Romeo and Juliet: The Manga

A Romeo and Juliet Graphic Novel

Description

Everyone should be familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet. However, just in case, Romeo and Juliet is the tragedy by William Shakespeare. The Capulet and Montague families feud in the streets of Verona, Italy. Count Paris works to court Juliet, the daughter of Capulet, while Benvolio talks to Montague’s son, Romeo, about his depression. Romeo is infatuated with Rosaline, one of the Capulet nieces, but when he attends the ball to see Rosaline, he meets Juliet. He is immediately smitten with her. A fight nearly breaks out at the ball between Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, and Romeo. Juliet’s father breaks up the fight, not wanting there to be any bloodshed. After the ball, Romeo overhears Juliet admitting that she fell in love with Romeo. Friar Laurence marries them in secret the next, hoping it will help their families resolve their differences. Meanwhile, Tybalt and Mercutio have a duel because Tybalt is still upset about the ball, Romeo refuses to fight him, so Mercutio fights Tybalt on his behalf. In the duel, Mercutio is wounded and dies. Romeo kills Tybalt in turn. For killing Tybalt, Romeo is exiled from Verona. Romeo stays in Juliet’s chamber that, and they consummate their marriage. Juliet is betrothed to Count Paris despite her reservations to bring married to him. Friar Laurence gives Juliet a potion that puts her in a coma. Juliet takes the potion, but Romeo does not learn of the deception in time and believes that Juliet is truly dead. Romeo goes to visit Juliet’s crypt, but he runs into Paris along the way. The two have a duel, and Romeo kills Paris. Juliet recovers from her coma and finds Romeo dead. She stabs herself with a dagger and dies alongside him. The Capulets and the Montagues finally reconcile the relationship over the deaths of their children.

Explanation

The reasoning I chose this book is quite simple, most, if not all, students read Romeo and Juliet at some point in their schooling. Like “To Kill a Mockingbird” or “Of Mice and Men,” it is one of the most commonly taught stories in schools. Plays can be difficult to understand and to read, and they can be a common source of frustration for both students and teachers. Using a graphic novel or manga to supplement the play and give them a visual representation to accompany the text of the play.

Teaching Ideas

I choose these texts (the play and the manga/graphic novel) with the express purpose of using it to teach. This text appears as a supplement in my Three Week Unit Plan to help students visualize the scene in the play. While a movie would allow students to see the scenes played out, but movies are easy to ignore or to become distracted during. Instead, a graphic novel or manga allows for students to see the scenes played out without allowing to be distracted or to ignore the movie.

Challenges

A graphic novel offers its own set of challenges. Many students have not seen a graphic novel before, and may not know how to read one. As such, the first one-and-a-half-or-so days of the unit are dedicated to helping students understand graphic novels and how they function. Furthermore, manga offers even more of a challenge. Unlike graphic novels, which are read left-to-right and top-to-bottom, manga are read right-to-left (essentially back to front), and students can struggle with the concept of reading something essentially backwards.

Important Information for Students


Despite the prevalence of “Romeo and Juliet” in schools, graphic novels are used far too infrequently in school and in curriculum. Using “Romeo and Juliet” to introduce graphic novels into curriculum and using a graphic novel to supplement students’ understanding of the scenes in “Romeo and Juliet” kills two birds with one stone. It allows students to broaden their horizons and learn about graphic novels while also allowing students another means to learn about the plot and characters in the play.

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