How similar Beren and Lúthien are to Romeo and Juliet?

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

I have never read Romeo and Juliet before and know Beren and Lúthien briefly...I ask this of those who are familiar with both ...do these couples have anything in common beside their love being forbidden?

 

[Áramandë Amaniel]

I have never read Romeo and Juliet before and know Beren and Lúthien briefly...I ask this of those who are familiar with both ...do these couples have anything in common beside their love being forbidden?

Lúthien was prevented from leaving Doriath, but left anyways; Romeo or Juliet (can't remember which one, or maybe it was both?) was threatened with exile from Verona. I think that's another difference.

But Beren and Lúthien arguably have a sweeter ending than Romeo and Juliet.

 

[Uminya]

There are not really any similarities between them. The antagonism between the Capulets and Montagues is not really analogous to the unfamiliarity between Beren's folk and Thingol. Neither Beren nor Luthien was a child, either; a great deal of the point of R&J is that they are impulsive youths who are driven to destruction because of the unflinching animosity between their families.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Thank you both for the information @𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞̈ and @Uminya!
In my own opinion they were much more similar to Leili and Majnoon.
Leili was also prevented from marrying Majnoon by her father and was married off to an Iraqi wealthy family
The other thing that I think they have in common is after Leili died because of an illness, Majnoon also passed away from grief like Lúthien.

 

[Eljorahir]

When I first read The Silmarillion I thought the demise of Turin and Nienor bore a strong resemblance to the demise of Romeo and Juliet, but I never thought Romeo and Juliet resembled Beren and Luthien.

 

[d4rk3lf]

When I first read The Silmarillion I thought the demise of Turin and Nienor bore a strong resemblance to the demise of Romeo and Juliet, but I never thought Romeo and Juliet resembled Beren and Luthien.

Exactly!
The main difference between both pairs are how they view their life.
Desperation is an dangerous feeling as we seen in both Romeo and Juliet, and in Turin and Nienor.... I hope modern literacy will forgive me when I say that Nienor last cry, when she said something like "Oh, what a joy is to die", and thrown herself in to the water, have made me very emotional, and my eyes kept bringing some water.
While I read Romeo and Juliet.. yeah, I was sad, but not nearly emotionally involved as with Turin and Nienor.

On the other side... Beren and Luthien.. sure they had many troubles, but they never got in a mood of total desperation.. so not comparable to above pairs... and, from what I am concerned.. they were rewarded... they had an happy end.