Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. Read by an all star cast that include Albert Finney and Claire Bloom this audio recording is a fantastic piece of literature to ass to your collection.

The tragic feud between "Two households, both alike in dignity/In fair Verona", the Montagues and Capulets, which ultimately kills the two young "star-crossed lovers" and their "death-marked love" creates issues which have fascinated subsequent generations. The play deals with issues of intergenerational and familial conflict, as well as the power of language and the compelling relationship between sex and death, all of which makes it an incredibly modern play. It is also an early example of Shakespeare fusing poetry with dramatic action, as he moves from Romeo's lyrical account of Juliet–"she doth teach the torches to burn bright!" to the bustle and action of a 16th-century household (the play containsmore scenes of ordinary working people than any of Shakespeare's other works). It also represents an experimental attempt to fuse comedy with tragedy. Up to the third act, the play proceeds along the lines of a classic romantic comedy. The turning point comes with the death of one of one Shakespeare’s finest early dramatic creations - Romeo’s sexually ambivalent friend Mercutio whose “plague o’both your houses” begins the play’s descent into tragedy. “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo”.

© 2009 William Collins (Audiobook): 9780007327379

Release date

Audiobook: 17 August 2009