Romeo and Juliet and Criseyde". There was a trend among writers and playwrights to publish works based on Italian "novelles"—Italian tales were very popular among theatre-goers—and Shakespeare may well have been familiar with William Painter's 1567 collection of Italian tales titled "Palace of Pleasure". This collection included a version in prose of the "Romeo and Juliet" story named ""The goodly History of the true and constant love of Romeo and Juliett"". Shakespeare took advantage of this popularity: "The Merchant of Venice", "Much Ado About Nothing", "All's Well That Ends Well", "Measure for Measure", and "Romeo and Juliet" are all from Italian "novelle". "Romeo
Romeo and Juliet Persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the ball at the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline. However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet. Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, is enraged at Romeo for sneaking into the ball but is only stopped from killing Romeo by Juliet's father, who does not wish to shed blood in his house. After the ball, in what is now called the "balcony scene", Romeo sneaks into the Capulet orchard and overhears Juliet at her window vowing her love to him in spite of her family's hatred of the Montagues. Romeo makes himself