By Adalyn Lowe

There has recently been some controversy over the modernization of classics. In a world targeted towards quick reads and drama, wordy and less-than relatable (sometimes!) classics can be left behind to the average consumer. There is obvious competition to be the most eye-catching at a bookstore, which is why YA stories typically adapt bright and simple illustrated covers. It’s easy to understand what one might find between the pages— the two characters on the covers will surely fall in love.

The same can’t typically be said of classics, until perhaps more recently. Covers for these sorts of books tend to be more serious, to match the source material and time period in which they come from. Until recently. Publishers have been releasing classics with more YA-typical covers. A few have furied the people of the Internet (as they tend to be).

Penguin, known for their clothbound covers with simple embossments, or perhaps their classics collection with that simple black spine, has recently released these editions of William Shakespeare’s most popular works. This Romeo & Juliet, for example, features the two title characters against this hot pink background, entwined lovingly in each other’s arms. It is highly semblant of other YA-esque covers.

I don’t want to completely talk about the quick dopamine hit we tend to seek in our books now in this article, because that could be another essay alone! But I do believe this heavily leans into that trend. Not only are we searching for the most interesting cover at the store, but we view it as some sort of YouTube thumbnail for the book. Naturally, there is a reason to appeal to current book trends. However, I will be the first to admit I’m not the biggest fan of this cover of Romeo & Juliet. Frankly, I think it’s a bit ugly! Yet, I think there are bigger issues.

Namely, the cover is not indicative of the content inside. I would hope it would be hard-pressed to find someone unfamiliar with Shakespeare, especially with his ubiquity in high school English classes. But you never know. Imagine picking up this modern-seeming cover only to find “where art thou!” between its pages when you schlep it to the beach imagining it to be an easy read!

There was another classics scandal as well— this time to Jane Austen. Say thank you to Penguin yet again for this.