Violent Delights and Violent Ends on Screen: A Feminist Approach to Adaptations of Romeo and Juliet
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2018-06-15
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en
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This research is concerned with the analysis of two adaptations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet from a feminist perspective. Several gender-related aspects are considered through a discussion of the most important scenes related to three main topics; the concept of Juliet as an early feminist, the use of the male and female gaze and the way in which the directors dealt with the subject of sexuality. The analyses of these topics point towards the idea that Carlo Carlei, director of the 2013 adaptation, employed a much more progressive approach towards gender-related issues when compared to Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 adaptation. This difference is explained by the changing attitudes towards feminism over the years that passed between the creation of the films. The research found merely one gender-related aspect which is not in line with the main conclusion. Zeffirelli chose to maintain the original homoerotic traits in the character of Mercutio from Shakespeare’s text, whereas Carlei unexpectedly did not.
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Faculteit der Letteren