For the Ignatius Study Guide for Rome and Juliet, click here.

"Star-crossed" Romeo and Juliet are Shakespeare's most famous lovers. A staple of high school reading lists, the tragedy especially resonates with young adult readers who, like Romeo and Juliet, have experienced the exhilarating and perilous phenomenon of being "in love".

Given the tragic ending of the play, what does Shakespeare illustrate about his teen protagonists: Are they the hapless victims of fate, or are they responsible for the poor choices they make? Is their love the "real thing", or is it self-indulgent passion run amok? These are some of the ever relevant questions discussed in this critical edition of Romeo and Juliet.

A look at the essays

• "Romeo and Juliet on Film" – James Bemis
• "A Rose by Any Other Name: The Plague of Language in Romeo and Juliet" – Crystal Downing
• "Why Juliet Makes the Torches to Burn Bright: The Luminous Quality of Beauty" – Richard Harp
• "The Crossing of Love: Shakespeare's Chiastic Wit inRomeo and Juliet" – Andrew J. Harvey
• "A Case against Natural Magic: Shakespeare's Friar Lawrence as Romeo and Juliet's Near-Tragic Hero" – Jill Kriegel
• "Fools for Love? Shakespeare's Qualified Defense of Romeo and Juliet" – Jonathan Marks
• "Romeo and Juliet and the Petrarchan Love Poetry Tradition" – Rebecca Munro
• "Romeo and Juliet: The 'True Ground of All These Piteous Woes'" – Stephen Zelnick

Joseph Pearce situates the reader with an introductory essay.