In the play 'Romeo and Juliet', the titular lovers come from feuding families: the Montagues and the Capulets. In Act 2, Scene 2, Juliet says, "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet." This scene is known as the "balcony scene", where Juliet expressed her thoughts on her bedroom balcony, while Romeo hides in the garden below. Juliet has just met Romeo at her family's party and fallen hopelessly in love with him at first sight. Since their families are enemies, Romeo and Juliet cannot be together, which is why she secretly wishes Romeo would change his surname and abandon his family.

'Romeo and Juliet' is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. It is based on two families that existed in literature long before Shakespeare's time (1564-1616). Dante's 'Divine Comedy', published some 250 years before Shakespeare's birth, features the line, "Come and see, you who are negligent, / Montagues and Capulets, Monaldi and Filippeschi: / One lot already grieving, the other in fear."

Shakespeare's play premiered in 1597 but is based on 'The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet' by Arthur Brooke (1562). Whilst Shakespeare borrowed the plot, he developed a number of supporting characters, such as Mercutio and Paris.

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