Romeo and Juliet

To understand better the meaning of the play “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, It is better to have knowledge of the authors life and habitat, this way; the reader can have a more profound understanding of the play. Also, the reader can develop the meaning of the play and what provoked it.

William Shakespeare lived in England during the 16^th century, a time when the Christian church was in conflict with the British royalty; therefore the royalty decided to create their own new religion, the Protestant church. The King started to eliminate many Christian believers in Briton and Shakespeare’s dad was one of them. He was Stratford’s mayor, and he had to quit because he was Christian and he was already having trouble with the law. Because of this Shakespeare had to quit school. In the “Romeo and Juliet” this fight between both families, Montague’s and Capulet’s, can be directly compared to the fight between the Christian church and the new Protestant church. He didn’t refer to both religions in the whole play because when he wrote it Briton was at the helm of Queen Elizabeth who wouldn’t tolerate this and Shakespeare could get into serious trouble. Even though, not many people in this age would understand this comparison between the families and the religions, I think he just didn’t take the risk.

Many things in Shakespeare’s life allude to events in the play. Shakespeare falls in love with Ann Hathaway, she gets pregnant and they have to marry very quickly. In the same way that Romeo and Juliet get married real quick. Back to William’s life, they go to another town in a rush to get married. They meet John Frith, the church’s priest, he experiments with herbs and animals, just like Friar Laurence, the priest that marries Romeo and Juliet in the play.

In conclusion, Shakespeare’s message with his play is not mainly what it seems. Without knowing nothing about his habitat or life the reader could think that the meaning of this play is about love and risks, but after understanding his life you can have a more profound knowledge and realize he is making a social critique about what was happening in England at that time.