Romeo and Juliet

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Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's first romantic tragedy, probably written about 1595 and first printed in a ‘bad’ quarto in 1597; a good quarto (1599) reappeared in the First folio of 1623. The play is based on Arthur Brooke's poem The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562), a translation from the French of Bandello's Novelle.

The Montagues and Capulets, the two chief families of Verona, are bitter enemies; Escalus, the prince, threatens anyone who disturbs the peace with death. Romeo, son of old Lord Montague, is in love with Lord Capulet's niece Rosaline. But at a feast given by Capulet, which Romeo attends disguised by a mask, he sees and falls in love with Juliet, Capulet's daughter, and she with him. After the feast he overhears, under her window, Juliet's confession of her love for him, and wins her consent to a secret marriage. With the help of Friar Laurence, they are wedded next day. Mercutio, a friend of Romeo, meets Tybalt, of the Capulet family, who is infuriated by his discovery of Romeo's presence at the feast, and they quarrel. Romeo comes on the scene, and attempts to reason with Tybalt, but Tybalt and Mercutio fight, and Mercutio falls. Then Romeo draws and Tybalt is killed. The prince, Montague, and Capulet come up, and Romeo is sentenced to banishment. Early next day, after spending the night with Juliet, he leaves Verona for Mantua, counselled by the friar, who intends to reveal Romeo's marriage at an opportune moment. Capulet proposes to marry Juliet to Count Paris, and when she seeks excuses to avoid this, peremptorily insists. Juliet consults the friar, who bids her consent to the match, but on the night before the wedding drink a potion which will render her apparently lifeless for 42 hours. He will warn Romeo, who will rescue her from the vault on her awakening and will carry her to Mantua. The friar's message to Romeo miscarries, and Romeo hears that Juliet is dead. Buying poison, he comes to the vault to have a last sight of Juliet. He chances upon Count Paris outside the vault; they fight and Paris is killed. Then Romeo, after a last kiss on Juliet's lips, drinks the poison and dies. Juliet awakes and finds Romeo dead by her side, and the cup still in his hand. Guessing what has happened, she stabs herself and dies. The story is unfolded by the friar and Count Paris's page, and Montague and Capulet, faced by the tragic results of their enmity, are reconciled.

Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's greatest love story was first unveiled for New Yorkers in 1754 with Mr. Rigby and Mrs. Hallam heading the cast, and it has retained its popularity ever since. Although the leading 19th‐century actors often played Romeo, the fashion for “trouser roles” at the time allowed Charlotte Cushman and other celebrated actresses to assume the part as well. Adelaide Neilson and Julia Marlowe were among the most admired Juliets. Curiously, a rare old recording made by Marlowe and E. H. Sothern of their reading of the balcony scene suggests that performances of the period might have been too lush for modern tastes. In later years Ethel Barrymore, Jane Cowl, and Katharine Cornell found varying luck in the part. One reason for Barrymore's failure may have been that she assigned the part of Romeo to a minor actor, McKay Morris, thus turning the play into a one‐star vehicle and upsetting its balance. Cowl and Cornell were craftier, hiring Rollo Peters and Basil Rathbone, respectively. All these artists were no longer truly young, so that they incorporated a change, begun by Ellen Terry, of making Juliet eighteen or nineteen years old instead of fourteen. As his wife's director, Guthrie McClintic also restored many important cuts, including the “Gallop apace, you fiery‐footed steeds” speech that had been dropped at least since Neilson's day. Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh presented their version in 1940. The musical West Side Story (1957) was suggested by the play, but set its action in contemporary New York and had the lovers associated not with rival families but with rival street gangs. Perhaps the most unusual treatment of Shakespeare's play of late was Off‐Broadway's R & J (1998) in which four prep‐school boys, wearing their uniform shirts, ties, and V‐neck sweaters, played all the male and female roles. The sleeper hit ran ten months, the longest New York run of Romeo and Juliet on record.

Romeo ♂ Italian: from the medieval religious name Romeo ‘pilgrim to Rome’ (Late Latin Romaeus, a derivative of Roma; compare Romolo). For his romantic tragedy, Shakespeare derived the name of the hero, the lover of Juliet, from a poem by Arthur Brooke, The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. This is ultimately derived from a story by the Italian writer Matteo Bandello (1485–1561), whose works are the source of the plots of several Elizabethan and Jacobean plays. The sudden rise in frequency of the name in Britain may have been influenced at least in part by David and Victoria Beckham, who bestowed it on their second son (b. 2002). The reasons for their choice are not known.