Romeo and Juliet

By William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.

Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. The text of the first quarto version was of poor quality, however, and later editions corrected the text to conform more closely with Shakespeare's original.

Shakespeare's use of his poetic dramatic structure (especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story) has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wisehouse Classics
• Release date: Dec 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9789176372678

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest playwright the world has seen. He produced an astonishing amount of work; 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems. He died on 23rd April 1616, aged 52, and was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.

Book preview

Capulets.

Characters of the Play

Chorus.

ESCALUS, Prince of Verona.

PARIS, a young Count, kinsman to the Prince.

MONTAGUE, heads of two houses at variance with each other.

CAPULET, heads of two houses at variance with each other.

An old Man, of the CAPULET family.

ROMEO, son to Montague.

TYBALT, nephew to LADY CAPULET.

MERCUTIO, kinsman to the Prince and friend to Romeo.

BENVOLIO, nephew to Montague, and friend to Romeo

TYBALT, nephew to Lady Capulet.

FRIAR LAURENCE, Franciscan.

FRIAR JOHN, Franciscan.

BALTHASAR, servant to Romeo.

ABRAM, servant to Montague.

SAMPSON, servant to Capulet.

GREGORY, servant to Capulet.

PETER, servant to Juliet's nurse.

An Apothecary.

Three Musicians.

An Officer.

LADY MONTAGUE, wife to MONTAGUE.

LADY CAPULET, wife to CAPULET.

JULIET, daughter to CAPULET.

Nurse to JULIET.

Citizens of Verona; Gentlemen and Gentlewomen of both houses; Maskers, Torchbearers, Pages, Guards, Watchmen, Servants, and Attendants.

Scene: Verona; Mantua.

a

Act I

Prologue

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;

Whole misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love,

And the continuance of their parents’ rage,

Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Scene I. Verona. A public place.