If you could change the ending of any book, which one would it be?

This question took a great deal of thought. There are many classics that I hate the ending of, but the fact that you hated the ending was the point. Most classics are written to make a point, to highlight an issue the author sees in our world. To change the endings to something more palatable would be a disservice to the author and their work.

I did manage to think of one that is taught to all high-schoolers which could do with a different ending. Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. The ending needs a change because too many people think this is some kind of tragic love story. It is not.

Romeo comes in at the beginning all upset that this other girl does not like him. Then he meets Juliet who he knows his family does not want him to see. And then several people die for this I believe, a seventeen year old boy to run away with a thirteen year old girl who he had only met once. Many people die.

It is supposed to be a story about youthful lust and attraction and fickleness. I think the true ending should be that he sees Juliet dead and leaves and immediately falls for the next girl. Then Juliet wakes up from her fake death and realizes Romeo was not that into her. The audience would be left there thinking about the people who died during this story for really no reason.

I think that would be a much more accurate telling of the story considering the points Shakespeare was trying to make. The idiots who believed they were in love caused so much harm in their self-centered wake.

Romeo & Juliet could use a different ending. It is not a love story and it needs to be more clear for everyone.