Shoutbox

For such a short essay, I would have taken one or two points and elaborate more as opposed to picking a few and not going into depth.  There is a lot of "meat" in Shakespeare plays and especially Romeo and Juliet.  For example, regarding the conflicts between the families, one angle you could take is to examine the political or racial conflicts over history or research couples in history that got married despite the taboos of society.

You could also research the topic of "mercy killing" in different societies as related to the deaths in Romeo and Juliet.

And something quite modern that you may want to look at is the subject of marriage due to physical attraction as opposed to similar values and cultures...what you might want to compare is Romeo and Juliet's marriage in comparison to "Hollywood marriages" which appear to be based on physical attraction where the couples live happily ever after as opposed to the reality of the high divorce rate.

Someone continued this thread which turns out to be an essay from may years ago!, but this is just some food for thought for anyone writing the subject in the future.