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.
