A Comparative Study of Romeo and Juliet and The Butterfly Lovers

Abstract

Love is not only an important topic in life but also an eternal theme in literature. In China, The Butterfly Lovers is regarded as one of the most well-known four folklores. Romeo and Juliet is one of the typical classic works written by William Shakespeare, the world-renowned British playwright in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The author of this paper has found that although created in two distinct countries and with respective historical backgrounds with different means of expressing, the values and story spirit of these two great literary works with their own national characteristics share much in common. These two tragedies, with similar plots, have high praise for freedom of love and oppose to feudalism. It is discovered that both Romeo and Juliet and The Butterfly lovers have been exerting great influences upon British, Chinese and even the whole world’s literature.