Monday, March 31, 2014

What is a good idea of an alternative ending of Romeo and Juliet for the play?

Perhaps another ending would show Juliet waking up from her death-like state just a minute or two sooner, so that Romeo could see her awaken before he has a chance to drink the poison that kills him in the original play. He is already amazed that Juliet is still so beautiful, even in apparent death; she has not acquired the pallor associated with the dead, and he speculates that Death keeps her to be his own lover. Maybe Romeo just spends another few moments considering how it is possible that she retains her beauty, giving her time to wake up and prevent him from taking his life. With Paris dead, the lovers can make their escape, with the help of Friar Lawrence, and begin life together in Mantua or some other place.


A possible alternative ending would be a happy one. It would go something like this: the misunderstandings that, in the original tragedy lead to Romeo and Juliet's deaths, would be cleared up in the nick of time. Realizing how close their beloved offspring had come to an untimely, tragic demise, the Montagues and the Capulets see the error of their ways, and realizing just how much Romeo and Juliet love each other, the warring families agree at long last to put aside their differences and give their blessing to the star-cross'd lovers.
Of course, this would mean that the play's Prologue, which tells us in advance of the title characters' tragic demise, would also have to be rewritten. Or perhaps it would be necessary to get rid of it altogether. At any rate, a happy ending would be entirely appropriate, and it would send home the audience with a song in their hearts.

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