A new cockamamie allegory
May. 31st, 2013 02:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_whomYou know that almost certainly untrue hypothesis that The Wizard of Oz is actually an allegory for 1890s populism, where the Cowardly Lion represents, like, William Jennings Bryan, the yellow brick road represents the gold standard, and so forth?
Well, I've got a new one to propose: Romeo and Juliet as an allegory for the fall of the Roman Republic. The idea would be that Romeo and Juliet represent, respectively, the Republic itself and Caesar (i.e., Roma and Julius). So the feud between the Montagues and Capulets represents the rivalry between Caesar and the Senate, I guess; but Romeo and Juliet are united in love (the support for Caesar by the civilians); and their union ultimately leads both to their deaths (the assassination of Caesar and the downfall of the Republic as a form of government).
What do you say, can we make this work? I bet someone who knows Roman history better than I do could come up with a superficially plausible allegorical reading of the play in this way.
Well, I've got a new one to propose: Romeo and Juliet as an allegory for the fall of the Roman Republic. The idea would be that Romeo and Juliet represent, respectively, the Republic itself and Caesar (i.e., Roma and Julius). So the feud between the Montagues and Capulets represents the rivalry between Caesar and the Senate, I guess; but Romeo and Juliet are united in love (the support for Caesar by the civilians); and their union ultimately leads both to their deaths (the assassination of Caesar and the downfall of the Republic as a form of government).
What do you say, can we make this work? I bet someone who knows Roman history better than I do could come up with a superficially plausible allegorical reading of the play in this way.
