In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the incredibly young age of the two lovers, Romeo and Juliet, plays a crucial role in the direction and outcome of the play. An essay by J. Karl Franson titled "Too soon marr'd" is my main source for this article, Franson writes about the number symbolism that Shakespeare uses throughout the play. Their age suggests that they are not responsible for the play's tragic ending. the show or circumstances in which they find themselves involved. Throughout the play, many references are given to suggest Romeo and Juliet's age. The theory I found to support this statement involves a symbolization of the numbers in reference to Juliet's age. According to this theory, throughout the play there are many factors that symbolize Juliet's young age, such as the number of letters in her full name, the number of times Romeo calls her name, and the number of sonnets spoken between Romeo and Juliet. Some other uses of structural numerology include the number of guests invited to Capulet's party and the timeline between Romeo and Juliet. Although Romeo and Juliet was set during the Elizabethan period, there are many distinct parts that historians do not deem accurate. . Like the idea that Elizabethan couples married so young, like in Romeo and Juliet. In contrast, most Elizabethan women married between the ages of 25 and 26, and men between the ages of 27 and 29. This is the oldest average age of marriage among all known societies (Franson, p. 2). In fact, the Elizabethans believed that marrying at a young age and having sexual relations with your husband caused permanent damage to your health. For the young man, getting married and having sex would lead to a deterioration of physical and mental development and together the young married couple would have sickly children. (Franson pl) The earliest accepted age to become a mother was 18, and the ideal age to marry for women was 20 and for men was 30. One historian has said that Shakespeare wrote this play about young lovers to show the dangers of marriage at such a young age, and it has also been suggested that this stemmed from his first marriage at 18, which was unsuccessful (Franson p. 112). Since Shakespeare obviously knew the socially accepted norm for men and women to marry, and still made Romeo and Juliet extremely young, he suggests in the play that there will be some tragic outcome to the actions of the young lovers..