2 h 59 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 2 h 59 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout 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
You will love this play if you enjoy young love, family loyalty, bawdy wit, rich imagery, and tales where one rash choice leads to the next.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A feud spills into the streets of Verona
- At a masked feast, two enemies meet
- Beneath the balcony, a vow and a wedding plan
- A quarrel in the street ends in blood
- Banishment, a hidden marriage and a forced match
- Love and hate share the same breath
- Haste, fate and the clash of youth and age
- How Shakespeare mixes jokes, poetry and dread
Who’s who
- RomeoMontague's only son, a romantic young man who moves from sighing over Rosaline to a sudden, all-consuming love for Juliet.
- JulietCapulet's daughter, not yet fourteen, who is quick, brave and honest, and who gives her heart to the son of her family's enemy.
- Friar LawrenceA Franciscan who gathers herbs and advises Romeo, and who hopes a secret marriage might end the feud between the families.
- The NurseJuliet's talkative, warm-hearted nurse, who raised her from infancy and carries messages between the lovers.
- MercutioThe Prince's kinsman and Romeo's friend, a brilliant joker who laughs at love and will not walk away from a fight.
- TybaltLady Capulet's nephew, a proud swordsman who hates all Montagues and wants to defend his family's honor.
- BenvolioRomeo's cousin and friend, a peacemaker who tries to calm every quarrel and to lift Romeo out of his sadness.
- CapuletJuliet's father, the head of his house, who is generous at his feast but fierce when his daughter will not obey.
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- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare · 1597
Two teenagers from feuding Verona families fall in love at a masked ball and marry in secret within a day.
Medium level2–5 hours to readItaliano
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In short
What happens when two children inherit a war they did not start? Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare in the 1590s for the London stage, asks that question in Verona, where the Montagues and the Capulets hate each other so much that their servants fight over a bitten thumb.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A feud spills into the streets of Verona
The play opens on a street fight that nobody needed. Two Capulet servants walk through Verona eager to quarrel with anyone from the house of Montague. When two Montague servants appear, Sampson bites his thumb at them, a rude gesture he hedges with careful questions about the law.
The brawl grows fast. Benvolio, a Montague, begs everyone to put away their swords. Then Tybalt, a hot-headed Capulet, arrives and says he hates the word peace as much as he hates hell and all Montagues. Prince Escalus ends it with anger. This is the third brawl, he says, and anyone who breaks the peace again will pay with his life.
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Also in the Shakespeare Tragedies Book Set: Four Plays
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1597
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 1 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/romeo-and-juliet.
Shakespeare, W. (2026). Romeo and Juliet. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/romeo-and-juliet (Original work published 1597)
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/romeo-and-juliet.
@book{shakespeare2026romeo,
author = {Shakespeare, William},
title = {Romeo and Juliet},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/romeo-and-juliet},
note = {First published 1597}
}
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What is Romeo and Juliet about?
It tells of two teenagers in Verona whose families are bitter enemies. They fall in love at a feast, marry in secret, and face a series of events that tests their courage and their loyalty to one another.
Who are the Montagues and the Capulets?
They are two wealthy Veronese families in a long feud. Romeo, his father Montague and his cousin Benvolio belong to one house. Juliet, her father Capulet and her cousin Tybalt belong to the other.
What does the line What's in a name mean?
Juliet says a name is only a label and does not change who a person is. She argues that Romeo would still be the same man if he were not called Montague.
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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