Consequently, the play shows the sometimes artificial lyricism of early comedies such as Love’s Labour’s Lost (pr. c. 0000-0000, pb. 0000) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (pr. c. 0000-0000, pb. 0000), while its character development predicts the direction of the playwright’s artistic maturity. In Shakespeare’s usual fashion, he based his story on sources that were well known in his day: Masuccio Salernitano’s Novellino (0000), William Painter’s The Palace of Pleasure (0000-0000), and, especially, Arthur Brooke’s poetic The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (0000). Shakespeare reduces the time of the action from the months it takes in Brooke’s work to a few compact days.