Defying the Stars:
Tragic Love as the Struggle for
Freedom in William Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet
Dr. Friedemann Kreuder (Mainz)
Dr. Paul Kottman (New York)
The Presence of the Past: European Cultures of Memory
IP Summer School 2011
Foundational Questions
What is Romeo and Juliet really about?
Do Romeo and Juliet (as a couple) satisfy
Hegel’s definition of tragic hero? Do they
then constitute themselves as modern
subjects?
How do Romeo and Juliet separate
themselves from nature? Do they succeed
in conquering/defying it? Or do they simply
step aside from it?
Are Romeo and Juliet truly free? If so, how
do they actualize this freedom?
What is the function of the prologue? How
does it transform the story?
How have contemporary definitions of
family changed our reception of
Shakespeare?
Is betrayal, or the temptation of betrayal a
necessary qualifier of faithfulness?
What are the distinguishing differences
between a literary reading and a
performative reception of Shakespeare?
What are the tragic elements of Romeo and
Juliet?
What are the distinguishing differences
between romantic love and other types of
relationships?
Why do we respond to their love affair?
Can death/suicide be a happy ending?
Reading List
Derrida, Jacques. “Aphorism, Countertime.” in Kottman, Paul A.
Philosophers on Shakespeare. Stanford University Press, 2009.
Goldberg, Jonathan. “Romeo and Juliet’s Open R’s.” in Shakespeare’s
Hand. University of Minnesota Press, 2003.
Hegel, G.W. F. “Dramatic Poetry.” from Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art. in
Kottman, Paul A. (Ed). Philosophers on Shakespeare. Stanford University
Press, 2009.
Kottman, Paul. A. “Introduction.” in Philosophers on Shakespeare. Stanford
University Press, 2009.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet.
Questions derived from the
Readings
What are the challenges Hegel faces in light of Shakespeare’s work?
How is Derrida’s conception of Aphorism different from quotidian definitions and how do we
apply this to Romeo and Juliet?
How do we recognize and acknowledge separateness? Is it only achievable through the
acceptance of death as a necessary precondition?
How does temporality affect the determination of identity and consequently our
reception/perception of the other?
What are the different levels of desire? How do we recognize mutual desire in comparison
to objectified desire?
Why do we have families?
What is the role of gendered sexuality in our reception of romantic love?
Favourite quotations
“Love is free, mutual self-recognition.” and “Separateness is not given, it is
the achievement of love.” (Kottman)
“The reason is that truly tragic action necessarily presupposes either a live
conception of individual freedom and independence or at least an
individual’s determination and willingness to accept freely and on his own
account the responsibility for his own act and its consequences....” (Hegel,
58)
“I love you, but I’m just quoting.” (Umberto Eco)
“The aphorism or discourse of dissociation: each sentence, each paragraph
dedicates itself to separation, it shuts itself up, whether one likes it or not, in
the solitude of its proper duration.” (Derrida, 171)
Other reference points
Dante’s Inferno - Canto V (Francesca & Paolo)
Lessing’s Emilia Galotti
Schiller’s The Robbers (Die Räuber)
Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde
West Side Story
Ovid’s Metamorphosis (Pyramus & Thisbe)
Departures (Okuribito) (2008) - dir. Yôjirô Takita
Sophocles’ Antigone
Kabuki and Japanese love suicides
Shakespeare in Love (1998) - dir. John Madden
Brokeback Mountain (2005) - dir. Ang Lee; written by Annie Proulx
Filmic representations
Romeo + Juliet
(1996)
dir. Baz Luhrmann
Romeo and Juliet
(1968)
dir. Franco Zeffirelli
In fair Verona (beach), where we lay our scene...
what is lost in
substituting a swimming
pool for the balcony?
what is the impact of
seeing each other die
versus finding each other
dead?
What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?
“The exchange of thy
love’s faithful vow for
mine” (II.ii)
“Let us talk: it is not
day./ It is, it is: hie thee
hence, be gone, away!”
(III.v)
“O happy dagger. This
is thy sheath.” (V.iii)
Further Discussion
Why doesn’t Romeo commit suicide in Mantua?
What is the relevance of Romeo and Juliet today?
What impact do our ever changing conceptions and definitions of
sexuality and gender have on our idea of romantic love?
If suicide is happy, then how is Romeo and Juliet still a tragedy?
Do we agree or disagree with Hegel’s reading of Shakespeare?
How would we stage Kottman’s reading and the importance
individuality?