Who Wrote Romeo and Juliet, and When?
William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, most likely around 1594 to 1596. It was first printed in 1597 in an unauthorized edition, and a fuller, authorized text followed in 1599.
It is a tragedy in five acts, about 3,000 lines long in the 1599 text.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | William Shakespeare (1564-1616) |
| Written | About 1594-96 |
| First printed | 1597, first quarto (unauthorized) |
| Authorized text | 1599, second quarto |
| First Folio | 1623 |
| Form | Tragedy in five acts, mostly in verse |
| Main source | Arthur Brooke's poem, 1562 |
Who wrote Romeo and Juliet?
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the English playwright and poet. It was one of his early tragedies.
He did not invent the story. His main source was a long poem by Arthur Brooke, The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562), which came from an Italian tale. The full chain of sources is in our guide on whether Romeo and Juliet is a true story.
↑ Back to the topWhen was Romeo and Juliet written?
No manuscript date survives, so the dating is scholarly estimate. Britannica gives about 1594 to 1596, and most scholars place it in the mid-1590s. Other reference works have suggested anywhere from 1591 to 1596.
The first performance is not recorded either. The play was certainly on stage by 1597, because the first printed edition describes it as often played in public with great applause.
↑ Back to the topWhen was Romeo and Juliet published?
The first printed edition, the first quarto, appeared in 1597. It is called a bad quarto: it was unauthorized and probably put together from the memory of people connected with the stage, and it is much shorter. Its title page calls the play an excellent conceited tragedy.
A second quarto followed in 1599. It says on the title page that it is newly corrected, augmented and amended, and it is about half as long again. Most modern editions are based on it. Later quartos appeared in 1609 and around 1622, and the play was included in the First Folio of 1623.
↑ Back to the topHow long is Romeo and Juliet?
The 1599 text has about 3,000 lines, against about 2,200 in the 1597 quarto. The Prologue is a sonnet that tells the audience the ending in advance and mentions two hours of stage time.
It has five acts. Most of the play is verse, with some prose, especially for comic characters such as the servants.
↑ Back to the topMore about Romeo and Juliet
This guide covers the play only. Film and stage versions differ in places.