A comparison between Juliet Capulet of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Heer- Izzat Bibi of Waris Shah’s Heer Ranjha is studied in this paper. Juliet is from sixteenth century of Elizabethan England while Heer emerges from entirely different cultural traditions of Punjabi Sufi Folk-tale epic of eighteenth century. Both Heer and Juliet hold key positions in the literary inspirations of their respective societies as icons of romantic love and tragic fate. This paper explores portrayal, intervention, societal and familial constraints, expressions of love, familial constraints, expressions of love, gendered exemplification, cultural significances and the role of honour and destiny. Through textual analysis sustained by secondary knowledge, this study tries to show that although sharing the same thematic factors like family feud, forbidden love and tragic end, they do differ considerably in their story-line, socio-cultural context, religious background and gender beliefs.
Pralay Kant (Mon,) studied this question.