Accounting and emotions: materializing Shakespeare’s imaginary in the city of Verona

This paper contributes to the scant number of studies exploring the relationships between accounting, emotions and actions, by investigating the role of accounting’s calculative logic in shaping the way in which emotionally powerful ideas materialize through the responses that they provoke. By relying upon the unique case of the legend of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and its relationships with the City of Verona, Italy, we show the role of accounting’s calculative logic in orchestrating how the emotions evoked by the worldwide known tragedy of Romeo and Juliet become embedded spatially – and, thereby, materialize – within an actor network. Throughout such materializing, financial, organizing and emotional effects are produced, thereby reinforcing both accounting’s calculative logic, as well as the emotional power of this legend.