{"id":211686,"date":"2014-05-13T10:45:49","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T10:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/"},"modified":"2018-09-20T09:15:29","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T09:15:29","slug":"professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-211686 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/attachment\/211687\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo1_250-150x150.gif\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo1_250-150x150.gif 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo1_250-100x100.gif 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/attachment\/211688\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo2_250-150x150.gif\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo2_250-150x150.gif 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo2_250-100x100.gif 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/attachment\/211689\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo3_250-150x150.gif\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo3_250-150x150.gif 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo3_250-100x100.gif 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/attachment\/211690\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo4_250-150x150.gif\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo4_250-150x150.gif 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo4_250-100x100.gif 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/attachment\/211691\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo5_250-150x150.gif\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo5_250-150x150.gif 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo5_250-100x100.gif 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/attachment\/211692\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo6_250-150x150.gif\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo6_250-150x150.gif 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mm5bgvesso1qh0psdo6_250-100x100.gif 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/professorfangirl.tumblr.com\/post\/85535109814\/bluesrat-afterfullmoon-ibelieveitsanime\" class=\"tumblr_blog\" target=\"_blank\">professorfangirl<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/bluesrat.tumblr.com\/post\/85531455191\/afterfullmoon-ibelieveitsanime\" target=\"_blank\">bluesrat<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/afterfullmoon.tumblr.com\/post\/66238893699\/ibelieveitsanime-songofspoilers\" target=\"_blank\">afterfullmoon<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/ibelieveitsanime.tumblr.com\/post\/66093380049\/songofspoilers-gildatheplant-i-feel-that\" target=\"_blank\">ibelieveitsanime<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/songofspoilers.tumblr.com\/post\/66055744618\/gildatheplant-i-feel-that-anyone-who-believes\" target=\"_blank\">songofspoilers<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/gildatheplant.tumblr.com\/post\/64436644787\/i-feel-that-anyone-who-believes-romeo-juliet-is\" target=\"_blank\">gildatheplant<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I feel that anyone who believes Romeo &amp; Juliet is about some kind of Great and Timeless Love TM* needs to see this.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS TODAY IN MY SHAKESPEARE CLASS.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If you go and\u00a0<em>actually read<\/em> what Romeo says to Benvolio in the first scene, you will realize that he is only upset because HE WANTED ROSALINE\u2019S BODY AND SHE SAID NO AND SO ROMEO WAS MOPING AND PITCHING A FIT ABOUT IT. Then, the second he lays eyes on Juliet, he\u2019s basically saying<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/i1139.photobucket.com\/albums\/n550\/MLIALuvr\/IdTapThat.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<p>During the balcony scene, Romeo talks about how he scaled the wall of the garden to see Juliet. That is not romantic. That is disrespectful to her. This is a private area of the Capulet home, and Capulet built the wall around it to protect his daughter. This was a time when a woman\u2019s virtue was the most important thing she owned. If Juliet was found with a man in this very private part of her home, everyone would think she was no longer a virgin, her reputation would be ruined, and it would be much harder, if not impossible, for her father to make a good marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of good marriages, Count Paris is seen as the bad guy because he \u201ccomes between\u201d Romeo and Juliet. Capulet had arranged for Paris to marry Juliet in 2 years time, when she would be 16, in a time when most women were already married and mothers by the time they were Juliet\u2019s age at (almost but not quite) 14. Most fathers would have already had their daughters married by now, but he wants to wait two more years AND PARIS IS OKAY WITH THAT. Not only that, but Paris is young (her father\u00a0<em>could have<\/em> had her married to a 60 year old man), titled (he\u2019s a fucking Count), wealthy (again, he\u2019s a count, which means Juliet will have financial stability), and, from what we see of him, he is a very good guy. Capulet could have done a LOT worse in choosing his son-in-law.