Romeo and juliet act 1 scene 1 higher order thinking questions

romeo and juliet  is a  tragedy written by william shakespeare  early in his career about two young  star-crossed  lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. it was among  shakespeare's  most popular plays during his lifetime and along with  hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. today, the title characters are regarded as  archetypal  young lovers.

romeo and juliet  belongs to a tradition of tragic  romances  stretching back to antiquity. the plot is based on an italian tale translated into verse as  the tragical history of romeus and juliet  by  arthur brooke  in 1562 and retold in prose in  palace of pleasure  by  william painter  in 1567. shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly  mercutio  and  paris. believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a  quarto  version in 1597. the text of the first quarto version was of poor quality, however, and later editions corrected the text to conform more closely with shakespeare's original.

shakespeare's use of his poetic  dramatic structure  (especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story) has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. the play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. romeo, for example, grows more adept at the  sonnet  over the course of the play.

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