As a prologue to the play, the Chorus enters. In a fourteen-line sonnet, the Chorus describes two noble households (called "houses") in the city of Verona. The houses hold an "ancient grudge" (Prologue.2) against each other that remains a source of violent and bloody conflict. The Chorus states that from these two houses, two "star-crossed" lovers will appear (Prologue.6). These lovers will mend the quarrel between their families by dying. The story of these two lovers, and of the terrible strife between their families, will be the topic of this play.
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