The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet was written somewhere between the years 1951-1955 by William Shakespeare and it was actually at the beginning of his career. It was not his original idea because he adopted an Italian tale written into verse by Arthur Brooke as well as the same story written into prose by William Painter. He used these two stories to write the tragedy Romeo and Juliet as a basis for the plot, but added several more characters like for example Mercutio. The place where it all starts is in Verona. Here, two families-Capulets and Montagues are sworn enemies. Throughout the play there are many fights and problems between those two. The family of Capulets have a daughter named Juliet and the family of Montagues have a son named Romeo.....the rest later ;-)