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Chapter 11 - Romeo and Juliet, Again and Again: Star-Crossed Lovers Adapted to Serial Television

from Part III - Serial and Queer Romeo and Juliets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2023

Victoria Bladen
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Sarah Hatchuel
Affiliation:
University Paul-Valéry Montpellier
Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin
Affiliation:
University Paul-Valéry Montpellier
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Summary

The structure of Shakespearean drama does not fit easily into the novel-like episodic sequence of the television series. It is therefore no wonder that none of the serialized adaptations of Romeo and Juliet seem to have survived the first season of their broadcast. Nonetheless, the two series examined here, Star-Crossed (created by Meredith Averill for CW, 2014) and Still Star-Crossed (created by Heather Mitchell for ABC, 2017) are worthy of critical attention for a number of reasons. They appear to take radically different paths in appropriating the famously ill-fated romance to contemporary television screens, both in terms of genre and setting, language and style, and also in the way they intend to open up the play’s dramatic structure into a potentially endless sequence of episodes.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Works Cited

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