Romeo and Juliet

Paningit lang, before I continue with SCR, the idea popped up in my head and I don't think my braincells will settle down until I put it into writing, so here goes. It is an experimental work on my part, so please bear with it, if you don't like it, then you don't, if you find it acceptable, then you do, if you like what you read, then leave a comment will you *grins*.


"Omma, I just finished my assignment in English Lit, do you like to read it?"

"I would love to baby," she said with a beaming smile.

Time really flies, she can't help but be stunned at how fast her first child had grown, she now has a 10-year old daughter, who looks exactly like her, which is one of the topmost complaint of her husband, ever since their daughter shown signs of her blossoming beauty, her father has been at his wits end thinking of ways to hide her from the world. But her daughter is more than a just a pretty face, she has the charm, the heart and the brains to append it with. A proof of the latter is her being in advance study since second grade, she's now a 5th grader taking early lessons on English Literature. She scan the printed materials on her hand, and with much pride and enthusiasm, she reads on.

**********

Title
Romeo and Juliet (A Comparative Writing)

Most, if not all, are familiar with the love story of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, it is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in between 1591 and 1595.

Many a review had been done about this story, many plays and movies had been produced, many versions had been made, many books had been published and many copycats had surfaced so I decided to do it my way, it is a wee bit different than your usual comparative report but, I bet, it will be better.

Setting
Verona

Characters
Ruling House of Verona

Prince Escalus - the ruling prince
Count Paris - kinsman of the prince who wishes to marry Juliet
Mercutio - another kinsman and a close friend of Romeo

House of Capulet
Capulet - patriarch of the house
Lady Capulet - matriarch of the house
Juliet - daughter of the Capulet and the female lead
Tybalt - cousin of Juliet and nephew of Lady Capulet
Nurse/Nana - Juliet's personal attendant and confidante
Peter, Sampson and Gregory - servants in the Capulet household

House of the Montague
Montague - patriarch of the house
Lady Montague - matriarch of the house
Romeo - son of the Montague and the male lead
Benvolio - cousin of Romeo and his friend
Abram and Balthasar - servants of the Montague household

Franciscan Friars
Friar Laurence - Romeo's confidante
Friar John - the one who was sent to deliver Friar Laurence's letter

Plot

The Capulet and Montague are, both, rich and powerful, but more than the distinction, they are more known as nemesis, rivals, sworn enemies. Their families battle it out and Verona is their battleground, the members of each family brawl on the street, wrecking havoc and sowing fear among the citizens. Prince Escalus was forced to interfere and declared that further breach of peace in Verona will be punishable by death, thus a sort of ceasefire took effect.

One of the prince's kinsman, Count Paris, let his desire to marry Juliet be known to her family, her parents are in favor of the union but her father is a little wary as Juliet is just a child at thirteen, so he asked the count to wait for two more years before they wed. The Capulet held a ball in honor of Count Paris and their arrangement.

At the beginning Romeo was really pining for Rosaline, a cousin of Juliet, and in an effort to see her, he lets himself be persuaded by Mercutio and Benvolio to attend the ball that the Capulet were having. But as fate would have it, instead of Rosaline, he met Juliet and fell in love with her at first sight.

Juliet, on the other hand, was mesmerized. A day after the ball, Romeo sneaked into the Capulet's courtyard in order to take a glimpse at her but he got more than what he bargained for, as he witnessed Juliet vowing her love for him though he is a Montague. Overwhelmed, he showed himself and propose his love, then and there, they decided to get married, with Nana as their witness.

Friar Laurence married them the next day hoping that the union will lead to a reconciliation between their families.

But Tybalt, had another plan, he was enraged that Romeo sneaked in the Capulet's party and challenged him to a duel but as Romeo already sees him as a kinsman, he declined. Mercutio, who felt insulted by Tybalt's insolence and angered by Romeo's submission, accepted the duel on his friend's behalf. Mercutio was fatally wounded as Romeo attempts to break up the fight. Grief-stricken and wracked with guilt, Romeo confronted and slain Tybalt in the process.

The prince exiled Romeo with a note that he will be killed the moment he steps foot at Verona again, that was his punishment as his parents argued that the death of Tybalt was just as he only avenged Mercutio's death.

Romeo spent his last night at Verona with Juliet, they both knew that it was to be the last but she was still devastated when he finally left. Her family misinterpreted her grieving and decided to marry her off to Count Paris. She resisted and was threatened to be disown by her father, her plea for a delay was also rejected by her mother.

In an attempt to get her out of the dilemma, Friar Laurence offered her a drug that will keep her in a death-like coma for forty-two hours, he also promised to send a messenger to Romeo to inform him of the plan so that he can be there when she awakens.

Juliet drink the potion a night before her wedding and was discovered looking lifeless in her room the morning after, her mourning and distress parents laid her to rest in the family crypt.

It was such a good plan, until Balthasar went babbling about Juliet's circumstance to Romeo, and he, as the lovesick fool that he is, ran to Verona, making it impossible for Friar John to give him the message that Friar Laurence sent. In other words, the once ingenious plan failed *grins*.

