“The sources of the legend about Romeo and Julia, as is known, are Italian; but Shakespeare mainly became acquainted with them through two English adaptations: from the prose account of William Paynter, which appeared in 1567, and, most importantly, from the story in verse by Arthur Brooke, published already in 1562. In Brooke’s poem, the poet found the story of Romeo and Julia not as simple raw material, but already highly processed; I found not only the main characters, but also almost all the side characters, all the most important motives and many minor ones, a plan for entire scenes, an idea for many particulars. What else was left for our poet to do and what did he add on his part to this material? And the fact that from an interesting, touching short story he created a fascinating, stunning tragedy, from a poem with a temporary meaning - a work of art of lasting value. I think that's enough. But how did he achieve such a result?..”