Having first read this play in the adapted Lamb’s version, I confess that I was unaware of its beauty for a rather long time. Shakespeare was fully aware that he was working with a plot that was clichéd even in his own time – today it is even laughable. But the brilliance of a story lies in the story-telling. Romeo and Juliet experience true love the moment they see each other. Love makes them forget everything else. From the very beginning they are somehow aware that they are doomed to die – they have given up their lives to love. Not only love, but every emotion in the play is heightened and leads to terrible consequences. The hatred and antagonism between the two familes, the Montagues and the Capulets, often find expression in extreme violence.