First, Shakespeare's tragedies included universal themes such as love, hate, jealousy, evil, life, and death-all of which were as relevant to the audience in Shakespeare's time as they are today. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is a timeless story of forbidden love. The young lovers at the center of the story are from families who had an ongoing conflict affecting the whole city that they lived in. The story has elements that everyone then and now can relate to. For example, many people have experienced love that was prohibited due to some form of difference, such as age, culture, race, or social class. Thus, many people can relate to the ache of forbidden love left unsatisfied because of the pressure to conform to someone else's expectations or standards. Another powerful element in Romeo and Juliet is exemplified when Romeo and Juliet themselves experience the mutual loss of the other through tragic misunderstandings and then death. The themes in Romeo and Juliet are so universal and powerful that the story has been made into a ballet and a movie, and has been adapted many times in book form due to its popularity among audiences.