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It is important to remember that Shakespeare was a professional playwright who made his living writing plays, and that the whole plot of Romeo and Juliet had been written long before Shakespeare turned his hand to it. He chose this particular story to turn into a play which he wrote and sold to a playing company (or rather gave to the Lord Chamberlain's Men, a playing company he had a share in).

Some speculations as to why he may have chosen this story to dramatize include the possibility that because Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of romance and both the protagonists die by the time the curtain falls for the last time, Shakespeare might have written this drama to caution all youngsters prone to fall in love at the flicker of a smile that sometimes the lovers may have to pay for their love with their lives. (Although many of his plays have the opposite message) Another plausible reason might be that his marriage with Anne Hathaway, who was senior to him in age, was unhappy. This may have turned him into a person who simply didn't tolerate happy chirping lovers (Although that wouldn't explain all the plays he wrote at the same timewhere happy chirping lovers get happily married). He may have liked the story because it was a little experimental: it was a mix of a tragedy and a romance.

Bottom Line: It was his job. He was a playwright. The story of Romeo and Juliet was available and nobody had made it into a play recently, so he did. It's exactly the same reason that the guy wrote the screenplay for Terminator II.
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10y ago

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