Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (c.1597) is an early tragedy about the fate of two star-crossed lovers. The story opens in Verona with a street brawl between the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo Montague attends a masquerade party at the house of the Capulets, where he woos Juliet. Count Paris tries to attract Juliet’s attention with the help of Juliet’s parents, but Romeo and Juliet pledge to die for each other.  William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote about thirty eight plays, one hundred and fifty four sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. As a dramatist, he is largely known for his tragedies, especially Hamlet (1599-1601), King Lear (1603-1606), and Macbeth (1603-1606).