Explain the importance of Act 1 Scene 5 in Romeo and Juliet and how what we learn prepares us for events later in the play Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare in 1594 The prologue to the play is in the form of a fourteen line sonnet it describes two noble households in the city of Verona The houses hold an ancient grudge against each other that remains a source of violent and bloody conflict It then goes on to states that from these two houses two star crossed lovers will appear