Romeo and Juliet’s story has been re-told many times and has influenced many different pieces of art. The film industry especially, many films have brought the play to life like 1996 Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet”, and Kelly Asbury’s “Gnomeo and Juliet”. Those films are more literal and upfront with the inspiration from the play, but those themes and plot from the original still appear and influence other films, even if it is not a direct reference. I think that without knowing it a lot of modern art, film, and literature is inspired by classic literature, especially Shakespear. An example of this can be seen in Justin Baldoni’s 2019 “Five Feet Apart”.
Shakespeare’s impact on the film and entertainment industry is huge and his is still seen in movies and TV today. You can see these influences in genres, characters, themes and even the language and phrases used. He played with themes of love, betrayal, jealousy, desire and many more. We see these themes today in every form of entertainment whether it be art, literature or film. For example the Twilight saga has themes of love, jealousy and betrayal. Along with these themes and plots Shakespear has developed complex characters that still show up in pop culture. Yes he has heroes and villains but a lot of his characters have more to them making them feel so real and layered like humans. Which is why they are so compelling and intriguing, even the language that characters use have turned into everyday sayings. Shakespeare’s impact on society today has shown that good writing and story telling can withstand time. Even if people don’t know they have gotten inspiration from him and his works, it’s not hard to draw connections.
Five Feet Apart shares a lot of similarities that makes me believe it is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet and should be considered an adaptation. The first connection being the theme. A major theme in “Romeo and Juliet” is forbidden love and the fact that Romeo and Juliet are prohibited from being together because of their families feud. Five Feet Apart explores that same theme of forbidden love, but in a different way. The main characters that depict Romeo and Juliet; Will and Stella can’t be together because they both have chronic conditions and if they are in close contact it seriously jeopardizes their health by contracting a deadly virus. It’s hard not to see the parallels between the relationship the main characters have, their destiny to be apart but yet they fall for each other anyways. It’s tragic watching the two of them slowly fall in love and find refuge in each other even though themselves and the audience know there is no way. Same thing with Romeo and Juliet, their tragic ending is foreshadowed frequently throughout the play leading readers to anticipate their tragic ending.
Another reason to consider Five Feet Apart an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” are the similarities between the characters. Shakespear is known for creating infamous characters with complex motives and personalities that we still see in entertainment today. These characters take many different physical forms, but when boiled down have the same purpose and qualities of Shakespeare’s original characters. For example Stella’s nurse, Barb, is based on Juliet’s nurse. Barb is very protective of Stella and has taken care of her from a young age, she is not her mother yet offers her that motherly love when hers is not present. Similar to Juliet’s nurse, who prefers to befriend Juliet rather than Lady Capulet and has mothered her from a very young age. Juliet’s nurse is very protective and caring towards her and cares for her as her own child that she had birthed. “ Thou wast the prettiest babe that e’er I nursed” (Act 1 Scene 3 445). The purpose of both of these characters is both comedy because these characters tend to be talkative creating comedic relief as well as a reliable maternal figure they can look up to as young women.
Other characters that draw parallels to Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” are Will and Stella’s friend Poe. Poe lives in the hospital with them with a different condition and grew very close to Stella as they both lived in that hospital since they were little. Poe is very eccentric and dramatic, as well as a little scandalous. He is also a very loyal friend to Will and Stella, proving this by secretly helping them be together and hide their relationship by being a look out and diverting their nurses attention. His character reminds me of Mercutio in “Romeo and Juliet”. Mercutio is strictly Romeo’s friend in the play but he did have knowledge of Juliet and even encourages him to move on from Rosaline. Mercutio is a very fiery, clever, passionate jokester and Romeo’s closest friend. But he doesn’t fall into a side kick role as he openly expresses his own opinions and often disagrees with Romeo. Poe also shares this plot line, where he is friends with Will and Stella, but has his own affairs, opinions, and storyline.
Another parallel these two characters share is their demise. Mercutio dies in a duel with Tybalt, one of him and Romeo’s enemies. Mercutio makes it clear that he blames his death on the feud between the Capulets and Montagues when he is struck. His last words “ A plague o’ both your houses!” effecting Romeo and making him seek vengeance as well as foreshadowing the tragic ending both Romeo and Juliey have. Poe died due to cardiac arrest after Will’s birthday party they held for him. His death reminds Stella and Will about how precious life is, though they feel guilt as they think their relationship and Poe’s part in it might have seemed more important than their health. They see this as a sign to live their life and make the most of everyday, even though their carelessness is what gets them in the end.
Lastly, both of these stories have a tragic ending where they can’t be together, and their fate catches up to them. Like most know, Romeo ends up killing himself by poison because he believes Juliet is too, and when she wakes up and sees Romeo’s corpse she kills herself with a dagger dying with him. In Five Feet Apart while Will and Stella are fooling around on a frozen pond together when they shouldn’t be, Stella falls through the ice and when she is pulled up her pulse is gone. With nothing left to do and the sight of dying Stella, Will puts his mouth on Stella’s and gives her mouth to mouth. Knowing that doing this will most likely jeopardize his health. Stella ends up coming back because of Will’s resuscitation efforts and is put into emergency surgery for her new lungs. All while this is happening Wills’ health tanks because he has contracted Stella’s virus. After a successful lung transplant, Stella learns she did not get Wills virus and in response to this news Will ends their relationship because of his uncertain fate.
Overall Shakespeare’s works have proven to stand time and still be relevant in today’s society. Whether it be learning about him and his works or just indulging in everyday media. His influences have given us some of our favorite movies, shows and books. And I would consider Justin Baldoni’s Five Feet Apart to be heavily influenced on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” based on the connections found in the plot and characters. And would even go as far to say that it is an adaptation.
Works Cited
Shukla, Girish. “How Shakespeare Has Influenced Modern Storytelling.” Times Now News, 18 Oct. 2023, Shakespeare’s Impact on Contemporary Storytelling Techniques | Features – Times Now.
Zahin, Kaniz. “How Did William Shakespeare Influence Modern Literature and Pop Culture.” JaRa Lit WordPress, 4 Feb. 2025, How did William Shakespeare influence modern literature and Pop Culture? – JaRa Lit.
Sprockets and Springes 