Romeo and Juliet. / William Shakespeare ; edited by Brian Gobbon.

edited by David Bevington.

Like many comedies ,Romeo & Juliet is a love story,celebrating the exquisite,brief joy of youthful passion.A dominant pattern of imagery in Romeo & Juliet evokes a correspoding sense of suddeness and violence:fire gunpowdre,hot blood,lightning,the inconstant wind,the storm tossed or ship wrecked vessel.The beauty of a love that is so threatened and fragile is so intensified by the brevity of the experience .A tragic outcome therefore affirms the uniqueness and pristine quality of youthful ecstacy.The flowering and fading of joy"too rich for use,for earth too dear",does not so much condemn the unfeeling world as welcome the martyrdom of literally dying for love."In The Complete Works of Shakespeare"5th edition