“Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo?” I think everyone reading this knows those words and if they don’t, they’ve been skipping English class. Romeo and Juliet is hailed as one of the greatest romances in all of history, bringing countless parodies and love-based punch lines to follow in its wake. But is you sift through all of the Early Modern English and stage directions you can find themes and scenarios that are still found in sitcoms today.

Romeo Montague is in love with Juliet Capulet but she doesn’t even know he exists. To put some other obstacles in front of him: Juliet has been promised to another man named Paris and the Houses of Montague and Capulet feud over reasons long forgotten. (It sounds like a T.V. show already.)

Romeo and Juliet is written in the form of a play, making it slightly more difficult to read than your average romance novel, so I wouldn’t pick it up if I were a read-every-other-word-because-I-have-a-million-places-I-need-to-be kind of person. This is certainly a relaxing-in-bed-after-doing-homework kind of book.


Most know the rough storyline of the lovers, but Romeo and Juliet holds much more romance, many more fights, and much more tragedy than you would have ever expected. William Shakespeare transforms a mere love story into something so beautiful and timeless, you can’t put it down.