Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet on This Day in History

This Day in History: The characters Romeo and Juliet were married this day in 1302 according to William Shakespeare. Many of Shakespeare's plays have been accused of plagiarism. Take Romeo and Juliet for instance. This is a variation of the several older stories from Italy, which are also reworkings of the ancient tale of Pyramus and Thisbe in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Pyramus and Thisbe's parents refused to consent to their union, so the lovers at last resolved to flee together and agreed to meet under a mulberry tree. Thisbe was the first to arrive but was terrified by the roar of a lioness and took to flight. In so doing she dropped her veil, which the lioness tore to pieces with jaws stained with the blood of an ox. Pyramus, believing that Thisbe had been devoured by the lioness, stabbed himself. When Thisbe returned and found her lover mortally wounded under the mulberry tree, she put an end to her own life. 

Also, the Montagues and Capulets in R&J were first mentioned in Dante's Inferno. There was also an earlier 1562 poem by Arthur Brooke called “The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet.”

Perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said: “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations."

Did you know: Juliet was only 13 years old.

See also Who Really Wrote Shakespeare's Plays? 50 Books on CDrom

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