Lamb, who performed Juliet, said: ―Shakespeare perhaps created one of the first feminists in Juliet. She not only goes against her father‘s wishes, but she actually rejects all of societal strictures and the rules and consensus with which society is modeled.‖ (LAMB, 2015).
Classical ballet adaptations of Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet are widely spread since it is one of the most often performed ballets in many of the most important ballet companies in the world, such as The Royal Ballet of England. Since displays of violence are not graphic and gruesome in ballet adaptations, and dance is a universal language, they also attract a younger audience, especially children who take ballet classes and are inspired by professional dancers. Furthermore, the prices of tickets to ballets have reduced significantly in some theaters, for example, in the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, which sometimes offers tickets at an extremely low price, helping more people have access to this type of art. The impact of dance adaptations of Romeo and Juliet is significant and helps the public create an image of Shakespeare and his play.
Juliet‘s image was softened in the Mariinsky Ballet 2018 version and totally changed in other adaptations, such as in those from the Brazilian cartoonist Mauricio de Sousa (1935-), author of the renowned comic-book series Monica’s Gang (1970-). Hereafter, I will present three adaptations of Shakespeare‘s play to the universe of Sousa‘s characters: Romeu e Julieta: Clássicos para sempre (2015); Turma da Mônica: Romeu e Julieta (2015); and Turma da Mônica Jovem: Romeu e Julieta (2018), and I will investigate the taming of Juliet and the misogyny of Romeo.
Sousa‘s fictional universe, his protagonist Mônica is a strong-willed young girl who is often mocked over her appearance by a friend, the young boy Cebolinha. However, she does not ignore his comments, and often responds and even hits him with her iconic stuffed bunny.
Sousa‘s characters are deeply loved in Brazil and can be found not only in his comic-books, but also in TV-series, movies, and even theme-parks.
3.2.1 Romeo and Juliet: Classics forever19 (2015)
Even before opening the short 16-page book, Romeo and Juliet: Classics forever, a list, on its back cover, of other books from the collection can help us understand the tone of this adaptation. Some examples are Beauty and the Beast, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Wizard of Oz, i.e. the other books from the collection are either fairy tales, folk tales, or children‘s books. What makes Shakespeare similar to these works then? The story of the star- crossed lovers became a myth of romantic love – such as Beauty and the Beast – as stated by Marjorie Garber:
Shakespeare‘s play has become the normative love story of our time, a cliché so firmly established that the screenwriters can assume the audience will be amused by the idea of Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter, instantly recognizing it as ―wrong‖- and that virtually any love scene, when played from a balcony with the female beloved above and the male lover below, is automatically assimilated to a version of Romeo. (GARBER, 2008, p. 34).
Romeo and Juliet: Classics forever is a children‘s book, written in prose even though the characters come from a comic-book universe. Mônica, Cebolinha, Magali and Cascão – the protagonists of the comic-book series – play the characters of Juliet, Romeo, the Nurse, and Friar Lawrence, respectively. The characteristics of Sousa‘s characters disappear, and it is as though they are actors playing Shakespeare‘s characters.
On the opening page of the book, the setting is introduced: two rival families from Verona disturb the peace of the town with their constant fights. The reason behind their hatred is not explained. Quickly after, the protagonists are introduced. Romeo is described as ―a very fun, brave and fearless youngster.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 4)20 while Juliet is ―joyful, fun and
19 Original title: Romeu e Julieta: Clássicos para sempre.
20 My translation of: ―um jovem muito divertido, corajoso e destemido.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 4).
very beautiful.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 6).21 Both are ―fun‖, but while the man is ―brave‖ and
―fearless‖, characteristics already typically associated with men, the woman is ―joyful‖ and
―beautiful‖, characteristics forced upon women, who must be agreeable and good-looking to please the male gaze.
Although this difference in their description may seem subtle, it carries a lot of stereotypes and fixed gender roles. Similar descriptions can be found in children‘s clothing, such as those from a 2016 collection from Tesco, a British retailer, which became well-known due to a viral video of an 8-year-old girl criticizing their sayings. Whilst the T-shirts from the boys‘ section had sayings such as ―desert adventure awaits‖, ―think outside the box‖, and
―hero‖; those from the girls‘ section said ―hey‖, ―beautiful‖, and ―I feel fabulous‖. The young Daisy shared her opinion on the viral video:
―It‘s unfair, because everyone thinks that girls should just be pretty and boys should just be adventurous. I think that is wrong. Why should boys‘ and girls‘ clothes even be separated?
Because we‘re just as good as each other. ‗Think outside the box‘, what does this mean? It means ‗go on your adventures‘, ‗let nothing stop you‘, ‗go for your own dreams‘. And
‗Hey‘, what is that even supposed to mean? I don‘t find that inspiring. What part of ‗hey‘ is great? I don‘t get it.‖ (KIM, 2016).
What might seem a small detail may actually influence young girls into never seeing themselves as adventurous, and always having to be beautiful, since it is the message that the patriarchal society wants to send to women since early childhood. Nonetheless, Sousa‘s Juliet is later also described as smart – when she has the idea of faking her own death –, which compensates for her first description.
Similarly to Charles and Mary Lamb‘s children‘s book, Romeo and Juliet meet at the ball, but never share the composition of a sonnet; additionally, references to Juliet‘s sexuality are absent due to the innocence of the young target audience. Another empowering moment for Juliet‘s character – her marriage proposal to Romeo – is gone; instead, the decision is shared. Nevertheless, in Sousa‘s 2015 prose adaptation, Juliet does gain a moment in which she can show her brave and fearless traits. The idea of the young Capulet taking the potion that causes a deep slumber is, in Shakespeare‘s play, Friar Lawrence‘s. However, in Sousa‘s version, Juliet is the one to think of that due to a marriage proposal from a count: ―[…] the smart Juliet, who had an idea and arranged everything with the Friar and her Nurse.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 11).22
21 My translation of: ―alegre, divertida e muito bonita.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 6).
22 My translation of: ―[…] a esperta Julieta, que teve uma ideia e combinou tudo com o Frei e sua Ama.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 11).
Juliet, then, drinks the potion, which makes her parents believe she is dead. When Romeo – who has not been banished since all the violent homicides are absent from the book – hears the news of Juliet‘s ―death‖, he pays a visit to the Capulets and tells them about his secret love story with their daughter. They instantly regret the feud with the Montagues and proclaim they would accept their marriage if Juliet were still alive. In the sequence, Juliet wakes up from her potion-induced slumber, and the narrator informs the readers that the feud is over, and that Romeo and Juliet had a luxurious wedding and ―lived happily for a long, long time.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 16).23
Romeo and Juliet: Classics forever seems to be aimed at preschool children, whose parents read to. Hence, it is understandable that the story has been shortened and simplified.
Nevertheless, Juliet‘s initial reduction to ―joyful‖ and ―beautiful‖ can give young kids a false image of Shakespeare‘s powerful female character. Although the adaptation does not need to be entirely faithful to the play, adding the source text‘s name to its title does give the book the responsibility of representing the characters well. Nonetheless, this version of Juliet Capulet does grow as a character towards the end of the book; she is tamed, but not completely.
However, the same cannot be said about her version in the following book being analyzed, Monica’s Gang: Romeo and Juliet.
3.2.2 Monica’s Gang: Romeo and Juliet24 (2015)
The comic-book adaptation Monica’s Gang: Romeo and Juliet (2015), originally adapted by Mauricio de Sousa in 1978, was developed at the same time as a musical play. In the 2015 celebratory edition of the comic-book, the cartoonist described the process of creation of the musical:
Everything started after Mauricio received a lot of letters from fans of the Gang asking for
―something more‖ with Monica and her friends, who already starred magazines, comic strips, weekly supplements and products. This ―something more‖ became the stage play Mônica and Cebolinha in the World of Romeo and Juliet. (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 58).25
23 My translation of: ―viveram felizes por muito, muito tempo.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 16).
24 Original title: Turma da Mônica: Romeu e Julieta.
25 My translation of: ―Tudo começou após Mauricio receber várias cartinhas de fãs da Turma pedindo ‗algo mais‘ com a Mônica e seus amigos, que já estrelavam revistas, tiras, suplementos semanais e produtos. Esse
‗algo mais‘ virou a peça de teatro Mônica e Cebolinha no Mundo de Romeu e Julieta.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p.
58).
