Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in
his career about two young Italian star-crossed lovers whose deaths
ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among hakespeare'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
poetic dramatic structure (including effects such as switching between
comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, the expansion of minor
characters, and numerous 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.
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