The eNotes Blog Letters to Juliet A Project of Love for theLovelorn

Letters to Juliet A Project of Love for theLovelorn One of my favorite things that has been going around the internet for some time is the EMO person who posted, What if hes your Romeo, but youre not his Juliet? The lightning-fast response was, That means youre his Rosaline and you survive the friggin play. Despite the reality of what happens to the star crossd lovers, the persistence in thinking of them as the romantic ideal lives on. See? Most people, even those who have never read or seen the play, are more likely to conjure up this image, or something close to it, than gruesome deaths: I didnt know, however, until I heard a story on NPRs Morning Edition yesterday, that men (mostly, I guess) have been penning letters to Juliet for  centuries.   Initially, shortly after the plays performances, people left notes at what was thought to be her tomb. The numbers of letters left became so great that the post office of Verona established a special office to handle the volume.   The remarkable thing about the letters left for Juliet is that she actually answers.  Well, understudies for Juliet do.  Dozens of volunteers in Verona, who call themselves The Juliet Club answer, by hand, each of the 6,000+ letters addressed to Shakespeares heroine each year.   All of the letters are retained in a massive archive, to which more letters are regularly added. The job must be tough but many of the volunteers have been at it for ten and twenty years, some even longer. What do they say to these heartbroken people? Here is one of their answers to someone who was driving herself crazy asking, What if? What and If are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: What if? What if? What if? I dont know how your story ended but if what you felt then was true love, then its never too late. If it was true then, why wouldnt it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart. I dont know what a love like Juliets feels like love to leave loved ones for, love to cross oceans for but Id like to believe if I ever were to feel it, that I will have the courage to seize it. And, Claire, if you didnt, I hope one day that you will. All my love, Juliet† You can read more about the long history of the Juliet Project in Lise Friedmans study,  Ã‚  Letters to Juliet: Celebrating Shakespeares Greatest Heroine, the Magical City of Verona, and the Power of Love