Juliet…. oh heck…. that reminds me of GCSE English Literature. Thankfully, I had the dubious pleasure of Macbeth as opposed to Romeo and Juliet but having seen so many students dragged – often quite literally, kicking and screaming – through the works of Shakespeare at the tender age of 14 to 16, it is enough to put anyone off his tomes for life.
Juliet is one of the two title characters of the romantic love tragedy with the other, of course, being Romeo. The only daughter of the Capulet family, her parents chose a husband for her – Court Paris – but she falls in love with Romeo, marries him secretly and after one night with Romeo, he is forced to leave the city following threats from the Capulet family.
Forced into exile by his slaying of Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, in a duel, Romeo commits suicide upon hearing falsely of Juliet’s death. Juliet ultimately commits suicide near the body of her dead husband. All really ripping reading at GCSE, eh!
Oddly, there are not that many famous Juliets…. a few American actresses and singers including Juliet Landau who played the role of Drusilla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar.
And then there was the British television series Juliet Bravo which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1985. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the (fictional) town of Hartley in Lancashire. But that is no more and nor is The Bill …. sad times.
