Letters to Juliet

A new American film called "Letters to Juliet" focuses on the curious tradition of writing letters to Shakespeare's tragic heroine and an even more curious Veronese tradition of responding to them. But the movie is more than just a romantic invention, as a trip to Verona can reveal.

In the film, protagonist Sophie follows a woman collecting letters stuck to the wall of Juliet's house and discovers that the woman is part of a group of secretaries who reply to them. Juliet's secretaries actually exist, even if their headquarters in a little known suburban area of town is less picturesque than in the Hollywood version.

The thousands of letters they receive each year deal with love and often ask for advice or a blessing. In turn, the secretaries do their best to offer support or counsel without making the authors wait too long for a reply.

"I started [at the club] about 20 years ago by translating some German letters," said Giovanna Tamassia, one of the secretaries. "It's really a very beautiful thing when you open a letter, and you can read about feelings all around the world. So, I continued to come to the club. I think it's a really romantic and beautiful thing, this idea of writing to Juliet."

Reproach and reassurance

These days, all but two members of the Club di Giulietta are women, but that wasn't always the case. The first secretary from the 1930s was Ettore Solimani, who worked as the caretaker at Juliet's tomb in the monastery of San Francesco al Corso. (The story of Romeo and Juliet may be just a legend, but the monastery is considered a possible location for the tragic final scene.)

It was Solimani's idea to respond to the letters addressed to Juliet.

"The older letters from the 30s and 40s reflect the time in which they were written. They're very formal, and most of them are about problems within a marriage," said Ceil Friedman, an author whose book on the Veronese letter-writing tradition inspired the film.

"Even more amazing are the responses from Ettore Solimani, who often gives the writers very practical advice. He sometimes scolds them and asks how they could possibly look at other women when their wives are waiting at home - at other times he tries to reassure them and tells them not to be afraid."

Today, the club of secretaries is made up of 10 members who work on a completely voluntary basis. The letters they receive are sometimes left directly at Juliet's tomb or home but typically come by post - addressed to the Juliet Club, Juliet's house at number 23, Via Cappello or sometimes simply to "Juliet, Verona."

An 'overwhelming responsibility'

One letter reads:

“Dear Juliet, my name is Olga and I'm from Belarus. I live in a small, beautiful town. I write to you to ask you good wishes for my wedding. Some years ago I met my Victor. I fell in love with him, he's my sun, he's my life. I couldn't see my life without him. His eyes are like stars in the night, his lips like full of life in spring. We want to get married. Dear Juliet, please be so kind as to send me your good wishes for us, thank you, Olga.”

Movies featuring Verona or Romeo and Juliet often lead to an explosion of tourism in the area as well as a surge in letters to Juliet. The 10 secretaries wonder if they can handle the wave of mail that this year's movie is sure to inspire.

"I think they have an overwhelming responsibility because they receive letters from all over the world and from people of all ages with all sorts of problems, and they aim to - and I think very successfully - reply to them one by one with personal answers, and try to give people a sense of possibility and hope and some kind of way out of their particular problems," said Friedman.

While Juliet's secretaries have their pens poised in anticipation of a deluge, for Verona's municipal council, "Letters to Juliet" is a dream come true. Their newly created Verona Film Commission aims to harness the city's romantic reputation to attract more film productions to the area in the future. So with the help of Shakespeare's tragic heroine, Verona may one day be as popular with filmmakers as it is with romantic lovebirds.

Author: Dany Mitzman (gsw)
Editor: Kate Bowen