Thus with a kiss I die. Romeo and Juliet, written by English dramatist William Shakespeare during 1594–1596 is one of the bard’s most popular and frequently performed plays. It was first published in an unauthorised quarto in 1597. An authorised longer quarto was published in 1599. A third quarto, based on the second, was used by the editors of the First Folio of 1623. Shakespeare’s main source for the play’s plot was English poet Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562). In the play, Romeo and Juliet, the young hero and heroine fall in love knowing fully well that their families, the Montagues and the Capulets, respectively, are bitter enemies. The star-crossed lovers are secretly married by Friar Lawrence.When Romeo killsTybalt to avenge the death of a dear friend, he is banished to Mantua. Juliet’s father, unaware that his daughter has wedded Romeo, fixes up her marriage. A desperate Juliet seeks Friar Lawrence’s help, but his plan to reunite Romeo and Juliet falls apart and ends in unspeakable tragedy.

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