William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet is one of the greatest plays of all time. It is the story of a young man and woman fighting to be together even though a long family feud tries to keep them apart. More than just a love story, it shows the beliefs of the time period. It shows the strength of the idea that the man is the absolute head of the family unit, and the idea of arranged marriages. Juliet was forbidden to fraternize with Romeo because of a generations-old feud between their families.
Nothing, not even a feud, could keep Romeo and Juliet apart. Even though it may seem that the couple went to great lengths, like "killing" Juliet, it really was a reflection of the times. The world was expanding and with it the ideas and beliefs of the entire population. Gone were the days of unquestioned leadership, whether it be by king or family.
This "myth" has a lasting impression on the present day because of the ideals it presents. It shows the principle of free choice in marriage, even though Romeo and Juliet never lived long enough to consider it. Much like Martin Luther's ideals of a hundred years before, the play shows the emphasis on the individual. Each person decided his own fate by his actions. This easily parallels modern society. Freedom, as simple as it may seem, is a relatively new idea in government. Government, social values, and in fact all of society have been affected by the ideals that Romeo and Juliet characterizes.
The best Shakespeare Resource on the Web is The Shakespeare Web
*Mesopotamia (Gilgamesh) *Greece (Odysseus) *Rome (Aeneas) *England (Romeo and Juliet) *America (the Kennedys)