I did not like this one. Does that mean it's objectively bad? Not necessarily, Romeo and Juliet does have some truly great prose. What I ultimately could not get past is the play's portrayal of romantic love, which left me feeling all sorts of uncomfortable.

Getting to the heart of the matter, or lack thereof, many of narrative's problems can be found in the iconic balcony scene. Romeo famously proclaims, "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." This sentiment in and of itself would be beautiful, but sadly he continues,

"Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green And none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady, O, it is my love! Oh, that she knew she were!"

Romeo makes it very clear that he is attracted to Juliet in large part because of her looks, and doubles down on how this factor makes her special by saying she is fairer than others, and her looks should inspire envy in others. He does not really elaborate on other elements of her personality that make her like "the sun." In fact, her devotion seems to be the only other trait that is elaborated on outside her physical appearance. Juliet declares,

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet.”

She is rather flippant after asking Romeo to choose her over his family (which is a loaded question/declaration to demand of someone you just met). Within one sentence she exclaims that if Romeo won't change for her, she will very eagerly change her name and identity for him. While devotion and physical beauty were the common traits people associated with feminine reverence in Shakespeare's time, it does not really hold up in 2018.

That said, there is no denying that this "love" story is highly influential even in the present. You need not look any further than the massively popular Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey. In all three of these stories you have a male protagonist who meets a random girl, becomes inexplicably obsessed with her, compares her to others to insist she is special, SEES HER, and because he is a guy of status/good looks his "love" is now this great validation the girl never knew she'd get and all without herself having to do anything to grow as a person besides to be devoted to this random dude.

While this is a tired trope, it is also master emotional manipulation, so I got to hand it to Shakespeare as he is the one who set this twisted formula into motion. All in all, there are many who would decry my interpretation as cynical, so read the play for yourself and decide.