About the play

The tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" was first performed around 1596 and quickly became one of the most famous plays by William Shakespear. It deals with the feud between two powerful families in Verona, Italy and the tragic affair between the two young lovers Romeo and Juliet.

The drama was first published on paper in 1597, but was soon to be replaced by a newer version two years later. In 1609 and 1623 Shakespear published two other versions.

While writing the drama, Shakespear had different sources of inspiration, one of the main sources being the poem "Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet" (1562) by Arthur Brooke. Brooke's poem was based on a french version of said poem by Bandello from 1554, which was inspired by the 1525 interpretation by Luigi da Porto of a story by Massuccio Salernitano from 1476. While Shakespear stays mostly true to his source, he changed a few aspects in the process of writing. He changed small details like the age of Juliet (making her 13 instead of 16), but he also changed the pacing dramatically. Instead of making the events take place over the span of three months, he condensed the timespan to a few days. Both changes have an impact on the tone of the tragedy.

Sources: gradesaver.com, sparknotes.com