Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a classic work of Shakespeare. It serves as a historical example of controversial love with a tragic ending rooted in the anguish the lovers feel at one another's loss. Juliet may have been around 14, putting her well below the age of consent in most modern ('Western') jurisdictions. The term Romeo and Juliet exemption is used in law sometimes to refer to exemptions to statutory rape prosecution based on closeness in age between 'victim' and 'perpetrator'. Such exemptions do not apply in all jurisdictions by any means.