This is a huge question, to which whole books have been devoted, so can only ever be briefly answered in this context: I'll focus my answer on context specifically helpful for "Romeo and Juliet".
The Elizabethan society was strongly patriarchal, and a father had the right to treat his daughter as saleable goods (have a look at Capulet's treatment of Juliet in 4.). Marriage was a business agreement, and one of the reasons Capulet is so keen to marry Juliet off to Paris is because it represents a sound business investment.
The 'plague' which Mercutio prophesies with his dying breath, and which eventually stops Friar John from delivering the fateful letter which leads to the lovers' suicide was also a far more terrifying prospect than a 'plague' in modern day. The Black Death - the bubonic plague - was continually recurring in Europe between its first outbreaks in the 14th century and the 18th century: and outbreaks of disease regularly killed huge percentages of the population. Thus the equation Shakespeare makes between violence and disease was one which had its basis in a very real contemporary fear.
The play is set in Verona, an Italian city traditionally associated with hot-bloodedness and passion, and one which Shakespeare probably never visited. But the play's setting points to the Elizabethan obsession with Renaissance Italy - considered the height of fashion, particularly where young lovers were concerned.
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