B2 · Upper intermediate

Romeo and Juliet

Name: Romeo and Juliet
Author: William Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare · graded reader

7 chapters
16,696 words
about 128 min
tragedy (prose retelling)

In the city of Verona, two great families have hated each other for years. Then Romeo, a young Montague, meets Juliet, the daughter of the Capulets, at a party. They fall in love at first sight and marry in secret. But a street fight, a hurried plan and a lost letter turn their love into a tragedy.

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In fair Verona, a beautiful old city in the north of Italy, there lived two great families. They were the Montagues and the Capulets. Both were rich, both were old, and both were proud. Long ago, so long that nobody could remember the reason, they had quarrelled. Since then they had hated each other. Their hatred had passed from fathers to sons and from masters to servants. Whenever members of the two houses met in the street, there was trouble.

Shakespeare tells us at the very beginning how the story will end:

"Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life."