When Did Shakespeare Write Romeo and Juliet?

William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet around 1595. It was one of his first plays, written while he was living in London. The play was first performed in London in 1597. It was first published in 1597. Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet on Arthur Brooke’s poem The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (1562). The story is based on a real-life account of two lovers who died for each other—Francesco Parisio, a young nobleman from Mantua, Italy, who fell in love with Giulietta Caracciolo, the daughter of a Neapolitan nobleman who had been exiled from Naples for political reasons. Shakespeare wrote the play by himself, but it was later adapted into film versions directed by Franco Zeffirelli (1968) and Baz Luhrmann (1996). There have also been numerous adaptations for stage productions over the years.