Romeo Montague - Tumblr Posts
T4T R&J thesis anon, with the elaboration you asked for lol
I was looking at queer adaptations/stagings of R&J, and noticed how many of them fundamentally did not understand the lovers’ relationship to gender. Romeo Montague is like,,, not masculine at all, and in fact multiple characters comment on how feminine he is, and yet despite that, these adaptations kept denying him the femininity that he has in the text. And I started to notice the same with Juliet, but with masculinity. And there’s just so much imagery in the ways that they talk abt themselves/how others talk about them that subvert Elizabethan gendered symbolism. And of course, there’s the fact that R and J’s whole thing when they meet each other is that for the first time, they are meeting someone who GETS their whole deal. Who understands them in a way the other people in their life can’t, which is the biggest T4T mood. It just seemed weird to me that even these gay adaptations were missing the very thing that drew me to the play in the first place
EXACTLY!!! EXACTLY THEY'RE SO GENDER-NON-CONFORMING AND THEY UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER IN A WAY NO ONE ELSE EVER HAS! AUGH!
I finally did the thing! Too bad I can’t link it, I’m on mobile
Paris: So, let me get this straight-
Mercutio and Juliet: More like let me run this bi you.
Romeo: Let’s just see how this pans out.
Rosaline: We should ace-ess the situation.
Tybalt and Benvolio: I’m gay.
A collaborative effort, featuring one of my friends.
friar laurence: romeo she’s alive
friar laurence: oh god he has airpods in he can’t hear me oh god oh fuck
What if Tybalt and Romeo used to be friends...
I know everyone is busy shipping Tycutio with its wonderful hate love and tragic, however, my brain suddenly decided to make itself sad by imagining the following.
Tybalt and Romeo being (or having been) good friends.
When they both stilll were kids Tybalt and Romeo used to meet each other quite frequently. Tybalt’s parents were still alove at that time, and while his dad knew, that his brother in law had a feud with the Montagues he did not think this cause enough to quarrel with his next door neighbour. Being neither Montague, nor Capulet the family his family got along quite well with everyone. That the Montagues had a boy exactly the age of his own son, was a lucky coincidence, and an even luckier one was that the boys got along very well-and that even though their tempers couldn’t have been more different.
Romeo was always a bit dreamy, and Tybalt a bit hotheaded, so usually it was Romeo who came up with an idea for a game, but while he was not sure how to deal with the idea Tybalt would put it into action and take charge of the business. The two boys, occasionally joined by Romeo’s cousin Benvolio had a great many adventures and lots of fun!
However, after the death of Tybalt’s parents’ things changed. Suddenly Tybalt was in the house of his uncle Capulet. He didn’t feel like he belonged there, though his aunt and the nurse tired their best to make him feel at home he knew his uncle disapproved of him. Not openly, mainly it was the sting that Tybalt’s presence reminded him that he did not have a son of his own (anymore) and also he did not like Tybalt’s connections to the Montagues. Desperate to fit in and become part of his new family Tybalt tried to be the perfect Capulet. he stopped seeing his old friends and even became their enemy. That he missed them dreadfully in this lonely afternoons and was filled with jealousy as he saw them walking round town with this new boy, the prince’s nephew, the show off Mercutio he kept for himself. He told himself a thousand times he hated everything Montague, till he everyone believed him- he almost beleived himself- But only almost.
After the ball Tybalt feels he has once more to protect the familiy’s honour. The fateful duel ensues.
But can you imagine how Romeo must have felt killing in revenge for his best friend his former best friend?
Has anyone ever considered what would have happened if not Romeo had gotten Mercutio and Tybalt, but Juliet, who on her way back from church saw the fight and rushed by to stop it? Seeing Mercutio and her cousin attacking each other she tries to get between them.The two men, so focused on each other,only notice her when it is too late.
It is impossible to tell whose rapier got her, both already covered with blood due to some scratching, but the next moment the young girl goes to her knees, bleeding. She is immediately caught by her panicking cousin who, horror struck cradles her in his arms, while calling for someone to fetch a doctor. Romeo, after being petrified for a moment, rushes to Juliet’s side, grabs her hand and wants to take her in his arms, which makes Tybalt at the same time confused and furious. He would like to slab Romeo, but won’t let go of Juliet and when Juliet suddenly takes Romeo’s hand, smiling through her pain saying “Tybalt, it’s fine, we’re married”. The young man is dumbfounded, but let’s Romeo hold her now.
Juliet dies, holding her husband’s and cousin’s hand before Mercutio and Benvolio return with the doctor. For a moment a strange silence hovers over the place. No sound, not even a rustling of leaves can be heard. It is as if the whole world has died with the young girl, and for some people it has.It is the nurse’s sobbing that breaks the deathly spell eventually, and activity returns. Friar Lawrence is called to break the news to her parents. Tybalt insists on carrying her home, Romeo tagging along, still holding her hand, Mercutio and Benvolio, unable to understand what has happened and unwilling to leave their friend alone, following at a distance.So it comes that in the end Capulets and Montagues alike stand grieving around the corpse, all of them escort her to her grave.
The following weeks are like an evil dream for Romeo and Tybalt, and nothing seems real. Benvolio is commuting between Romeo and Mercuto, trying to comfort both and not having much success (Mercutio is still haunted by the possibilty that it was him who killed the girl) while the nurse is ceaselessly watching Tybalt, fearing he might do someting stupid.
