Nutshell Summary

William Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet commences in the midst of a long-standing feud between two noble families, the Montagues and the Capulets, and is set in a small town in Italy alongside the Adige River in Verona. The play opens with a street brawl between the servants of the Mon- tague and Capulet as the distaste between the two warring families extends further than just the nobility. The fight is defused by Prince Escalus and he condemns both the families for their long-standing feud and their seemingly never-ending need to turn to violence. Prince Escalus warns that if anyone from either of the two families breaks the peace again, lives will be lost.