets the stage so you’re engrossed from the first page.

Wiley, the Wiley logo, CliffsNotes, and CliffsNotes.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries.

978-0-470-09759-5$9.99 US/$11.99 CAN

978-0-470-09757-1 $9.99 US/$11.99 CAN

978-0-470-09760-1 $9.99 US/$11.99 CAN

978-0-470-09758-8 $9.99 US/$11.99 CAN

Look for these fast-paced manga editions wherever books are sold.

COMING IN 2009!Huck Finn—The Manga Edition978-0-470-15287-4

The Scarlet Letter—The Manga Edition 978-0-470-14889-1

10_097588 bob.qxp 1/4/08 8:49 AM Page 186

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet the manga edition

Documents

Transcript of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet the manga edition