2 h 59 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 73 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 73 pagesAbout this book
What if the person you love carries the one name your family teaches you to hate?
In Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets turn an old feud into street violence. Then Romeo Montague meets Juliet Capulet at a masked feast, and love changes everything in a single night. Their families demand loyalty, but these two young people begin to imagine a life beyond inherited hatred.
William Shakespeare’s five-act tragedy moves from the wit of Mercutio to the tenderness of the balcony scene. Juliet speaks at her window while Romeo listens below. A secret marriage offers hope, but pride, haste and the threat of violence leave little room for careful choices. What can love protect when a whole city lives by a feud?
What you’ll discover
- A night that changes everything Enter the Capulet feast, where Romeo’s search for Rosaline gives way to love for Juliet.
- Love spoken in poetry Hear the balcony scene turn a hated family name into an intimate question.
- Juliet finds her courage Follow a bright, brave daughter as she begins to make her own choices.
- Wit beside gathering danger Meet Mercutio and the Nurse, whose jokes bring comedy into a world of threats.
- The pressure of haste Explore how rash decisions, family pride and talk of fate press upon the lovers.
Who will love it
For readers who love secret romance, sharp wit and family feuds, and for students and theatre goers eager to explore the play’s famous scenes before reading or seeing it.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A feud tears Verona apart
- Romeo is lovesick before he meets Juliet
- One masked night changes two lives
- A balcony, a friar and a secret wedding
- Violence breaks the fragile calm
- Secrets, plans and a deadly deadline
- Fate, haste and hatred as themes
- How the play is told in verse and image
Who’s who
- Romeo MontagueA romantic young man of Verona who falls deeply in love with Juliet and is willing to risk everything for her.
- Juliet CapuletNot yet fourteen, she is bright and brave, and she grows quickly from obedient daughter to a woman who makes her own choices.
- Friar LaurenceA priest and herb expert who marries the lovers in secret, hoping to end the feud between their families.
- The NurseJuliet's talkative, earthy guardian since childhood, who carries messages and helps her but has limits to her loyalty.
- MercutioRomeo's witty, fiery friend and a kinsman of the Prince, who mocks love and is quick to defend his friends.
- TybaltJuliet's proud and hot-tempered cousin, who hates the Montagues and seeks any reason to fight them.
- Prince EscalusThe ruler of Verona, who wants to stop the feud and threatens harsh punishment for those who disturb the peace.
- BenvolioRomeo's peaceful cousin and friend, who tries to keep order and to cheer Romeo out of his gloom.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 59 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 73 pages: 7,95 USD when you start free, 13,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 73 pages: 16,95 USD when you start free, 22,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Romeo and Juliet in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare · 1597
In Verona, Romeo and Juliet fall in love as their families’ feud turns their names into a threat.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written in the mid 1590s and first printed in the following years. It draws on an older Italian tale, which an English poet named Arthur Brooke had retold in a long poem in 1562.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A feud tears Verona apart
The play opens with a chorus that tells the audience about two households, alike in rank, and a love that will be marked by death. Then the action starts at once. Servants of the Capulets and Montagues trade insults in the street, and the quarrel grows as their young masters and elders join in.
The fight is stopped by Prince Escalus, who rules Verona. He is angry that old grudges have disturbed the peace three times. He warns both families that the next brawl will be paid for with lives.
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What is Romeo and Juliet about?
It tells of two teenagers in Verona who fall in love though their families, the Montagues and Capulets, are bitter enemies. Their secret romance unfolds over a few days and collides with the violence of the feud.
Is Romeo and Juliet a true story?
No. Shakespeare based it on an Italian tale, retold in English by Arthur Brooke in a 1562 poem. The play was written in the mid 1590s and is fiction, though set in a real city.
What does star-crossed mean in Romeo and Juliet?
Star-crossed means thwarted by the stars, or by fate. The opening Chorus uses it to describe the lovers, hinting that their misfortune seems written in advance, though readers debate how much is fate.
The author
William Shakespeare
1564–1616 · English playwright and poet
William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet, born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. He worked in London as an actor and playwright. He wrote plays, including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, and published sonnets in 1609. He died in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616.
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