Romeo and Juliet is originally a novella written by
Italian writer Luigi da Porto, who wrote this because he couldn't marry his cousin. It got revised by a
monk named Matteo Bandello, then translated to Baguette Language by some French
guy, then landed on Arthur
Brooke. He then wrote it as a poem with some dark
shit featuring Romeo banging his
head against the
wall, then named it Romeus and Juliet. And of course, Shakespeare read
Brooke's work and based his tragedy on it, and we got the version of Romeo and Juliet that almost everyone hates.
Differences:
• The Da Porto novella features a passionate and truly in love Romeo and Giulietta, while the Shakespeare Tragedy has a set of horny teens who thought lust and love are the same. (I kinda blame it for the tragedy's shoddy timeline and Shakespeare turning them into teens.)
• The Shakespeare Tragedy features Tybalt and Mercutio with personalities, while the Da Porto novella only have them as extras.
• The Shakespeare Tragedy had Romeo dying all alone. In the Da Porto novella, he had Romeo dying until Giulietta woke up. (Kinda
like Romeo+Juliet.)
To summarize, Romeo e Giulietta by Da Porto was born out of a
man's failed love, while Shakespeare's tragedy was born to torment
stupid teens while giving tears to Shakespeare Simps.
If you encounter this and experience symptoms such as cringe, brain damage and boredom, find more adaptations or read the novella.
(If symptoms persist, consult the Hungarian Musical Rómeó és Júlia.)