Literary Arts

Pre- and Post-Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet

Many writers, after being influenced by particular works, adopt elements of such works and fashion them into their own story. The widely respected and successful William Shakespeare was no exception. Whose work preceded William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and on whose work was he influential? Read below to find out.

Pre-Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet

The tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet did not originate from Shakespeare's pen. The story actually dates back to 1476, when Masuccio Salernitano wrote Cinquante Novelle. This poem is the earliest known version of the familiar tale, which tells the story of two characters—Mariotto and Giannozza, a killing, and a marriage rival. After the lovers' separation, they are not reunited: Mariotto is arrested and beheaded, and Giannozza dies of a broken heart.

Luigi da Porta retold the tale in 1530, building upon Salernitano's version by adding the infamous dual suicide that is now a part of Shakespeare's story. In Da Porta's story, Giulietta pretends to commit suicide. When she finds out that Romeo does indeed kill himself, she takes her life—but this time, she is not faking. Consequently, the feuding houses reunite. In addition, Da Porta gave his characters the Italian names Giulietta and Romeo, situated the story in Verona, and created the characters that in Shakespeare's version became Mercutio, Tybalt, Friar Laurence, and Paris.

In two cases this tragic tale was published as part of a collection of stories. Italian writer Matteo Bandello wrote a version in 1554 in Novelle, his collection of 214 short stories that was later translated into English, French, and Spanish. Histoires tragiques, published in 1559 by Pierre Boistuau, was a collection of French novellas that also illustrated the tale of "star-crossed lovers." From these collections emerged the basis for the characters of the nurse and Romeo's friend Benvolio.

The next version appeared in 1562, when Arthur Brooke published a long narrative poem entitled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. This version appears to be the inspiration for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in terms of its plot and character names, although Shakespeare decreased the age of Brooke's heroine from her late teens to the young age of thirteen years old, and shortened the length of the affair from several months to only four days. But before Shakespeare made the story of the young lovers famous in his 1595 play, one more version was produced. In 1566, William Painter produced a collection of short story translations called The Palace of Pleasure, which contained yet another folk version of Romeo and Juliet.

Post-Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet

After Shakespeare's play appeared in 1595, several other adaptations followed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Thomas Otway sets the locale of the play in ancient Rome, adding new poetry and lines, and titling it The History and Fall of Caius Marius. He also extends the life of his hero long enough for him to see the heroine awaken in the tomb before they die together.

David Garrick's production in the mid-eighteenth century made the most drastic changes to Shakespeare's story, aging Juliet to eighteen years old, cutting the character of Rosalind entirely, and inserting a loving interchange between Romeo and Juliet as they lay on their deathbeds.

The lasting power of this story has been proven by its more than 500 years of existence, and thus we can expect the legend of Romeo and Juliet to survive for countless years to come.