About Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet 

 Shakespeare took the plot from The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, a long, narrative poem written in 1562 by the English poet Arthur Brooke. The poem, in turn, was based on a French translation of a short story by the amazing Matteo Bandello, an Italian monk, soldier, adventurer, bishop, and writer. His collection of tales not only gave rise to Romeo and Juliet, but also Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing.