I have hated Romeo and Juliet ever since high school when we had to read it in Freshman English. My teacher unfortunately thought I'd be the perfect person to read Juliet's part. Grr...I was completely deadpan during the huge romantic window confession scene (which actually made the scene funny when the guy reading the part of Romeo started mimicking me), and it wasn't until she was killing herself that I was able to get into the part.

I don't see how people can see this as a romantic love story. It's two young teenagers (he's 14, she's 13) who know each other for five days (and for half of that time are apart from each other and/or think the other person is dead). It's not a great love story; it's a story about infatuation.

I did see a performance of the play that made me appreciate how the story could be liked when performed by very talented actors.