Solomon and Gaeynor is little more than another, more modern version of Romeo and Julliet. The basic story line in Solomon and Gaeynor is about a couple who fall deeply in love, but face the problem that their families are very different, and would never agree to a marriage between the two of them. Similarly in Romeo and Julliet, a young couple fall hopelessly in love, but due to the dispute amongst the two families, it is not possible for them to marry, and live happily ever after.
Solomon, a young Jewish man meets a welsh girl, whilst he is going from door to door in order to sell cloth for making clothes. They fall in love within a short period of time, however Gaeynor is not aware that Solomon comes from a Jewish background. Likewise his family do not know of his Welsh lover. After he meets Gaeynors family and is halfway accepted by the them, Gaeynor becomes rather suspicous that he is keeping their relationship so secret, and that he has never presented her to his family.
In Romeo and Julliet a similar barrier stands between the two lovers, however in this case both the lovers were aquainted with the fact. The main difference however is that in Romeo and Julliet the lovers are being held apart by a war, which divides the two families. In comparison, Solomon and Gaeynor are being kept apart by the fact that they derive from different religious backgrounds. Gaeynor is of Jewish origin, and as has often been so in the course of history, the Jewish people have been hated by the local population, and were blamed for local problems. In this case there are frequent mining strikes, as a result of poor pay, and whilst the local welsh population is battling for survival, the jewish settlers are not in such a precarious situation, as they own the shops and banks, which are not affected by the mining strikes. This is the side to which Gaeynors family belong.
Gaeynor does not find out about Solomons Jewish background, which makes the situation slightly different to that of Romeo and Julliet. However in the end this does not cause all that many problems, as after they have an argument over him having kept secrets from her, she forgives him, and they make plans to elope, and thus enable a normal life together, whithout having to live with the social barriers set by the society and elders.
Another difference between the two couples mentioned above, is that Romeo and Julliet came from wealthy and powerful families, and were caught up in a war amongst the rich. Solomon and Gaeynor on the other hand were in a „war“ that was not as much over power and wealth, but over bare survival, and finding a source for all the problems. ...
