Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare > Reviews (56)

***WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE***
William Shakespeare was a famous poet and playwright, born in 1564 and died in 1616. He was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, but he moved to London where he lived as an actor and a writer. Biographers know very little about Shakespeare's life and there has been a lot of speculation about whether his works were actually written by another playwright. Some of his most famous plays include Macbeth, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet which have been performed all over the world, and his use of the traditional, stylised language is what defines him and makes him unique. His plays are put into three categories; Comedies, Histories and Tradgedies, the play Romeo and Juliet is a tradgedy.

***ROMEO AND JULIET***
The two families The Montagues and the Capulets have been sworn ememies for years, and the play begins with a street-battle between the two sides. The Prince of Verona declares that if they fight again, they will pay with their lives.

Juliet, a Capulet is only 13 years of age but already Count Paris "seeks her for his love", so the Capulets invite him to woo her at the ball they are holding that night.

Meanwhile, Romeo, a Montague, is melancholy and his cousins are determined to find out why. They discover that he is in love with a Capulet named Rosaline, so they decide to go to the ball to see her. When they get there Romeo's undying love for Rosaline has been completely forgotten about and he has his eyes set on a girl named Juliet.

Juliet falls head over heels for Romeo and they secretly get married the following day. Unfortunately, Romeo gets into a fight with Tybalt and is banished from Verona forever. Juliet's parents tell her that she will be married to Count Paris later that week, and she is devastated and confused - she cannot marry Paris because she would be commiting bigamy.

Things go downhill from then on, and the story ends very tragically but for those who don't know the ending I won't spoil it.

Thanks for reading
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