Line #8 TearJerker/WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet

Context TearJerker / WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet

Go To


1	!All spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
2	----
3	* The death of Mercutio.
4	** Romeo's reaction to Mercutio's death makes the scene all the more heartbreaking -- he holds his best friend's body to his chest, sobbing in impotent fury. Then he stands, holds his head in his hands, then slowly starts running towards his car, ignoring Benvolio's pleads to stop...
5	** For that matter, look at Tybalt's face in that moment. As his anger subsides, he looks soberly at what he's done, and you almost want to give him a hug. His life of passion and mayhem just imploded by his own hand, and you can see in his eyes he's stuck somewhere between sheer panic and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone genuine remorse]]. Mercutio wasn't who he hated or wanted to see dead, and while him bolting doesn't win him a whole hell of a lot of sympathy, he clearly regrets the deed.
6	** Juliet bursting into tears afterwards is heartwrenching.
7	** Then there's poor Benvolio, probably the most innocent and well-meaning character in the play, and he either fails or is ignored at every turn. He tries to keep peace at Phoenix Gas, it ends in a shootout. Tries to cheer up Romeo -- sets his doom in motion. Tries to preemptively defuse another dust up -- Mercutio is killed. Tries to keep Romeo from doing something rash -- two more shootouts and a botched funeral scheme resulting in Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet all meeting violent ends. All are indeed punished, but it's surprising Benvolio doesn't eat his own gun too when all's said and done.
8	* The tragic ending, which wouldn't have happened if Romeo had just looked down and seen Juliet waking up. Or if Juliet had touched his cheek just a ''microsecond'' sooner.
9	** As the camera slowly pans outwards in the chapel of rest scene, with the unbearably sad ''Liebestod'' from Richard Wagner's ''Tristan und Isolde'' playing as we're shown clips of the pair in happier times.
10	** The fact that Juliet's last words are cut from the story entirely, making her death [[MomentOfSilence all the more powerful]].
11	*** Juliet's reaction after seeing Romeo die in her arms. All she can muster after a long silence is a single sob. It's powerful.

Context TearJerker / WilliamShakespearesRomeoAndJuliet