The heartbroken Romeo, though in haste to be with his lover, was able to buy a poison before he went to see her in the crypt. He met Count Paris, who came to mourn Juliet privately, the count confronts him and Romeo kills Paris in the battle that ensued. Believing that Juliet had passed away, he drunk the poison and was breathing his last when Juliet suddenly woke up, aggrieved, she took her own life using his dagger.

The three were found dead in the tomb and seeing the misfortune that their children had suffered all because of their feud, the Capulet and the Montague decided to make peace and reconcile. Friar Laurence act as the narrator of the story/play and it ends with Prince Escalus' elegy, "For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Now for the real story, imagine Romeo and Juliet in a South Korean setting instead of the 16th century England, speaking not of those olden English language but of contemporary Korean, and living in a modern world instead from the antiquated one. I shall change the title then, from Romeo and Juliet to Estella and Rafael. And to make this story a little more amusing, let me tell you, that our lead protagonists are both Korean stars, both hailed from an idol group, the female went solo as a singer, took up hosting and modeling, do some bits of sitcoms and movies and became a favorite in variety shows; the male diversified to acting and modeling while still being a singer. They both have a good heart and do much charity works, and instead of being star-crossed lovers, shall we tag them as a match made in heaven?

Now on to the characters, let's forego the ruling house as this story happened in a different era, but we have to retain Count Paris and Mercutio as they play important roles, I will name the Korean counterpart of Paris as Yunho and of Mercutio as Jaejoong. The House of Capulet and Montague are no more, it's basically Estella and Rafael with their hordes of fans, with the leads as secret lovers while their fans are mutual enemies. As for Friar Laurence, who acts as a friend, confidante and a bridge to each sides reconciliation, I think, the Joongboers fit in, but as they are plural in numbers, let's just say that they are all Franciscan friars who thinks and feels like the real one. And instead of Friar Laurence, I will act as the narrator and in behalf of Price Escalus, I'll give the ending statement.

I know that most of the characters of the original play are not visible in my story but as I've said earlier, this is a love story that took place centuries after Shakespeare's famous tragedy, so some of the characters are not in existence anymore. And now, I shall begin.

The feud between Estella and Rafael's followers happened in reverse chronology, they met and fell in love first before the war ensued. The two met not in a party but on a reality show, We Got Married, Rafael just like Romeo expected to meet somebody else, a cutesy-patootsy girl for the first and Rosaline for the latter, but as luck was bestowed on them, they met someone else and they both fell in love at first sight.

But unlike Romeo, Rafael had to prove to Estella that he's worthy of her heart and, ultimately, her life and soul. You see, as they met in a reality show, emotions alone can't be trusted because sometimes the bleak line that separates real from reel overlaps, and Estella was intelligent enough to not let herself drown. But love, just like death, cannot be avoided, the variety program ended but their feelings continued to grow, he wooed her until the walls that she built crumbled, until she accepted him as her man.

But as their stint as a married couple ended, their individual fans who once supported their tandem drifted away until they completely falter. And the endless shipping with other artists, bickering, bad-mouthing, a whole lot of word war begun. But, just like Romeo and Juliet, Estella and Rafael had their own Friar Laurence, they are an elite group of people who believe that great love stories doesn't have endings and that what they saw as a blossoming love in WGM is the real deal. They stay vigilant and dedicated and their support and love never waver amidst the denial, the rumors and the fan warfare.

Fortunately, this love story didn't end in tragedy, after all the commotions and the secret, the couple finally announced their relationship, a month before they tie the knot. They got married, this time for real, and together with the ever-loyal Joongboers, the Perfect, Hyunnies, BeauEstella, Hye Jung's Angels and those other fans in between stood together to celebrate with them. At the moment, they are living happily and contentedly with their three children - Helice, Hermes and Hypnos.

"A great love story doesn't end with dying together, that is what you call a tragedy. A great love story is when two person became one soul and grew old together with no regrets, no enviousness, no greed, just pure love." - Helice Kim

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She was lost reading her daughter's masterpiece when a small voice jolted her, "Omma," a three-year old boy whispers in her ear, as he try to get her attention. "When is appa coming home?

"He'll be home soon, why, do you need something from your appa?"

"Ani, I just miss him..."

"And I miss you, too!" the doting father said with arms open wide, waiting for his little prince to run to his embrace.

"Appa," one loving word of three different voices, from three different individuals.

He reaches out to each of them, hugging them tight, kissing them soundly, and talking like they haven't meet for a long while, when in fact, he just went out a few hours ago for a recording. But, he wouldn't have it any other way.

When the commotion died down, he pull his wife to his side, give her a light peck on the lips and whispered, "Thank you for letting me live a wonderful, wonderful life with you and our kids. Saranghae Hwangbo Hye Jung!"

"And I love you Kim Hyun Joong!"


NOTE: I just read what I wrote and I find my version of Romeo and Juliet funny, instead of being sweet and romantic, it came out angsty, hahaha, I'm really not made of those gooey, mushy stuff and it shows in my writings.