Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet, Oxford: Oxford World Classics, 1991.

Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1.5

Another Tragedy play from the quill of William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet is also of the romance and modern action genres. A mix of the original play written by Arthur Brook in 1562 and entitled The Tragic History of Romeus and Juliet and William Painter's 1582 play The Palace of pleasure, Shakespeare capitalized on both and reproduced Romeo and Juliet with additional characters and is now known as the author of this tragedy.

The most famously overly-quoted poem of teenage love and soulmateship, forbidden love, family allegiances and wars, friendship, bloodshed, suicide and tragedy, Romeo and Juliet is the composition which contains it all. Romeo and Juliet revolves around two powerful families and their supporters and henchmen/ soldiers, the Montagues and Capulets, and whilst waging a war for dominance, in their midst a forbidden love arises between the children and heirs of family; that of Juliet from the House of Capulet and Romeo of the House of Montague. Their love and friendship amidst the violent turf wars of their parents' speaks volumes on both innocence of these teenagers and their love and worldview. Of course, in the nature of tragedy, the hero's do not always win, sadly. Romeo and Juliet is as powerful as it is tragic.