ABSTRACT
But, soft! Doesn’t Romeo and Juliet take a quantum leap forward when Romeo sees Juliet for the first time? He and the story have slowed to a crawl (“What sadness lengthens Romeo’s hours?”), but the moment he sees her, the story takes off at emotional warp speed. (“Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!/For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”) Yes, their starcrossed love creates all kinds of conflict that also moves the story along, but so does this initial-and the ongoing, deepening-connection between the two lovers. Again, it’s a dance. Conflict and connection. The best stories have both.
