Romeo and Juliet

The Capulets and the Montagues are two powerful families of Verona. While they have been engaged in an ageold vendetta, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet declare their love for each other and get married secretly. Romeo, who kills Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, is banished to Mantua by Prince Escalus of Verona; meanwhile, Juliet follows Friar Florence’s plot to fake her own death. Believing that Juliet has actually died, Romeo swallows poison and dies in her tomb, and when Juliet awakens and sees his corpse, she kills herself using his dagger, in a desperate attempt to reunite with him. As a result, the two grieving families resolve to make peace and erect golden statues to pay tribute to the dead couple. William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and died in 1616. A prolific playwright, actor and poet, he lived during the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages and produced at least 37 plays and 150 sonnets. Romeo and Juliet was written in 1597.