Many songs from the musical are present in the 2015 comic-book edition, sung by the characters usually at the end of each chapter as a plot device. The play was also later adapted to the television by a famous Brazilian TV broadcaster and filmed at a well-known Brazilian small town, as explained by the cartoonist:
After the great public acclaim in the theater, in 1978, Mônica and Cebolinha in the World of Romeo and Juliet ended up on television in the same year, at a Christmas special produced by TV Bandeirantes and filmed at the historic city of Ouro Preto, which recreated the romantic ambiance of the original story. The difference was the Brazilian ‗spice‘. (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 60).26
Differently from the children‘s prose book previously discussed, this comic-book adaptation keeps the original format of the comic-book series Monica’s Gang, in which there are speech balloons and onomatopoeias. Additionally, the characteristics and the names of Mauricio de Sousa‘s characters are blended with Shakespeare‘s. Romeo is Romeu Montéquio Cebolinha [Romeo Montague Cebolinha], Juliet is Julieta Monicapuleto [Juliet Monicapulet], the Nurse is Ama Gali [a play with the word ―Nurse‖ in Portuguese (―Ama‖) and the character‘s name ―Magali‖], and Friar Lawrence is Frei Cascão [Friar Cascão]. Furthermore, those who know these characters, who are deeply rooted into Brazilian culture, are able to identify their characteristics even though they are playing Romeo and Juliet. For instance, Cebolinha‘s speech articulation disorder with the L sound and his constant picking on Mônica; Magali‘s increased appetite; and Cascão‘s aversion to water. This happens because the story of the lovers from Verona is secondary to the adventures from the kids of the Limoeiro Neighborhood. The reader of this book is probably not yet acquainted with Shakespeare but is certainly familiar with Monica’s Gang.
In terms of format, the comic-book is divided into four chapters, almost the same number of acts found in the source play. At the beginning of the first chapter, we are introduced to the feud between Montagues and Capulets, and to Romeo and his friends, who are about to go on a masquerade ball at the Capulet‘s castle. The greatest reason for Romeo‘s going to the ball is his wish to encounter Rosaline: ―I want to see Rosaline, flirt with this girl who scorned me.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 10)27. However, he is not blindly in love with Rosaline, and wants to flirt with other girls too: ―But Anjinho told me Rosaline is nothing compared to the other much more sophisticated girls that will be at the party.‖ (DE SOUSA,
26 My translation of: ―Depois do grande sucesso de público no teatro, em 1978, Mônica e Cebolinha no Mundo de Romeu e Julieta foi parar na televisão no mesmo ano, num especial de Natal produzido pela TV Bandeirantes e filmado na histórica cidade de Ouro Preto, que recriou o clima romântico da trama original. A diferença foi o
‗tempero‘ brasileiro.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 60).
27 My translation of: ―Quelo ver Losalina, paquelar essa menina que me desplezou.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 10).
2015, p. 11)28. In the illustration – presented below –, Romeo is blowing kisses and winking at a dozen different girls, proving to be a womanizer:
Fonte: SOUSA, 2015, p. 11.
This is the image that Romeo‘s name often carries in our culture, as stated by Marjorie Garber:
The name ―Romeo‖ has long since passed into the English language, although, peculiarly, with a meaning pretty much opposite to that of Shakespeare‘s fatally faithful wooer. A
―Romeo‖ today, with or without the capital R, is a ladies‘ man, a seducer, a ―habitual pursuer of women‖ – not a young man so transformed by the singularity of his love that he prefers death with her to life without her. (GARBER, 2008, p. 34).
Sousa‘s Romeo is an example of the image described by Garber. As the scene follows, Romeo meets Juliet and instantly picks on her, as is typical for Cebolinha and Mônica. They only seem to truly fall in love when they discover they belong to rival families. At the end of the first chapter, Juliet‘s Nurse is caught eating a watermelon and excuses herself for having a snack during working hours by saying that ―the forbidden fruit is the sweetest!‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 16)29 to which Juliet, glancing at Romeo and thinking about their forbidden romance,
28 My translation of: ―Mas o Anjinho me disse que a Losalina é fichinha pelto de outlas meninas muito mais glã- finas que estalão nesta festinha.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 11).
29 My translation of: ―o fruto proibido é que é muito mais gostoso!‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 16).
agrees. Sousa, thus, takes advantage of his characters‘ characteristics to make a comic interpolation with Shakespeare. This may turn the Shakespearean characters more familiar to the young audience, who is acquainted with the kids from Monica’s Gang.
In the following chapter, entitled ―The Balcony Scene‖, Juliet states that she is willing to abdicate her family name to be with Romeo: ―If you cannot, in the name of your love, stop being a Montague Cebolinha, our love will come to an end… But if not, I have something to propose: I am no longer Juliet, but your love!‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 19)30. Similarly to her inspiration, Sousa‘s Juliet decides to be the subject of her destiny by being the one who proposes marriage, even though this is historically the role of the male in a heterosexual relationship. Romeo, however, does not seem to be as interested in changing his marital status as Juliet is; and when the girl proposes marriage and states their wedding will be held on the following day, he sweats and frowns, for this is not his wish: ―Wedding? / But who mentioned… / WED-DING?! / Shoot! / These girls are all the same… You barely started dating and they already talk about a wedding.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 25-26)31. This characteristic of a despise for marriage, nonetheless, does not come from Shakespeare‘s Romeo, who instead is thrilled with the idea of marrying Juliet:
Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast!
Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!
Hence will I to my ghostly sire‘s close cell, His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell.
(R&J, 2.2.186-189)
The footnote on the 2003 New Cambridge Companion edition of the play explains
―dear hap‖ as ―good fortune‖ (EVANS, 2003, p. 114), which means Romeo feels lucky to be about to marry Juliet, unlike Sousa‘s Romeo. The two exclamation marks in Shakespeare‘s Romeo‘s speech alone are a sign of his excitement.
This despisal for marriage that Sousa‘s Romeo manifests stems from an ancient misogynist prejudice, still existing today, in which many men view marriage with women as a trap. It also enhances Mônica and Cebolinha‘s characteristic mutual provocations. This century-old trend of men despising marriage with women is identifiable through viral straight wedding cake toppers from the twenty-first century. In an article entitled ―We Need To Ban Sexist Wedding Cake Toppers Once And For All‖, Buzzfeed columnist Pablo Valdivia
30 My translation of: ―Se você não puder, por amor a mim, deixar de ser um Montéquio Cebolinha, nosso amor chegará ao fim... Mas se assim não for, tenho algo a propor: Não sou mais a Julieta, e sim o seu amor!‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 19).
31 My translation of: ―Casamento? Mas quem falou em… / CA-SA-MEN-TO?! / Bolas! / Essas galotas são todas iguais… Nem bem começa o namolo e elas já vêm logo falando em casamento.‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 25-26).
created a compilation of images of such cake toppers and wrote: ―I‘m just here to remind everyone that the whole ‗bride is trapping the groom‘ nonsense is exhausting and must be killed once and for all.‖ (VALDIVIA, 2019). Some examples of how the bride ―traps‖ the groom include using a rope, a ball and chain, a dog collar, and even a gun. The second chapter of the comic-book ends with the friar pulling a nervous Romeo by his cape, saying he must preside this wedding as soon as possible to stop the feud between Capulets and Montagues.
At the beginning of the third chapter, Romeo is again pulled by his cape, this time by Juliet on her way to the altar. Romeo not only states his uncertainty about the wedding: ―Wait a minute, Juliet… I‘m still not totally sure about our wedding!‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 31)32, he also exchanges a passionate glance with the Nurse. The groom is brought to the altar by the bride, who pulls him, hits him in the head, and sings:
I can prove it! I am the right girl for you! I am delicate and sweet, and if you are smart, you have the freedom to say if you do or do not want to get married! / But if you say no, I can‘t be held responsible! / […] I think it‘s sweet how you look at me… Terrified like that, afraid of getting married! But even so you won‘t escape… I think it‘s sweet! (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 32).33
Sousa‘s Juliet lacks self-respect and sense of self-worth, for she‘d rather force an immature man to marry her than to stay single. Shakespeare‘s Juliet, on the other hand, refuses a marriage proposal from a nobleman in the name of the love she feels for Romeo.
Another cause of her denial of the proposal is to avoid bigamy since she was already married.
Although Shakespeare‘s Juliet does not care excessively about societal norms of marriage, it would be understandable if she did care since, during her time, women could not legally own property. They belonged to their fathers and were gifted to their husbands, and, in the case of the death of their father while they were still unmarried, they belonged to the closest male family member. In such conditions, it is understandable that Juliet would want to get married to avoid the uncertainty of the future; but instead, she decides to get married for love, while also being deeply loved.
This is not the case of Sousa‘s Juliet, as we can see from a sequence of problematic actions that follows the couple‘s wedding: 1. When Sousa‘s Friar is proclaiming their marriage, Romeo‘s thoughts resemble the aforementioned sexist wedding cake toppers: Juliet,
32 My translation of: ―Espele aì, Julieta… Eu ainda não estou muito celto soble o nosso casamento!‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 31).
33 My translation of: ―Posso provar! Sou a garota certa pra você! Sou delicada e meiga, e se você já tem juízo, tem liberdade pra dizer se quer casar ou não! / Mas se disser que não, eu não me responsabilizo! / [...] Acho uma graça esse seu jeito de me olhar... Apavorado assim, com medo de se casar! Mas assim mesmo você não vai escapar... Acho uma graça!‖ (DE SOUSA, 2015, p. 32).