Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy and one of the world’s most enduring love stories, derives its plot from several sixteenth century sources.

Shakespeare’s primary inspiration for the play was Arthur Brooke’s Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562), a long and dense poem. Brooke’s poem, in turn, was based on a French prose version written by Pierre Boiastuau (1559), which was derived from an Italian version written by Bandello in 1554. Bandello’s poem, meanwhile, was an interpretation of Luigi da Porto’s 1525 version of a story by Masuccio Salernitano (1476).

The plot of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet remains mostly true to Brooke’s poem, though Shakespeare exercised artistic license in several instances. For example, as he often does, Shakespeare telescopes the events from Brooke’s poem (which took place over 90 days) into a few days in the play. Additionally, Shakespeare’s Juliet is thirteen, while Brooke wrote her as sixteen. The time compression and the younger Juliet enhance the youthful nature of the central relationship, emphasizing its passion and newness.