The story of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famed plays written by the acclaimed William Shakespeare. Over many years this piece has influenced many pieces of modern literature. One very famous series that R&J inspired was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. R&J tells a 1500’s story of two young people who fall in love that are from apposing houses, while The Hunger Games tells a fantasy story of children forced to fight to the death in an arena. While these stories seem extremely different, the story The Hunger Games seems to have been inspired by the classic Romeo and Juliet because of the character relationships.
In R&J there is a unique relationship between Juliet and Romeo. While Juliet is a Capulet, Romeo is a Montague, these two houses are opposing making their relationship impossible. One example of this from the text it “My only love sprung from my only hate!/Too early seen unknown, and known too late!/Prodigious birth of love it is to me,/That I must love a loathed enemy.” (Shakespeare 1.4.144-147). These lines are said my Romeo about Juliet when he realizes that she is a Capulet. He is saying that its to late to stop the love he has formed with Juliet who is his enemy. This part of the play is really important because it shows that Romeo and Juliet aren’t supposed to be together. In the end these lines foreshadow what the relationship between Juliet and Romeo will be like. Overall, it also leads to drama later on in the story.
In The Hunger Games the general public view Katniss and Peeta to be in a relationship that can’t work out. Their relationship can be observed from lots of different angles. The people watching the hunger games on tv believe that Katniss and Peeta are in love, but from the readers point of view it is shown that Katniss may be using their love as a survival tactic. This is shown by the line “One kiss equals one pot of broth”(Collins 261). This line shows that Katniss has ulterior motives, and actually may not be in love with Peeta to begin with. Over time these character’s love strengthens, I think that as time goes by Katniss learns to care for Peeta, loving him so much she will die for him. Overall, these multiple layers of the book create a very interesting relationship between Katniss and Peeta. Through one lens they are two teenagers desperately in love, through another people who care for each other looking to survive. While in the beginning of their relationship it might not be clear, in the end it is obvious that whether it be true love, or love of friends, Katniss and Peeta end up being star crossed lovers.
The conflicts in the relationships between Peeta and Katniss and Romeo and Juliet are really similar because there is something keeping them apart. In both of these two books the couples are described as star crossed lovers. In The Hunger Games Katniss and Peeta are called “the star crossed lovers of district 12”. This is because they are in love but their love is doomed by the fact that only one of the two can come out of the games alive. In R&J the term of star crossed lovers is used in the prologue foreshadowing that Romeo and Juliet won’t be able to be together. I think the term "star crossed lovers" really has be come a universal term since it was first used in Romeo and Juliet. Its interesting that one idea used so long ago can show up in more modern literature. Overall, I think it shows that the two couples relationships are very much the same because they are described under the same term.
In conclusion the relationships are very similar in both books, I think that the relationship between Katniss and Peeta is probably inspired by R&J the book. This is showed by the fact that in both books the characters are in a star crossed lovers relationship. I think that the author, Collins, of the Hunger Games did a good job putting a twist on the story of Romeo and Juliet so that it kept the same base for their relationship but took the story to a whole new level. I think that the reader should realize that Shakespeare’s writing has really inspired other authors all over the world and that good books can really change the way people write. For all we know the next big hit might have been inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
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