A Collection of Critical Essays . Shakespeare is a master storyteller. Scenes happen very quickly in this play, alternating from tragic to come, hurried to lazy, scenes between the lovers to scenes about those who unwittingly cause their downfall. The play ends on Thursday morning, when the Prince and the families find the dead bodies in the tomb. This condensed time makes the play highly dramatic.
Events are very rushed.
Things happen so fast that characters must make snap decisions. There is no time for explanations, and there are no second chances. Parallel critical difficulties in assessing the success of the play centre on the question of the source of the tragedy. In the resulting debate Shakespeare is seen as an innovator, seeking to link the apparently inimical demands of two sorts of tragedy. On the other hand, the tragedy is seen in broadly Aristotelian terms as originating in the characters of the two lovers.