Romeo and Juliet is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare. The play tells the story of two young lovers from feuding families, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, who are forced to keep their love a secret and ultimately meet tragic ends.
The play begins with a street brawl between members of the Montague and Capulet families, which is broken up by the Prince of Verona. Romeo, a Montague, is infatuated with a woman named Rosaline, but she does not return his feelings. He attends a Capulet party in disguise, where he meets and instantly falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet.
The two secretly marry with the help of Juliet’s nurse and Friar Lawrence, a Catholic priest. However, their happiness is short-lived as Romeo kills Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, in a duel. As punishment, Romeo is exiled from Verona.
Desperate to be reunited with Romeo, Juliet turns to Friar Lawrence for help and he devises a plan for her to take a potion that will make her appear dead, so that she can be reunited with Romeo in secret. The plan goes awry when Romeo, believing Juliet to be dead, buys poison and goes to her tomb to commit suicide. Juliet awakens to find Romeo dead beside her, and in her grief, she also takes her own life.
The tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet bring the Montague and Capulet families to reconcile, and the Prince of Verona declares that there will be no more fighting between the two families.
The play is a classic love story, but also it reflects the destructive nature of family feuds, and the powerful and dangerous nature of youthful passion. The play is widely considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest works and has been adapted into countless films, operas, and ballets.
