# data[].attributes.body
THE POWER OF LOVE: Romeo and Juliet's love is so powerful that it becomes more important to them than their families, their loyalties, or even their lives.

PASSION AND VIOLENCE: The same passion leads to violence from Tybalt's death to the lovers' suicides. The two families' hate is as strong as the two lovers' love.

INDIVIDUAL AGAINST SOCIETY: What the lovers want as individuals conflicts with what their families and society want. Romeo can't just change his name and never have to deal with his family again. The Capulets, the Montagues and the townspeople don't want to stop feuding just because two teenagers love each other. It's only the final horrible tragedy which gets them to change.

THE POWER OF FATE: At the beginning of the play, in the prologue, the chorus state that Romeo and Juliet are "star-crossed lovers", meaning that their love will end tragically. During the play, both lovers have negative feelings about what is going to happen. The tragic ending results from a pattern which includes the elements of chance and the more powerful element of incomplete knowledge.

# data[].attributes.body
During the course of the play, Romeo matures from adolescence to adulthood as a result of his love for Juliet and his unfortunate involvement in the feud, marking his development from a comic character to a tragic figure.
Romeo is initially presented as a typical conventional character , a Petrarchan lover, a man whose feelings of love aren't reciprocated by the lady he admires and who uses the poetic language to express his emotions .As the play progresses, Romeo's increasing maturity due to his love for Juliet is represented by the courage and dynamism that he assumes: he risks his life at the Capulet's house, he breaks a banishment order risking death to see her and at the end he committs suicide rather than living without Juliet.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare | Act 2, Scene 2 Summary & Analysis

# data[].attributes.body
Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are two young nobles from Verona, sons of two rival families.
During a masquerade party to which Romeo had gone for Rosaline and Juliet for Paris, the two young people fall in love at first sight.
After the feast, from the Capulet’s garden Romeo hears Juliet express her love for him and despite the hatred that divides their parents, they declare their love they decide to marry secretly with the help of Lorenzo, a friar who was their friend.
The next day, Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin collided in a duel with Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, and killed him. Romeo then avenges his friend by killing Tybalt and, for this crime, is banished from Verona.
Before Romeo leaves town, the two young lovers, with the help of Juliet’s nurse, manage to spend their first, and only, night of love together.
Juliet’s father tried to hasten the marriage of her daughter to Paris, a young man to whom she had been betrothed.
Juliet, who loves Romeo and does not want to marry Paris,on her wedding day, as established with the Friar, drinks a potion, is believed dead and is buried in the crypt. Romeo, however, due to an unexpected event, cannot be warned of the plan, but, having heard the news of Juliet’s death, decides to return to Verona despite the ban.
When he reached the crypt, he met Paris and killed him, and then, seeing the dead beloved, he too decided to die drinking a vial of poison. Awakening from sleep, Juliet discovers Romeo’s corpse next to her and, out of desperation, kills herself with her husband’s dagger.
At this point the two families, faced with the tragedy, decide to make peace, forgetting the ancient rivalries.

# data[].attributes.headline
The True Story Behind Juliet's Balcony in Verona

# data[].attributes.subject
The True Story Behind Juliet's Balcony in Verona

# data[].attributes.body
Shakespeare set many of his plays in invented worlds that were on the border of truth and fiction. Romeo and Juliet was inspired by the Arthur Brooke poem, The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, which was published in 1562. Brooke’s version was inspired by older works by Italian writers, including Luigi de Porto and Matteo Bandello, who told the story of Romeo and Giuletta and the deadly feud between the families Montecchi and Capelletti. These names are also mentioned in a verse of Dante’s Purgatory, published the mid-1300s. The real house was once inhabited by the Cappello family—a name similar to the Italian version’s Capelletti—and dates back to the 13th century, though the famous balcony wasn’t added until the 20th century. The courtyard boasts a statue of Juliet, and visitors can partake in the popular ritual of rubbing her right breast for luck in love. Although most everything about this house is fiction, the emotions that draw people to it are real. The walls beneath the balcony are completely covered by graffiti scribbles and notes from visitors asking for guidance in love.

# data[].attributes.body
In Romeo and Juliet, the balcony scene solidifies the bond of love for both characters. In the scene, Romeo and Juliet are completely alone for the first time. There is tension because of the danger that they may be discovered by the nurse, but that simply adds to the excitement of the scene.

