It is unknown when exactly Shakespeare wrote '' Romeo and Juliet '' . Juliet 's nurse refers to an earthquake she says occurred 11 years ago . This may refer to the Dover Straits earthquake of 1580 , which would date that particular line to 1591 . Other earthquakes — both in England and in Verona — have been proposed in support of the different dates . But the play 's stylistic similarities with '' A Midsummer Night 's Dream '' and other plays conventionally dated around 1594 – 95 , place its composition sometime between 1591 and 1595 . One conjecture is that Shakespeare may have begun a draft in 1591 , which he completed in 1595
Dover Straits earthquake of 1580
1580 Dover Straits earthquake
Romeo and Juliet