Chapter Text
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has a legacy that has persisted for centuries beyond its initial performances. The tragedy’s attention to timeless themes, including love, hatred, fate, and loyalty, has bolstered its status as one of Shakespeare’s most influential works and a pillar in the English literary tradition. Its influence can be observed in a plethora of subsequent media—such as works of literature, music, and television—which have sought to reflect on, develop, parallel, and contrast with the play’s major plot points, themes, and messages.
Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s television drama series Better Call Saul suggests the notion of an individual-driven fate with a clever mix of parallels and contrasts to Romeo and Juliet, including explorations of the forces of love and hate and the power of family names, which are conveyed through doomed, socially deviant relationships. Both are cautionary tales of impulsivity and the power of strong emotion to colour and cloud decisions. Dramatic and thematic mirrors to the key characters of Romeo, Friar Lawrence, Mercutio, and Tybalt are found in Jimmy, Kim, Howard, and Lalo. There is also considerable overlap between the symbols employed by the two stories, including sleep, dreams, day, and night.