[Classical music] HOST: Yo! What it do?! This week on Thug Notes we gettin' love struck with Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. [Classical music] Up in the swanky part of Verona, two families called the Montagues and the Capulets been beefin' since forever. After dodgin' a all-out war in the streets, big daddy Montague and his boo, Lady Montague, start talkin' bout their emo son, Romeo, who got it baaaad for some fox, Rosaline. But Rosaline ain't feelin' it. And now Romeo mopin' around like he done lost his nuts. So Romeo's homie-os, Benvolio and Mercutio, try to get his mind off that trick by crashin' a party over at the Capulets' crib. But as soon as Romeo peeps the most-tappable ass of Juliet Capulet, he forgets all about that Rosalineness and steps up to holla' like a champ. Romeo loves himself some fast women so he drops his A-game, gets a little lip action, and snags those digits! Get it, Romeo! Then Romeo creeps up to Juliet's balcony. Turns out she bats**t crazy in love with him too! But since their families got so much beef, they gotta keep it all on the D.L. Next day, Romeo and Juliet run off to local preacher man Friar Laurence's spot and get hitched! Later, Benvolio and Mercutio takin' it easy when Tybalt, the baddest mo-fo of all the Capulets, steps up and starts talkin' [s**t]. Mercutio boot up and start scrappin' with Tybalt till Romeo bustses in and tries to break it up! But Romeo just gets in the way and Tybalt shanks Mercutio. Damn! Romeo goes from whiny bitch to the hardest thug in the streets and straight merks Tybalt. The Prince of Verona had it with all this gang violence, so he boots Romeo right outta town! When Juliet's momma say she gotta marry some candy-ass scrub named Paris, Juliet gets all torn up and hits up Friar Laurence for some help. Fri Daddy comes up with the plan to fake Juliet's death by givin' her some juice that makes her take a long ass nap! Then he gonna write Romeo a letter, sayin' all he has to do is play it cool and once Juliet wakes up, Romeo will have a lifetime supply of poontang. Problem is... the letter never makes it to Romeo! So when he hears Juliet bit the dust, he thinks this [s**t]'s for real! Romeo straight flips! So he rolls up to Juliet's crypt, peeps her layin' stiff, and throws back some poison. When Juliet wakes up and sees his dead body, she gets all crump, grabs a knife, and kills herself. Teenagers, man. Damn! [Classical music] Peep this motif, blood! Willy Shake's flippin' opposites all up in this play. Love, hate, youth, age, life, death... I ain't even trippin'. Even characters got opposites. For example, while Benvolio be all chill and peace-lovin', Tybalt always comin' out hard, tryna throw down. Sheee*t! You can even peep these paradoxes in the text, B. "My only love sprung from my only hate." "My grave is like to be my wedding bed." But Willy ain't just playin'! All these clashin' opposites makin' that dramatic action mo' intense! Listen up, partna! The full title of this play is The Most Excellent... and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. 'Cept, is it really a tragedy? Some homies don't think so. See in most tragedies, the characters got something in their dome that's so [f**k]ed up, that no matter what, they gonna end up feelin' the hurt. Peeps called this: The Tragic Flaw. Thang is, some thugs say Romeo and Juliet ain't rollin' with no tragic flaws! It ain't their fault that [s**t] gets so cray! But what is tragic is that something else is trippin' up their game: Chance. All throughout this play, fate doin' our lovers straight dirty. Just look at all deez ridiculous coincidences. That letter don't find Romeo, the Friar too late in stoppin' 'em, Juliet wakes up right after Romeo bit the Big One, I could go on, playa! So when the prologue sayin' that these kids be star-crossed, maybe it's cuz' the heavens got it in for these fools. But maybe it ain't fate so much as it is kids actin' like stupid little [s**ts]. Some say Romeo and Juliet's tragic flaw be a love all insane in the membrane! And they willin' to do anything to keep it real. Even Friar Laurence say that [s**t] a sin. "These violent delights have violent ends. / And in their triumph, die like fire and powder, / which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey is loathsome in his own deliciousness. / And in the taste confounds the appetite. / Therefore love moderately. Love love doth so. / Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow." Could be they ain't sinnin' at all, but that the world that they live in is just too twisted to deal with the love as pure as theirs. Maybe it ain't our lovers that got the flaw, son. Maybe it's the world. But all scholars agree it will be a damn tragedy if you didn't subscribe. Peace, ya'll! [Classical music]