Greetings 👋
I'm currently reading David Blixt's essay on Romeo and Juliet "The origin of the feud". Have you read it? What are your thoughts about it? If you didn't, would you read it? So far I agree and disagree with some points he made but it is too early to say much since I started it a few hours ago.
…My man really just started writing fanfiction whole cloth. Woof.
So I did read (1) essay by him of the same title online, (he has a whole essay collection that somehow managed to be published) and boy, was it a doozy. Long story short, Blixt found it strange that Lady Montague’s off-stage death came so suddenly, basically tacked on at the end, and thought it might have a symbolic meaning—that is, signaling the end of the feud. From there he headcanoned that Lady Montague was the cause of the feud re: love triangle. Lords Capulet and Montague were once best friends turned rivals over the love of a woman, who would become Lady M.
First of all, the Chorus was clear that the feud was an ancient grudge; if a recent-ish love triangle were the cause, then it would certainly be the new mutiny. Second of all, for would-be ex-BFFs and rivals, Lord Capulet is eager to save face to young Count Paris and assure him that it would not be hard (he thinks) for him to keep the peace with Lord Montague, as they are both old. It’s possible, but not very probable.
Most likely Shakespeare axed Lady M off for symmetry—Romeo and Lady Montague from the Montague side, Juliet and Tybalt from the Capulets, and Mercutio and Paris from Escalus. Each side lost at least two people. (Then again, he did have Benvolio killed off-stage in the Bad Quarto, so it may not have been symmetry after all).
In any case, I also looked up some reviews of the whole essay collection and I’m not impressed, either. Apparently he is one of those R&J-is-a-comedy-turned-tragedy clowns, which makes sense given this fanfic-esque meta. He did write a fun-sounding novel called Her Majesty’s Will, though, so who knows? Maybe that will be my next read for some clown-eating.
