Romeo and Juliet: A Modern Take

My Ideas

- Romeo and Juliet know each other from the internet, like internet friends. They don't know their parents hate each other until they meet.

- The Capulets and the Montagues are business rivals and are super competitive. Their relationship, in a real-life example, would be like Microsoft and Apple.

- Romeo and Juliet are only friends before they meet since I wanted them to love each other, but that wouldn't be realistic. I mean, these are responsible teens. They wouldn't fall in love with a stranger on the internet, so they're like best friends until they meet.

- I'm debating whether or not I should make the Capulets and Montagues Italian Americans, since that may explain the large family size.

- The place I envision for this story is New York, USA because in the suburbs live large Italian-American families, and having a big business in New York seems logical to me.

- For Romeo's poison, I'm thinking bleach. That's because it's easy to get, easily kills, and Juliet would have a good reason to complain if she saw a gallon of bleach empty because Romeo drank it all. (That would be a comedic scene, with Juliet saying, "I can only drown myself in my sorrows and-- What the heck Romeo! Why didn't you leave any for me, you idiot!".)

-The party will be a coming of age party for Juliet, because, for Italian-American gatherings, they can last all day, with the women mostly in the kitchen. Plus, it would make even more sense on how Romeo got in if Juliet asked it to be a masquerade ball.

- For the Prince, I want to make him the son of the local Mafia boss, since Mafia's were originally created to protect the neighborhood. That would also allow him the authority to kill anyone going out of line. Mercutio will be like a second cousin or something.

- The age for Romeo will be 16, and Juliet 15. Benvolio will be 17, with Mercutio the same age. The head Capulets and Montagues will be in their 40-50s because that's how I envision them. The Prince will be 23, so he can drown his sorrows. Even the Friar will be in his 30-40s for this story idea. These Ideas just make sense to me.

- The death of Romeo and Juliet will take place in a funeral parlor because Italian-Americans bury their dead. The Friar was going to replace Juliet's body with a mannequin because the coffin is buried closed.

- The drug will be something that Friar Laurence himself created, because if he used anything else, then the doctors would have found out.

- I'm gonna make Paris the Mayor's son since it makes sense to me. Important position? Check. Crazy for Juliet? Check. Dies in the end? Still being debated(the flower thing would make more sense for a grave than a funeral parlor. Maybe I can add that in at the memorial?).

- Romeo will just be going upstate instead of out of the country since he would've only been banished from the neighborhood.

- The place where Romeo will be staying will have no wifi or cellular, so that's why the Friar has to contact him though message.

- The other Friar who was delivering the message will have been delayed by his car breaking down instead of some sick people because that makes more sense.

- Tybalt and Mercutio will be having a gunfight in a quiet and isolated place, like the park at night, because this idea is placed in 20XX, not the 1400's!

- The trial will be in an actual courtroom that the Mafia had rented out, because why not. A room wouldn't have the same feeling of justice as a courtroom.

Thank you if you've been reading so far! I made this after I got a burst of inspiration after working on a project about Romeo and Juliet! Sorry that I haven't updated as of late, as I sort of had a combo of writer's block and having no idea on how to continue the stuff I've already written. The rest of my writing will most likely appear in this bullet point format since I'm still getting used to the idea of writing. Thanks for reading, and hope you've enjoyed!

~Sapphire