Who wrote the tragic play 'Romeo and Juliet'?

William Shakespeare wrote the tragic play Romeo and Juliet.

The play tells the story of two young people from feuding families in Verona, Italy, whose love ends in tragedy. It is generally dated to the mid-1590s and was first published in 1597 in an unauthorized quarto edition. A more carefully prepared second quarto appeared in 1599 and became an important textual basis for later versions.

Shakespeare did not invent the story from scratch. He drew on a long tradition of tragic romances, including an Italian narrative by Matteo Bandello. Arthur Brooke adapted that material into the poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet in 1562, and William Painter included another version in his prose collection Palace of Pleasure in 1567.

The play is often remembered for its balcony scene, but the famous balcony setting is not specified in Shakespeare’s text. Romeo and Juliet was among Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime and remains one of the most frequently performed tragedies in the English-language theater.