If you were to ask me what my favorite Shakespeare play is, I would answer Macbeth. I love Macbeth! Romeo and Juliet might make my top 5, but the truth is, I don’t spend nearly as much time thinking about other Shakespearean works as I do Macbeth.

There’s some good stuff in Romeo and Juliet, though, and I bite my thumb at anyone that disagrees with me on this subject. Forbidden love across two warring families, saccharine sweet and over-the-top romantic gestures, followed by the kind of tragedy only a couple of lovestruck teenagers could manage. There is a lot to mine from this story, which is why there have been so many adaptations.

The more I think about it, the more I respect the portrayal of teenagers in Romeo and Juliet. It rings the most true to me, because I remember when I was that age feeling emotions so huge that I couldn’t fit them all in my body. I remember feeling like I could take on the entire world, because love is pure, and right is right, and the realities of the world didn’t matter. I can see a 17-year-old Brian acting out just like Romeo and Juliet. 50-year-old Brian has seen some shit, and while he loves just as large, he also loves with greater wisdom and caution.

There’s a hint of something in Romeo and Juliet that reminds me of modern YA stories. I wonder if YA authors would name Romeo and Juliet as their favorite Shakespearean play the way I so easily name Macbeth. Macbeth appeals to me because of the humanity of it, where ambition and opportunity is enough to overwhelm a good man’s loyalty and propriety. If the witches had not given Macbeth the prophecy, would Macbeth have killed his king? I can see how my stories are influenced by the ideas present in Macbeth.

Similarly, when I think of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, I’m reminded of the energy of Romeo and Juliet. The two stories are vastly different, but there’s something in the over-the-top romances between the characters, and the desperate teenage longing in Ashes that fits perfectly with the attitudes of Romeo and Juliet.

Am I onto something?