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, here\u2019s something to consider: Juliet was 13, Romeo was 17. Their relationship lasted 3 days, defied their parents, and ended in the deaths of 6 people.<\/p>\n<p>If I ever hear you say that\u00a0<em>Romeo and Juliet<\/em> is the greatest love story ever told, I will bitch slap you.<\/p>\n<p>That is all.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>THANK YOU! SOMEBODY FINALLY PUT IT IN WORDS FOR ME<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The whole point of the play was not meant to show a \u201ctimeless and fantastic love\u201d, it was meant to show how stupid kids can be when it comes to love!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Ahem, no.<\/p>\n<p>It was meant to show that the world parents set up can destroy their very own children. \u00a0You may have noticed the lengthy monologues at the beginning and end of the play that address this subject?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a play about two kids who are trapped in a system their warring families have created. \u00a0Everybody\u2019s like \u201cOh, they\u2019re the heirs to their family!\u201d but MOSTLY Romeo\u2019s got nothing much to live for other than youthful thuggery and then an adult lifetime of whatever his parents arrange for him, and Juliet has that plus being a woman (and worse, she\u2019s the smarter, more serious, and more ambitious of the two in terms of being willing to fight for something better in life, and basically she\u2019s supposed to marry who her parents say and then sit down and shut up).<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not they\u2019re really in love or they\u2019re just grabbing something that looks like a lifeline, the point is that their society cuts off all their options, and all they\u2019ve got left is self-destruction.<\/p>\n<p>Which is, you know, a story that remains very relevant and familiar to us today. \u00a0Whether it\u2019s drugs, violence, love, thrill-seeking, kids still are driven to burn out and destroy themselves before they ever reach adulthood because as far as they can see there\u2019s nothing for them.<\/p>\n<p>Also it\u2019s a myth that people were often marrying their young children off. \u00a0Check church records through the Medieval and Renaissance periods and you will find it was very rare that either member of the couple was under the age of 16, even among noble families (and even rarer among peasant families, who lacked the political impetus to marry their kids off younger than 18 or 20). \u00a0Which is still damn young, but it\u2019s not little kid young.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>^^^^^ <\/p>\n<p>Sure, if you read it as a documentary, it\u2019s an after-school special cautionary tale. But it\u2019s not a documentary. And it\u2019s not just about love, it\u2019s about <em>the freedom of Juliet to choose whom she loves<\/em>. Before Romeo gets up that balcony, she\u2019s already in love. (\u201cMy only love sprung from my only hate!\/Too early seen unknown, and known too late!\u201d See there? Juliet\u2019s constantly talking about knowledge\u2014she is the furthest thing from a \u201cstupid bitch.\u201d) And yes, it\u2019s \u201cunrealistic\u201d that they fell in love in the course of a dance party, but that\u2019s the point: Shakespeare\u2019s writing about how this brilliant girl can take this foolish boy and turn their youthful infatuation into real love through the power of her language. Because lemme tell you something: when Shakespeare, the poet who made worlds with words, writes about someone who creates love or moves people with language, then that character is really really important, and really really powerful. (See also Cleopatra, Viola, Prospero, Lady Macbeth, et.al.) In light of all this, calling Juliet a stupid bitch is pretty fucking misogynist. (Not to mention unclear on the concept of art, which is valuable precisely because it can tell unrealistic stories representing deep human truths.)<\/p>\n<p>I have to say that in the end its sounds an awful lot like you\u2019re defending arranged marriage for a free-minded young woman. And that\u2019s a reality I would just as soon do without.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>professorfangirl: bluesrat: afterfullmoon: ibelieveitsanime: songofspoilers: gildatheplant: I feel that anyone who believes Romeo &amp; Juliet is about some kind of Great and Timeless Love TM* needs to see this. WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS TODAY IN MY SHAKESPEARE CLASS.\u00a0 If you go and\u00a0actually read what Romeo says to Benvolio in the first scene, you &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/13\/professorfangirl-bluesrat-afterfullmoon\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1255,446,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211686"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211693,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211686\/revisions\/211693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}