Romeo and Juliet is the first of Shakespeare’s great tragedies, and the loveliest. This play is a product of the English Renaissance set in early 14th century Verona and Mantua. Although it is a play with a single plot and a simple structure it is remarkable for its intensity in the presentation of love, for its variety of mood, and for the beauty of its poetry. It is perhaps the greatest of love stories and it soon becomes clear why the names of Romeo and Juliet have passed into our language as symbols of youth and love.