On the other side of town is a house in
which Romeo's lover lived. Unlike the gates, Shakespeare did not base
any part of the play on this nondescript house, but tourists happily
believe otherwise. They file in and out, scratching their names into
any brick, paving slab, or disk of chewing gum that hasn't already
been claimed. I don't have time to visit, as I'm on my to Spiazzo, to
stay in a much nicer house where a much less fictional Giulia lives.
Besides, of far more interest than the Casa di Giulietta is the Club di Giulietta, an unsung but dedicated group of volunteers who take the trouble to reply to the thousands of letters addressed every year to Juliet. They pore over letters from the hopeful, the heartbroken, the horny – and the mentally unstable.
Writing a passionate letter to a fictional character seems an unlikely thing to do, but the activity seems to go on even close to home. Last year, a student from the LSE was awarded a prize by the Club di Giulietta for her letter. Touched though she was to see it published worldwide, she had know idea her most personal letter ever was entering a competition.
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