“Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall.”
By far the most famous of Shakespeare’s works, Romeo and Juliet, is the famous tragedy warning of the dangers that love can get you into. Following two feuding families, and their children. Young Romeo wants only the attention of his love, while Juliet is soon to be married to the pompous Paris. They marry in secret and begin a set of events that lead to their eventual deaths by their own hands.
Despite being the best known of his plays, I would argue Romeo and Juliet is far from his best work. Centering entirely around the young lovers leaves little room for any other plot or story developments. The majority of characters are largely cast aside in favor of the lovers. This is especially unfortunate because the lovers have little to no personality aside from being helplessly in love with someone they barely know. I’m well aware that the story is meant to show the folly of love, but it is so centered around that there is no other interesting characters or secondary plots. I would recommend reading it at least once in your lifetime, but might as well push that off until it is necessary for some kind of university report (as it is almost guaranteed some kind of school will require you to read it). 3 out of 5 Stars