Romeo and Juliet story
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.
24 total · 4 choice · 6 major · 14 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| choosing between love and family | choice | both Romeo and Juliet had to choose between loyalty to their respective families or their love for one and other |
| coping with the death of a lover | choice | The famous ending of the story is that neither Romeo nor Juliet can live with the belief that the other is dead, and so kill themselves. |
| star-crossed lovers | choice | Romeo and Juliet are the archetypal ill-fated lovers |
| young lovers | choice | Romeo and Juliet are the archetypal young lovers |
| ironic twist of fate | major | the characters are either fated to die together or the events take place by a series of unlucky chances; the result notably ironic |
| love conquers all | major | the love between Romeo and Juliet was so strong that their families' designs could not separate them and they each choose to die in each other's arms rather than to live apart |
| suicide | major | Romeo and Juliet famously both committed suicide in the end |
| the desire for vengeance | major | various Capulets vv. various Montagues, but especially Romeo after Tybalt killed Mercutio |
| the human capacity for good and evil | major | "a main theme include a discovery by the characters that human beings are neither wholly good nor wholly evil" cf. Wikipedia |
| vendetta | major | The Capulet family was in a violent feud with the Montague family. |