The True Story Behind Roméo & Juliette

Did Shakespeare invent Romeo and Juliet? Not quite. The real story traces back to a heartbroken Italian soldier in 1511, a night of political violence, and a love that didn't survive a war wound. 

By the time Shakespeare got hold of it, the tale had already passed through the hands of Italian, French, and English writers, each adding their own spin. And by the time Gounod set it to music in 1867, even the ending had been quietly rewritten by a London actor-director nearly a century earlier.