Question

Can you identify the fact about the source material for Romeo and Juliet?

A) The primary source Shakespeare relied upon is a 3,020-line narrative poem from 1562 titled, “The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet,” by English poet Arthur Brooke.

B) Arthur Brooke was Shakespeare's ghostwriter.

C) Arthur Brook was born in 1544 and Shakespeare is believed to have drowned in 1563.

D) Brooke wrote his work primarily in blank verse, and Shakespeare wrote in poulter’s measure.

Answer 1

B. Arthur Brooke was Shakespeare's ghostwriter.

Answer 2

Answer: The fact about the source material for Romeo and Juliet is A) The primary source Shakespeare relied upon is a 3,020-line narrative poem from 1562 titled, “The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet,” by English poet Arthur Brooke.

Explanation: The literary work that mainly inspired Shakespeare to write his famous play Romeo and Juliet (1597), which tells the story of two star-crossed lovers, was The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Iuliet written by Arthur Brooke, a long poem that attracted most of the readers during the Elizabethan Era. Although they are similar, Brooke's version and Shakespeare's version present different endings. At the same time, this poem written by Brooke was inspired by another work: a French poem written by Boaistuau in 1559, which also included the famous characters Romeo and Juliet.