Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet has been heralded as one of the greatest love stories of all times. So much so that the names of Romeo and Juliet are synonymous with love. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by one of the greatest playwrights William Shakespeare about two young “star-crossed lovers” whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. The play has since then become a symbol of romanticism in modern literature.

Love is a major theme in Romeo and Juliet, but love has a completely different meaning today than it did in Elizabethan England. Today, love is an accepted positive emotion and most of the people who marry have fallen in love with each other before marriage. But in Elizabethan times marriages were arranged. Love had no part in these matches, which were orderly and controlled; and acting upon feelings of love often ended in tragedy, as in the case of Romeo and Juliet and movingly portrayed by Shakespeare.

No matter that the story of Romeo and Juliet was written during Elizabethan times, this story continues to touch the emotions of the audience and the reader even today. It can even work well for other time periods and places, as so many of our Bollywood movies have been based on this eternal love story. Its appeal would be the same and not diminish if it were to be set before the Elizabethantime or sometime in the distant future from now — as the message and emotion conveyed by the pair is eternal and true forever. Irrespective of which language it is conveyed in this message of love is from the heart and the heart knows no language.