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How is the setting of Verona, Italy important for the play Romeo and Juliet?

Renaissance Italy was full of noble families feuding with one another for honor, fame, glory, influence, and wealth! Families like the Medici, Borgia, and Pazzi used their wealth to buy favors in government, have people killed, pay off the Church to forgive or forget sins, and commission new buildings and works of art to earn public approval. This fighting was primarily carried out by trying to one-up each other in the public eye, but sometimes...

Renaissance Italy was full of noble families feuding with one another for honor, fame, glory, influence, and wealth! Families like the Medici, Borgia, and Pazzi used their wealth to buy favors in government, have people killed, pay off the Church to forgive or forget sins, and commission new buildings and works of art to earn public approval. This fighting was primarily carried out by trying to one-up each other in the public eye, but sometimes it spilled over into literal bloodshed. Especially where young noblemen were concerned, fights occasionally broke out in the street between members of two opposing families.


Verona, as a major city and center of wealth in Renaissance Italy, surely had its fair share of warring noble families. It is unknown whether Shakespeare ever actually visited Verona or chose this setting for some other reason, but the location provides a perfect cultural backdrop for his tale of star-crossed lovers. As we learn in the play, the Capulet and Montague families have been enemies for a long time and this conflict has experienced resurgence. Nonetheless, young Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love, though they do not know at first that they are sworn enemies!

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