Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
- Romeo & Juliet, Act I Prologue
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
- Romeo & Juliet, Act I Prologue
Written towards the beginning of Shakespeare's literary career, Romeo & Juliet has become the world’s most famous love story. There are countless references to the play in pop culture: television shows, movies, musicals, songs, and modern books make reference to Shakespeare's star-crossed young lovers. What is it that keeps this play so popular? Romeo & Juliet is not simply about the actions of two impulsive young lovers. Embedded in the arc of the play are human experiences that many of us have faced: the rush of being young and in love, the thrill of a first kiss, the forbidden feeling of falling in love with the wrong person, a parent’s desire to do the right thing for their child, the shame of a botched attempt to right a wrong, facing the consequences of past actions, and the raw despair that accompanies the loss of a loved one. We’re empathetic to the sorrows and confusion faced by Shakespeare’s characters because we’ve been there. This play - written in Elizabethan England and set in Renaissance Italy - sums up the experience of being alive in any place or time. It sums up the experience of being human.
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