1 5 10 | Two households both alike in dignity, In fair Verona where we lay our scene From ancient grudge, break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean: From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, A pair of star-corss's lovers take their life: Whose misadventured piteous overthrows, Doth with their death bury their parents strife. The fearful passage of their death-marked love, And the continuance of their parents' rage, Which but their children's end nought could remove, Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage. The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. | The play is set in the pretty city of Verona. (Verona is in Italy.) There are two noble families, that are equal in rank. Members of each group have killed each other. These deaths have started the very old grudge again. One of the families (the Capulets) have a daughter and the other family (the Montagues) have a son. Their children are destined to fall in love. In the end, the only way they can be together is in death. The children's deaths ends their parents' grudge. The play is two hours long. It tells the story of the lovers (Romeo and Juliet). If you are patient and listen, we (the actors) will show you any information that is not here. |