The two lovers in arguably Shakespeare's most popular work, Romeo and Juliet, express two different types of love, and their personalities are manifested in the way they love. The play, written by William Shakespeare in the 1590s, is a tragedy born from an old youth comedy. However, Shakespeare's diction impacts the mood of the play and empathy is evoked in the reader. As stated in the prologue, Romeo and Juliet is the story of two star-crossed lovers who put aside the tensions between their families, fall in love, and marry. After a twist of fate, Romeo is banished and Juliet is betrothed to another man by her father. Juliet decides to fake her death to remain faithful to her love, Romeo, but he does not receive the message of her project. He learns of her death, goes to her grave and poisons himself. Juliette, seeing him dead, commits suicide. The tragedy of the lovers eases the tensions between the two families. Although they both meet the same fate, suicide in the name of love, they personify two different styles of love which lead them to the iconic double suicide. Romeo Montague exemplifies the traits of a “lover of mania,” while Juliet Capulet is a “lover of ludus.” Romeo exhibits the qualities of a lover of mania in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In the first four scenes of Act I, Romeo, the male protagonist, is depressed and heartbroken because of Juliet Capulet's cousin, Rosaline. He said to his cousin Benvolio: “She is too beautiful, too wise, wisely too beautiful, / To deserve happiness by despairing myself. / She renounced love, and in this vow / Do I live dead to tell it now (Act I, Scene I, Lines 223-226). Here it is explained that Rosaline has wit and promised her love to God instead of Romeo. In other words,...... middle of paper ...... when Romeo is banished for the murder of Tybalt, the antagonist, and Capulet plans to marry Juliet in the County of Paris in two days , which brings the story to its climax. Ironically, the news brings Juliette to the brink of suicide. To avoid this, Brother Laurence develops an ingenious plan which gradually unravels. Romeo never receives the letter, leading to a spiral of bad luck. Paris is killed by Romeo, and after Romeo kills himself, Juliet sees him there and commits suicide. The dramatic irony of the entire plot is that Friar Laurence aimed to join the two loving families with the marriage of Romeo and Juliet, which he did, but only through their deaths. The two lovers, Romeo being a lover of mania and Juliet being a lover of ludus, also shared a tragic flaw: they believed more in love than in responsibility for their actions.