Which English playwright wrote the tragedy "Romeo and Juliet"?

The English playwright who wrote the tragedy Romeo and Juliet was William Shakespeare. The play follows two young lovers from Verona whose families, the Montagues and Capulets, are locked in a violent feud.

Shakespeare is believed to have written the play between 1591 and 1595. Its story was not entirely original: Shakespeare drew heavily on Arthur Brooke's 1562 narrative poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, which itself came from earlier Italian and French versions of the tale.

Romeo and Juliet was first published in a quarto edition in 1597, with a more authoritative second quarto appearing in 1599. The play is known for its rapid movement between comedy and tragedy, its memorable supporting characters such as Mercutio and the Nurse, and its themes of youthful love, family conflict, haste, and fate. It has inspired operas, ballets, films, novels, and countless stage adaptations.