It is well known that the source for Romeo and Juliet came not from William Shakespeare, but from an earlier work by Albert Brooke. What is the primary difference between Brooke's attitude towards his protagonists and that of Shakespeare?

The biggest difference is that Brooke used Romeo and Juliet as a sort of cautionary tale. He sought to use the poem (another key difference: Brooke's Romeo and Juliet was a long poem) as a way to illustrate what would happen when young people defied their parents and gave in to lust. Romeo and Juliet, according to Brooke, were guilty of "thralling themselves to unhonest desire" and "attempting all adventures of peril for th' attaining of their wicked lust." This, for Brooke, is why they died, and it is the basis of his tragic poem.
This element of irresponsible and reckless love is not completely absent from Shakespeare's tragedy, but his portrayal of the young couple is far more sympathetic. He makes it clear, for example, from the beginning of the play, that Romeo and Juliet were "star-cross'd": that is, they were the victims of fate, more so than the unrestrained and sinful love of youth. Their love was sincere and tender, and, if anything, they are more moral than their parents, whose bitter feud threatens to destroy the city of Verona along with their young love.
It should also be noted in response to this question that Brooke, himself, did not invent the story of Romeo and Juliet from whole cloth. He drew on a French translation of an old Italian story that essentially followed the same plot.
http://www.canadianshakespeares.ca/folio/Sources/romeusandjuliet.pdf


The difference between Brooke's attitude towards the protagonists and that of Shakespeare is that, while Brook condemned the young characters for their rebellious actions, Shakespeare uses those same actions to create sympathy for the young lovers. His point is that the nature of young love is unpredictable, impulsive, and yet natural.

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