From Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies

Since their first screen appearances in the 1930s, zombies have enjoyed immense cinematic popularity. Defined by Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead as mindless, violent, decaying and infectious, they successfully function as ultimate fiends in horror films. Yet, even those morbid undead started...

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Autor principal:	Magdalena Cieślak
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Lodz University Press 2021
Materias:	jonathan levine’s warm bodies romeo and juliet william shakespeare baz luhrmann’s romeo juliet zombedy Literature (General) PN1-6790
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/98d54326c8a643a8b5764b8a04e8be94
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:98d54326c8a643a8b5764b8a04e8be942021-12-01T06:51:57ZFrom Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies2083-29312084-574X10.18778/2083-2931.11.11https://doaj.org/article/98d54326c8a643a8b5764b8a04e8be942021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/textmatters/article/view/11265https://doaj.org/toc/2083-2931https://doaj.org/toc/2084-574XSince their first screen appearances in the 1930s, zombies have enjoyed immense cinematic popularity. Defined by Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead as mindless, violent, decaying and infectious, they successfully function as ultimate fiends in horror films. Yet, even those morbid undead started evolving into more appealing, individualized and even sympathetic characters, especially when the comic potential of zombies is explored. To allow a zombie to become a romantic protagonist, however, one that can love and be loved by a human, another evolutionary step had to be taken, one fostered by a literary association. This paper analyzes Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies, a 2013 film adaptation of Isaac Marion’s zombie novel inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It examines how Shakespeare’s Romeo helps transform the already evolved cinematic zombie into a romantic protagonist, and how Shakespearean love tragedy, with its rich visual cinematic legacy, can successfully locate a zombie narrative in the romantic comedy convention. Presenting the case of Shakespeare intersecting the zombie horror tradition, this paper illustrates the synergic exchanges of literary icons and the cinematic monstrous.Magdalena CieślakLodz University Pressarticlejonathan levine’s warm bodiesromeo and julietwilliam shakespearebaz luhrmann’s romeo julietzombedyLiterature (General)PN1-6790ENText Matters, Iss 11, Pp 157-177 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	jonathan levine’s warm bodies romeo and juliet william shakespeare baz luhrmann’s romeo juliet zombedy Literature (General) PN1-6790
spellingShingle	jonathan levine’s warm bodies romeo and juliet william shakespeare baz luhrmann’s romeo juliet zombedy Literature (General) PN1-6790 Magdalena Cieślak From Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies
description	Since their first screen appearances in the 1930s, zombies have enjoyed immense cinematic popularity. Defined by Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead as mindless, violent, decaying and infectious, they successfully function as ultimate fiends in horror films. Yet, even those morbid undead started evolving into more appealing, individualized and even sympathetic characters, especially when the comic potential of zombies is explored. To allow a zombie to become a romantic protagonist, however, one that can love and be loved by a human, another evolutionary step had to be taken, one fostered by a literary association. This paper analyzes Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies, a 2013 film adaptation of Isaac Marion’s zombie novel inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It examines how Shakespeare’s Romeo helps transform the already evolved cinematic zombie into a romantic protagonist, and how Shakespearean love tragedy, with its rich visual cinematic legacy, can successfully locate a zombie narrative in the romantic comedy convention. Presenting the case of Shakespeare intersecting the zombie horror tradition, this paper illustrates the synergic exchanges of literary icons and the cinematic monstrous.
format	article
author	Magdalena Cieślak
author_facet	Magdalena Cieślak
author_sort	Magdalena Cieślak
title	From Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies
title_short	From Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies
title_full	From Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies
title_fullStr	From Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies
title_full_unstemmed	From Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies
title_sort	from romero to romeo—shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers meeting zombedy in jonathan levine’s warm bodies
publisher	Lodz University Press
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/98d54326c8a643a8b5764b8a04e8be94
work_keys_str_mv	AT magdalenacieslak fromromerotoromeoshakespearesstarcrossedloversmeetingzombedyinjonathanlevineswarmbodies
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From Romero to Romeo—Shakespeare’s Star-Crossed Lovers Meeting Zombedy in Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies

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