Blog #203: Shakespeare and Neurodiversity: Romeo and Juliet

This week, I promised you all that I would cover how studying Shakespeare in schools can impact neurodiverse students. For the first entry, I discuss the play that most schools will have students study during their Freshman year of High School, “Romeo and Juliet.”

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The reason that I believe schools have students’ study “Romeo and Juliet” during their freshman year is because Romeo and Juliet are just like High School Freshman, eager to make their mark on the world and anxious to fall in love and get married. However, the important lesson is to be patient when it comes to romance and also that sometimes boundaries need to be broken in order for that love to come across.

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Pete Postawaite as Fr. Lawrence in “Romeo and Juliet” (1996)

For special education students, “Romeo and Juliet” is typically their first exposure to Shakespeare’s works at a high school level. But there may be some challenges when it comes to studying “Romeo and Juliet” especially when it comes to how students will react to some of the lovemaking scenes. In some versions of the play, there are inappropriate scenes that show Romeo and Juliet “getting it on” for all to see.

The play also introduces the meaning of religion and Christianity to wish some students that don’t practice the Catholic faith may not understand. One of the supporting characters is Friar Laurence, a monk/priest that is Romeo’s advisor and the one who marries Romeo and Juliet secretly. If the student doesn’t fully understand why or what they are seeing, it would be a good idea for the student to visit his or her priest or religious figure to have them explain why there is such a character in “Romeo and Juliet.”

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Sebastian Cabot as Lord Capulet in “Romeo and Juliet” (1954)

Another aspect of “Romeo and Juliet” that may strike a chord with Neurodiverse or Sensory Friendly students is the fact that Juliet’s family, the House of Capulet, is very controlling over her to the point where she would be disowned if she didn’t obey them and marry someone whom she never met and doesn’t have any interest in.

Sadly, a lot of children may live in families where every aspect of their lives is being controlled by the will of the family and not the student and it may really be bothersome to have them live out their controlled homelife by studying a similar situation. Sometimes we are sometimes like Juliet either because of our families or by our own hands as we sometimes set our expectations so high (I should know, I’ve done this myself plenty of times).

However, as with all forms of controversial media, it’s healthier to discuss why Juliet is in the situation she is in and how it can relate to the expectations our families have for us.

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Finally, “Romeo and Juliet” will introduce students to the meaning of the word, “pact.” We, the audience don’t understand it at first, but Romeo and Juliet seemingly make a pact that they can’t live without each other by any means to the point where poison and a dagger are used to end their Earthly lives.

Many students will learn that a pact can range in all directions and if that pact is broken, then there are consequences that come from that broken pact.

For me, the pact that I made with my family is that we can’t live without each other. As someone who has frequent bouts of anxiety and in some cases, depression, I’ve often thought about taking the easy way out from the world I live in. There have been days where I wanted to break the pact, but I can’t bring myself to do so.

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In conclusion, “Romeo and Juliet” is one of those stories that we often use to introduce students to Shakespeare’s works. However, it’s important to dissect the story to the best of our ability and reveal that there is more than just dialogue and characters out there, but also scenes that we can relate to in real life.

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If you want to show “Romeo and Juliet” to your special education students, then there are four adaptations that I would choose from:

A. Romeo and Juliet (1936) starring Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer

B. Romeo and Juliet (1954) starring Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentail

3. Romeo and Juliet (1968) starring Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey

4. Romeo and Juliet (1996) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes

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Now, if I had to choose one of the 4 adaptations I’ve listed, I would probably go with either the 1936 or 1954 adaptations because they have a classical and cultural feel to them.

The 1968 version is “okay”, but I would strongly advise AGAINST the 1996 adaptation because it has cartoon sound effects that ruin the story and transforms the 1996 adaptation into a live action Saturday Morning Cartoon.

I can understand why today’s English teachers would show the 1996 version, but it’s important to think about what you are really showing your students aside from having the future Jack Dawson from “Titanic” as Romeo. The cartoon sound effects and quick movements will immediately destroy the integrity of the story for your students. So, just keep that in mind if you are a Special Education or English teacher.

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Catch you all later!!

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