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Why Is Romeo And Juliet Considered Classic

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Everyone is forced to read "classic" literature in grade school, and at some point everybody questions what makes a piece of literature classic, and if some literature really should be considered classic. However, the one of the only books widely considered an undeniable classic is William Shakespeare's tale about two star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Of course, the general consensus is that Shakespeare came up with the idea of Romeo and Juliet, but another author's poem was a huge source for this famous tale. Arthur Brooke's 1562 poem, “The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet”, was undoubtedly the main source for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, proven not only through the huge similarities in plot, setting, and characters, but also …show more content…

The corresponding final lines say, “The bodies dead, removed from the vault where they did lie, In stately tomb, on pillars great of marble, raise they high,” (Brooke) and “For I will raise her statue in pure gold; That while Verona by that name is known…As rich shall Romeo's by his lady's lie” (Shakespeare). This detail of how Juliet and Romeo will be laid to rest, although mostly insignificant to the story, was kept the identical by Shakespeare. Other corresponding similar quotes are “Take fifty crowns of gold…So that, before I part from hence, thou straight deliver me, Some poison strong, that may in less than half an hour, Kill him whose wretched hap shall be the potion to devour,” (Brooke) and “Hold, there is forty ducats: let me have, A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear, As will disperse itself through all the veins,” (Shakespeare). Romeo could have acquired the poison in hundreds of different ways, but like the lovers’ tomb, Shakespeare chose to keep this detail the same. Finally, the wording of the nurse revealing Romeo’s identity to Juliet is kept identical, with Brooke’s poem stating “‘His name is Romeus,’ said she, ‘a Montague,’” and Shakespeare’s play saying, “His name is Romeo, and a Montague”. Although some may argue this is merely a coincidence, the phrase copied word for word, as well as other tiny mostly insignificant details Romeo and Juliet and “The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet” share, prove Shakespeare’s main source for his most famous play was Arthur Brooke’s

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