And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage.
– William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Prologue. The whole story of the hatred between the Capulets and Montagues, ended only by the deaths of two of their children, will be told on stage, the Chorus says. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to let the audience know the fate of the characters, before the characters are aware of it.