Re: Harry’s fate according to the bookies and Romeo and Juliette

[dumbledore11214]

> > Carol:
> > <SNIP>
> >  "Romeo and Juliet" is a romantic comedy altered to have a tragic
> ending (and a couple of other deaths, Tybalt's and Mercutio's, along
> the way). 
> > 
> > Alla:
> > 
> > Oh, am very curious. Did Shakespeare leave notes where he mentions
> that he originally planned Romeo and Juliet to have a happy ending? 
Or
> are you saying it because it is not written as classic tragedy is 
> supposed to be written? Which I agree with.
> 
> Carol:
> It's something I was taught in one of my English classes in grad
> school. The teacher said that R&J followed all the conventions of a
> romantic comedy (star-crossed lovers, misunderstandings, etc.) 
except
> for the ending (and the two deaths I mentioned earlier--three,
> counting Paris, whom I'd forgotten about). Imagine Juliet waking up
> just half an hour earlier, in time to prevent Romeo's mistake. All's
> Well That Ends Well, so to speak. 
> 
> Anyway, you're right that the story doesn't follow the plot 
structure
> of a classic tragedy. There's no flawed protagonist along the lines 
of
> Hamlet, Othello, or Macbeth, just a tragically mistimed "solution" 
to
> their problem that accidentally results in tragedy. 


Alla:

Here is the funny thing though ( for me anyways). It is pretty 
obvious when one thinks about it that R and J  plot development 
except the tragic ending pretty much follows comedy plot development 
indeed, NOT tragedy. Tragedy plot structure is pretty easy to spot 
usually.

BUT I never never thought about Romeo and Juliette this way - as 
comedy with altered ending to make it tragedy ( and boy did 
Shakespeare do his job well :)). What I am trying to say is that for 
me tragic ending pretty much overpowered everything else and I always 
thought about the play as tragedy. It never came to my mind to look 
at how it structured ( and I often do).

So, I sort of see Shakespeare mixing genres very succesfully just as 
JKR does here, hehe.

Now, JKR pretty much mixed two genres - heroic quest and growing up 
novel. My thing is which one will overpower at the end in terms of 
Harry fate, if this makes sense.



Carol:
(I don't want to
> say too much for fear of spoiling the play for anyone who hasn't 
seen
> or read it.)
>

Alla:

Eh, you think such people exist? I am only half joking. I mean, if 
person does not read at all, I can see that, but still there are 
movies, but if person reads - not to read Romeo and Juliette?

Do not get me wrong, I will not be usually as bold as to say that 
person from another country just has to be familiar with the 
literature from another country, I think for example that russian 
literature of the 19 century is brilliant with such psychological 
depth that I am yet to find in many contemporary work of many 
countries, but I won't be as bold as assume that people from other 
countries know it.

I mean, I sort of knew that Dostoevsky is known in the world, I was 
pleasantly surprised that Tolstoy is as well ( even though I have not 
met many people who finished War and peace - love this book.


But I think Shakespeare belongs to the world, not just Britain, does 
he not?

I read so many of his plays in russian translation after all and not 
bad translation either.

Alla.