Texts and ideas from texts are appropriated and transformed into other text forms and other compositions in a different context. An appropriation is a text that is appropriated or taken over by another composer and presented in a new way. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a well-known high culture text that is a tragedy about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. In the 1997 film, Baz Luhrmann has taken what is valued about the original play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’; the themes, evocative language and poetry, the timeless storyline and humour, and has placed it in a context which is accessible and appealing to a modern audience. This essay will demonstrate how and why Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ has been appropriated and valued for modern audiences in relation to: variations in the reactions to the text over time, differences and similarities between language, settings, prologue and chorus, themes, characterisation, techniques, values and contexts, as well as different readings of the play and other appropriations.…