play (1594-95) written by William Shakespeare. The appeal of the young hero and

heroine--whose families, the Montagues and Capulets, respectively, are implacable

enemies--is such that they have become, in the popular imagination, the

representative type of star-crossed lovers.

Shakespeare's principal source for the plot was The Tragicall Historye of Romeus

and Juliet (1562), a long narrative poem by the English poet , or Brooke (d. 1563).

Broke had based his poem on a French translation of a tale by an Italian writer,

Shakespeare set the scene in Verona, Italy, during July. Juliet, a Capulet, and

Romeo, a Montague, fall in love at a masked ball of the Capulets and profess their

love when Romeo later visits her at her private balcony in her family's home.

Because the two noble families are enemies, the couple is married secretly by Friar

Laurence. Tybalt, a Capulet, kills Romeo's friend Mercutio in a quarrel. Romeo kills

Tybalt and is banished to Mantua. When Juliet's father insists on her marrying

Count Paris, Juliet consults the friar. He gives her a potion that makes one appear

fall instantly in love at a masked ball of the Capulets and profess their love when

this is essentially the play known today, for the printer was working from a

families, , respectively, are implacable enemies--is such that they have become, in

love. It tells of a family and its home as well as a feud and a tragic marriage. The

"bad" quarto in 1597. The characters of and have been depicted in literature,

of Love's Labour's Lost in 1598 that publishers had come to feel that the name of

Some common words found in the essay are:
Romeo Juliet, Juliet Romeo, William Shakespeare, Labour's Lost, Paris Juliet, Count Juliet, Romeo Montague, Romeus Juliet, Sampson Gregory, Montagues Capulets, | |, | | |, romeo kills, romeo juliet, kills romeo's friend, close shakespeare's, kills tybalt, quarrel romeo, tybalt banished, enemies couple married, romeo's friend, manuscript fairly close, shakespeare's own, capulet kills romeo's, banished mantua,
Approximate Word count = 937
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)