The balcony scene is critically important to the development of the plot of the play because it is during this scene that the lovers' secret marriage is decided. Juliet will not give up her honor. She insists on marriage, or no relationship at all. Romeo is happy to pursue a wedding, and intends to enlist the help of Friar Laurence. She is so fallen in love with Romeo that during this scene she suggests him to change is name into something else. In this way their love manages to overtake their families' feud. We can notice this matter from the first two verses of the balcony scene:
''Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thy self, though not a Montague.''

This development puts a central plot point in place. The marriage of Romeo and Juliet creates complications that drive the intensity of the conflicts in the rest of the play.

# data[].attributes.body
1.Romeo and Juliet is characterised by both elements of comedy and tragedy: the first half of the play, with its bawdy jokes, masked ball, street fights and love poetry, is more like a Shakespearean comedy than a tragedy. Only after Tybalt kills Mercutio near the play's midpoint do things become tragic: this love will end with the death of the beloveds and during the play there are also many obstacles placed in their path

2.Juliet is a mere 13 years old, and Romeo is not much older. In fact the main characters of the story are beautiful teenagers in love

3.There are more than 40 film versions of this masterpiece has inspired many directors and artists and Romeo and Juliet has taken the most varied forms of art: it has been proposed at the cinema, in music, in dance, in literature, even in comics and video games. Many singers will refer to Romeo and Juliet in their songs even reporting some lines

4.Mercutio’s death curse Mercutio puts a curse on the families of Romeo and Juliet. The plague in question could be the bubonic plague which killed about 5% of the London population between 1563 and 1578 in England. Among the victims were three sisters, a brother and the only son of William Shakespeare.

5.Astrology
According to some, the power of stars and the influence of the stars play a fundamental role in the destiny of the characters. In England at the time, in fact, the influence of the stars was considered as very important and in fact noble families hired professional astrologers to have the detailed horoscope prepared at the birth of their children.

6.The first kiss on stage
Romeo and Juliet also got their first kiss on a stage in history. Before that in fact no actor and actress had ever exchanged such explicit effusions in front of the spectators.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Romeo and Juliet at a Glance

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a long feud between the Montague and Capulet families disrupts the city of Verona and causes tragic results for Romeo and Juliet. Revenge, love, and a secret marriage force the young star-crossed lovers to grow up quickly - and fate causes them to commit suicide in despair. Contrast and conflict are running themes throughout Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet - one of the Bard's most popular romantic tragedies.

Written by: William Shakespeare

Type of Work: play

Genres: romantic tragedy

First Published: 1594-1595

Setting: Verona, Italy

Major Thematic Topics: love; revenge; fate; courtship; marriage; value/doubleness; meaning of gender

Motifs: fate; light and darkness

Movie Versions: Romeo and Juliet (1968); Romeo + Juliet (1996)

The three most important aspects of Romeo and Juliet:

The first half of Romeo and Juliet, with its bawdy jokes, masked ball, and love poetry, is more like a Shakespearean comedy than a tragedy. Only after Tybalt kills Mercutio near the play's midpoint do things become tragic.

Near the start of Romeo and Juliet's famous balcony scene, Juliet asks "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Because the word "wherefore" means "why," Juliet is wondering why the boy she loves is called what he's called - not where he is, as many readers believe.

Juliet is a mere 13 years old, and Romeo is not much older.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get free homework help on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: play summary, scene summary and analysis and original text, quotes, essays, character analysis, and filmography courtesy of CliffsNotes. In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , a long feud between the Montague and Capulet families disrupts the city of Verona and causes tragic results for Romeo and Juliet.

# data[].attributes.body
Who is Juliet? Simply one of the two poles of the drama? A naive and moving young girl carried away by loving passion?
It will be. But more than a naive child you can see in Juliet the strength and determination of youth. There’s decision, there’s energy. There’s anticonformism. No girl in a good family would ever have dreamed of raising her eyes to a party guest, no one would have arranged a secret marriage by evading all surveillance, but a rebellious and determined creature. There is no uncertainty, no fear. There is desire and positive energy , which turns in total destruction in the face of failure. Before the end of the desired future, he puts an end to every possible future with suicide. She decides his life and her heart. Even though she is very young, she already knows how to decide opportunities and look for solutions. She is reckless and unshakable, wrapped in that unconditional love that characterizes her young age. However, she is much more than a girl in love. She is a true modern woman, who wants to decide about herself and her life , without the family and social conditioning. She decides for herself, guided by her instinct and her desire.  She decides on the clandestine marriage. She is ready to kill herself if she’s forced to marry Paris. Strong and courageous until the last. At the invitation of the Friar in the crypt to flee resolutely replies:
“Go, move away from here, because I won’t come”.

A modern and perennially current woman. That’s who described Shakespeare.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare | Plot Summary

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare | Characters