Romeo & Juliet Facts

1. Romeo & Juliet Facts Click on the pictures to see facts.

2. Fact #1 “Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene.” • The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet was written by • WilliamShakespeare in 1595. The play is made • up of 3,003 lines and has a total of 24, 023 words.

3. Fact #2 “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late!” • In the original text Romeo speaks 617 lines • and Juliet speaks 542.

4. Fact #3 “But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” • The potion the Friar gives Juliet in the play • that makes her appear dead lasts 42 hours, long • enough to prevent her from marrying Paris.

5. Fact #4 “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” • Throughout all of Shakespeare’s works he • refers to different types of birds over 600 times.

6. Fact #5 “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” • As we look at the play in present day it may seem • strange that Juliet is marrying so young, but in • Elizabethan England the legal age for a girl to be • married was 12 years old.

7. Fact #6 “Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.” • William Shakespeare, who today is admired as • one of the world literature’s greatest figures • never attended university.

8. Fact #7 “O, I am fortunes fool!” • The modern actress, Anne Hathaway, who • starred in The Princess Diaries movies and • Get Smart, was named after Shakespeare’s wife.

9. Fact #8 “O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick! Thus with a kiss I die.” • The play’s first publication was in 1597 and • it was released unauthorized and incomplete.

10. Fact #9 “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” • When William was born there were two • Shakespeare families living in Stratford. His • obviously became famous while the other did not.