Scene summary
The Chorus presents two families of equal nobility in Verona, whose old enmity once again stains the hands of the citizens with blood. From these houses is born a pair of star-crossed lovers, and their death will end the discord of their parents. The play promises two hours on stage to tell this.
Analysis
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
(Prologue)
The Chorus gives away the ending before the action begins, so that the audience follows the how, not the what. It gives the cause in the same gesture: only the children's death would remove the parents' feud. The word "star" puts fate in the sky, but the rest of the Prologue puts the cause in an "ancient grudge" between the families, and the two explanations stand side by side, without the Chorus choosing between them.