Part of: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (The Oxford Shakespeare) Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet may be his most familiar play. Its tragic story of young love gone awry in a world of family conflict is a perennial favorite, and has inspired endless imitators. This edition comes from the 1916 Oxford University Press edition of all of Shakespeare’s plays and poems.

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Citation

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (The Oxford Shakespeare), ed. with a glossary by W.J. Craig M.A. (Oxford University Press, 1916).

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John Dryden (Author)

One of the great English poets and playwrights who followed Shakespeare, Dryden is similarly interested in portraying the importance of English history for English audiences. Dryden was also deeply interested in establishing the theater as a legitimate art form rather than just a popular entertainment.
Christopher Marlowe (Author)

Marlowe and Shakespeare were the top two poets and playwrights of their day. They referenced one another’s work and competed with and inspired each other.
Geoffrey Chaucer (Author)

The greatest English writer before Shakespeare, Chaucer pioneered the use of English, rather than French or Latin, for serious literary works. He also brought all classes of society onto the page together, particularly in his masterwork, The Canterbury Tales.

Alexander Pope (Author)

A great poet in his own right, Pope also edited Shakespeare’s work, regularizing and “smoothing” it to accord with 18th century aesthetic judgements.

Critical Responses

Ballet

The Balcony Pas de Deux

Sergei Prokofiev

The high drama and romance of Romeo and Juliet have inspired composers and dancers. Watch the balcony scene pas de deux from Prokofiev’s ballet, Romeo and Juliet.

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Music

Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Listen to Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture and follow the sheet music here.

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Theatre

West Side Story

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein updated the story of Romeo and Juliet for modern times in his Broadway musical West Side Story. He retained, among other aspects of the play, the famous balcony scene.

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Connected Readings

Video

Falling in Love at the Globe

Watch Romeo and Juliet fall in love in this traditionally staged scene from a Globe Theater production.

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Poem

A Primary Source

Arthur Brooke

A primary source for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is the Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke. You can read selections from that poem and learn more about its puritan leanings here.

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What to read next.

A Comic Trick

Shakespeare plays with the mock deaths that end tragically in Romeo and Juliet in more than one play. Find a comic version of the trick in Much Ado About Nothing.

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