An Unconventional Adaptation

Ángel María Dacarrete’s Julieta y Romeo (1858)

Resumo

This article examines Julieta y Romeo (1858), an unconventional adaptation of Romeo and Juliet written by Ángel María Dacarrete. The play has received no scholarly attention since Alfonso Par’s pioneering works on Shakespeare in Spain (published in 1936 and 1940), and it ought to be re-evaluated. It focuses on the innovations introduced by Dacarrete, the performance history, and the ensuing rejection by most contemporary critics owing to the supposed lack of originality and appalling immorality. It argues that, at a time in which Shakespeare was largely unknown, adaptation was beneficial rather than detrimental to the reception of Shakespeare in Spain.