欧宝娱乐

“I used to think Romeo and Juliet was the greatest love story ever written. But now that I鈥檓 middle-aged, I know better. Oh, Romeo certainly thinks he loves his Juliet. Driven by hormones, he unquestionably lusts for her. But if he loves her, it鈥檚 a shallow love. You want proof?鈥� Cagney didn鈥檛 wait for Dr. Victor to say yay or nay.

鈥淪oon after meeting her for the first time, he realizes he forgot to ask her for her name. Can true love be founded upon such shallow acquaintance? I don鈥檛 think so. And at the end, when he thinks she鈥檚 dead, he finds no comfort in living out the remainder of his life within the paradigm of his love, at least keeping alive the memory of what they had briefly shared, even if it was no more than illusion, or more accurately, hormonal.

鈥淭hose of us watching events unfold from the darkness know she merely lies in slumber. But does he seek the reason for her life-like appearance? No. Instead he accuses Death of amorousness, convinced that the 鈥榣ean abhorred monster鈥� endeavors to keep Juliet in her present state, her cheeks flushed, so that she might cater to his own dissolute desires. But does Romeo hold her in his arms one last time and feel the warmth of her blood still coursing through her veins? Does he pinch her to see if she might awaken? Hold a mirror to her nose to see if her breath fogs it? Once, twice, three times a 鈥榥o.鈥欌€�

Cagney sighed, listened to the leather creak as he shifted his weight in his chair.

鈥淣o,鈥� he repeated. 鈥淗is alleged love is so superficial and selfish that he seeks to escape the pain of loss by taking his own life. That鈥檚 not love, but obsessive infatuation. Had they wed鈥擩uliet bearing many children, bonding, growing together, the masks of the star-struck teens they once were long ago cast away, basking in the comforting campfire of a love born of a lifetime together, not devoured by the raging forest fire of youth that consumes everything and leaves behind nothing鈥攁nd she died of natural causes, would Romeo have been so moved to take his own life, or would he have grieved properly, for her loss and not just his own?”
― J. Conrad Guest, The Cobb Legacy