"Who is responsible for the fate of Romeo and Juliet and what can we learn from this tragedy?".
Romeo and Juliet was William Shakespeare's most famous play. It is a tragedy full of contrasts of immature love and long standing hate, humour and sorrow, peace and conflict and life and death. It is a tale of hastiness, infatuation and selfishness. It was first published in 1597 and then republished in 1599, 1609 and 1623. Shakespeare's primary source for the play was the poem "Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet" written by Arthur Brooke in 1562. Hierarchy was very important in the time of Shakespeare. Every person had their place in society depending on how much power and wealth you and your family had. .
In this essay I am going to discuss the events leading up to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, and also who was responsible for their fate. I am going to talk about the different things that we can learn from this tragic love story of two star crossed lovers, whose fate was decided by their selfish cold-hearted families. At fist I am going to set the scene; and talk about Shakespeare and the writing style he used and how society at the time he wrote the play influenced the style in which he wrote in and also what he included in it.
Romeo and Juliet is a play written by Shakespeare that is in the genre of a romantic tragedy, because the two lovers die from their love for each other. In this play there are a lot of different types of drama such as tragedy, romance, comedy, action and suspense. I think that Shakespeare has made Romeo and Juliet appeal to a wide audience by having the many different kinds of drama in it. This will appeal to many people as it fulfils many different tastes in plays and literature. Politics had a great influence in the writing of Shakespeare. Queen Elizabeth's father Henry VIII had split from the Catholic Church and had made himself head of the Church of England. This means that there was a lot of social change.