One night however, Tybalt escapes his kindly meant prison, he leaps over the wall and runs through the streets when suddenly he crashes into another man. He mumbles a half hearted apology and wants to run along, when suddenly the other man holds him back “Tybalt, stop I was on the way to talk to you!”. He stops abruptly and turns around, now facing Romeo. “And I was on the way to talk to you” Tybalt really had been on the way to the Montagues. He wanted to see Romeo, secretly hoping that he might kill him for what he has done, or if not that at least getting the man his Juliet loved a bit better to know. Romeo’s motives were similar. His love for Juliet was as strong as ever, her death could not change this. The few happy memories of their short time together were treasured in his heart, yet it was painful for him that there was so much about her he would never be able to ask her, never know about her. He had tried speaking to the nurse, but though she had loved Juliet he realised quickly that she loved the child she had once nursed and never really known the woman that she had grown to be. Talking to her parents was out of question, they had made clear that they did not want anything to do with their unwanted son in law and he could not disrespect their wishes. Tybalt therefore was his last hope.
For a moment the young men stare at each other, Tybalt half expecting being pierced by a knife any moment, when Romeo beckons him to follow him to a bench and sitting down says
“Please, tell me about Juliet”
It was the first of many talks.
tybalt: i know we don’t get along, but i got you this bath bomb as a peace offering. whenever you feel stressed, just run yourself a bath and throw this in. i promise, all your worries will be gone in seconds
romeo, opening the package: this is a toaster
romeo and juliet twitter shenanigans. this is cannon btw shakesphere himself told me.
it seems i have rather unexpectedly stumbled on to the Shakespeare side of tumblr, a surprise that, while not what i originally intended for my dashboard, is nonetheless absolutely delightful. a particularly popular play appears to be romeo and juliet. however, i have (regrettably) not read or seen a production of romeo and juliet. thus, my good gentlefolk, i am here today to present, for your viewing pleasure, what i think mercutio, romeo and benvolio are like, as informed by tumblr memes. i hope you enjoy my fever dream of a presentation on the gloriously nicknamed montacrew.
mercutio:
- extremely dramatic, to the point of sacrificing his own safety for the aesthetic
- possesses little to no sense of danger
- gayyyy
- sticking around for the DramaTM
- prankster
- would speak purely in memes if social media existed when the play was set and would have held a funeral complete with an elaborate mourners procession and a gravestone for vine when it eventually lost relevance
- is one of the main sources of comedy - minute he dies the whole show hurtles way way faster to the train wreck of a tragedy it will eventually become
- no braincells. there’s nothing but dust and a few pebbles rattling around in his head
- tipsy half the time, however it’s almost impossible to tell the times when he is and the times when he isn’t apart because he’s just Like That normally
- LOUD
- bad at expressing his emotions but genuinely quite sweet when he can get his words out properly
- theatre kid but cannot sing for the life of him
- this doesn’t stop him tho
- feral
- if he has a problem it is not his for very long as it very quickly becomes EVERYONE’S problem
- the biggest flirt you’ve ever seen in your life
- very excitable, sort of like caffeine if it were a person and made poor life decisions
- poofy sleeves
- petty crime
benvolio:
- level head (kinda)
- he has more than one brain cell which admittedly isn’t a lot but it’s millions better than the other two
- so so tired
- tries to keep the other two in check and out of trouble but is becoming slowly more feral due to exposure
- dumbass in training if you will
- also a silly and a prankster but feigns reluctance bc he (sort of) has a reputation to think of
- mercutio on the other hand has no reputation other than being ridiculous and thus has nothing to lose
- deathly loyal and very supportive of his friends even if it’s kinda their fault that they’re in trouble
- boy has been through some next level suffering, he is not okay, someone get him some therapy and maybe a hug
- lots of deadpan humour
- dating mercutio
- probably deserves better he’s seen some stuff
- gays are never happy :(
- confident, fairly easygoing but has limits you don’t cross
- with him you joke until he gives you The Look and then you shut up quick
- dog person
- possible clairvoyance?? i don’t make the rules
romeo:
- feelings!!!
- will cry. just in general. about anything.
- impulsive as heck
- big romantic, the ‘sighs dreamily’ type
- simply does not Think, at anytime
- this means he can screw up sometimes and be a bit of a jerk but he means well
- he does not jump to conclusions he hurtles towards them at 200mph
- sad often
- anytime he appears on the scene things escalate
- *slight air of tension but generally quiet* *romeo appears* *all hell breaks loose*
- optimist but easily disappointed
- prankster also
- they all joke around to be honest
- unearned confidence
- refuses to listen to any and all authority
- a little gullible but we don’t hold that against him
- just an ongoing, never ending crisis as opposed to a midlife crisis
- a hot mess
- doesn’t really comprehend such fabled things as Consequences or Repercussions and his primary motivation for things is almost always ‘it looked like a fun time’
- he’s a laugh and fun to be around but don’t trust him with anything
- kinda like a golden retriever but somehow more reckless
Still thinking about her (Rómeó és Júlia)
I never noticed rundj Romeo’s cunty ball boots
Here we are, the Montague boys (and Mercutio) Rómeó és Júlia (hungarian production of the musical Romeo et Juliette) chibi fan art
Most of the outfits was based on the scenes on one of the songs "Lehetsz Kiraly".
How do you make your hair so luscious, asking for a friend
5 hair care
"in my defense, the haircuts were an improvement."
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the notes on Romeo and Juliet
