Romeo and Juliet
Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona feud without end. When their servants brawl in the streets, the Prince warns that further violence will be punished by death. Amid this hatred, young Romeo, a Montague pining for another, meets Juliet, a Capulet, at a masked feast, and the two fall instantly and helplessly in love. Married in secret by Friar Laurence, they are torn apart when Romeo kills Juliet's cousin Tybalt and is banished. A desperate plan to reunite them goes fatally astray, and the lovers die by their own hands, a loss that finally reconciles their grieving families.
Shakespeare's tragedy endures because it captures love at its most ardent and reckless, set against the senseless cruelty of inherited hatred. It probes fate, youth, haste, and the thin line between passion and destruction. Its poetry has shaped how we speak of love itself, making the star-crossed lovers timeless.
How it begins
True, and therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall. GREGORY. The quarrel is between our masters and us their men. SAMPSON. ’Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men I will be civil with the maids, I will cut off their heads. GREGORY. The heads of the maids? SAMPSON. Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; take it in what sense thou wilt. GREGORY. They must take it in sense that feel it. SAMPSON. Me they shall feel while I am able to stand: and ’tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh. GREGORY. ’Tis well thou art not fish; if thou hadst, thou hadst been poor John. Draw thy tool; here comes of the house of Montagues. Enter Abram and Balthasar . SAMPSON. My naked weapon is out: quarrel, I will back thee. GREGORY. How? Turn thy back and run? SAMPSON. Fear me not. GREGORY. No, marry; I fear thee! SAMPSON. Let us take the law of our sides; let them begin. GREGORY. I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it as they list. SAMPSON. Nay, as they dare.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain.