Re-Contextualizing Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet in Manga

A fairly new medium for westerners, manga joins the variety of already existing “shakespeares”, bringing a fresh and vivid perspective on some of the most famous Shakespearean plays. This paper discusses several representations of space, with a particular focus on the city (Verona), the Capulet ballroom, and Juliet‘s bedroom, as they are rendered by artists in three manga transmediations of Romeo and Juliet coming from different cultural contexts (British, American, and Japanese). The paper will also explore the ways in which the three cultures play with Shakespeare‘s original Italian setting and negotiate their influence over one another at the beginning of the twenty-first century