Sources and Inspiration

About the lecture

In this module, we think about the history of the story of Romeo and Juliet, including the sources that Shakespeare may have used when writing the play, as well as some of the more indirect influences on Shakespeare’s presentation of love. In particular, we think about: (i) the several incarnations of the Romeo and Juliet story in Italian, French and English, including the versions of Luigi da Porto, Pierre Boaistuau, Matteo Bandello, William Painter, and Arthur Brooke; (ii) Arthur Brooke’s attitude to the lovers, whom he criticises for their “unhonest desire”, compared to Shakespeare’s more sympathetic treatment; (iii) the portrayal of Mercutio in Brooke’s version of the story, including the strange detail that he has very cold hands; (iv) the influence of Sir Philip Sidney’s sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella (1591), on Shakespeare’s presentation of love in the play.

About the lecturer

John Roe is a professor in Renaissance literature and a member of the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies (CREMS) at the University of York. He took a BA (subsequently MA) in English Literature at the University of Cambridge and an MA and PhD in Comparative Literature at Harvard University. Comparative Literature, mainly English and Italian, has remained a keen interest, which shows principally in his monograph Shakespeare and Machiavelli. He has taught at York since 1973. Before that he taught at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and at Harvard. During his time at York he has enjoyed long sojourns at universities in other countries, for example, at the University of the Saarland in Germany, at Kyoto University, Doshisha University, and Kobe Jogakuin, in Japan; and most recently a year as the visiting Gillespie Professor at the College of Wooster in Ohio.