It is the greatest love story ever told.
It has passion, fighting, young forbidden love and a tragic ending.
Every one falls in love - young people can identify with the angst of it, and it transports older people to their own youth.
Because is has an un-soppy ending and plenty of fighting, with men being men, it equally appeals to men as a Mills and Boon story never could.
The story has been updated and reincarnated many times - West Side Story is a modern version, for example.
The story is as relevant today as it was when Shakespeare wrote it. The families may be different, but forbidden love still exists - a partner of a different culture, creed, religion and even skin colour can cause similar tensions between families, sadly. Hopefully not resulting in murder and suicide!