Act 3

The opposition between Romeo and Tybalt points to theological-political problems seated at the heart of our play as a journey of redemption. Mercutio is unwittingly caught in the context/trap of modern cynicism, victim of Machiavellian Tybalt, an anti-Romeo likened to the anti-Christ. Romeo’s ascent or resurrection to a “city of the true” out of a world of strife—both ancient and modern—will require religious authority moved by a purely poetic spirit. Properly understood, or when redeemed in a Platonic/poetic (anti-nominalist) context, Christian authority provides invaluable support for Romeo’s cause by ratifying the primacy of spiritual movement over “vulgar” or “earthly” movement. Romeo’s own death is to be understood in terms of a “disappearance” from vulgar eyes, coinciding with a hiding in the heavenly, beyond all Romantic expectations. These have found successful carriers in cinematographic renditions of our play, productions that are shown to have contributed to the spread of dire misconceptions about Shakespeare’s art. A corrective is offered by a Dantean reading unearthing the political-theological significance of RJ.