Romeo and Juliet

A fight breaks out in Verona between the servants of the Capulet and Montague families. Benvolio of the Montague family tries to stop the fighting but Tybalt, a member of the Capulet family, arrives on the scene. Luckily, Prince Escalus stops it before anyone is hurt. He rules that if anyone is to create havoc on the streets of the city again, they will be punished by death.

Meanwhile, Romeo is suffering from a broken heart. He loves Rosaline but she is unwilling to return his affections. Benvolio is trying to comfort him when they come across a servant who needs help reading an invitation. The invitation is to a Capulet party that night. Benvolio convinces Romeo to go so he can see that there are many other pretty girls to love and he must not be so sad about this one.

That evening, the Montague boys attend the Capulet party, even though they were not invited. Tybalt recognizes Romeo and wants to fight with him but is stopped by Capulet who says Romeo is said to be a good, noble boy and can stay at the party.

At the party Romeo meets the love of his life and forgets Rosaline. For him and Juliet Capulet it is love at first sight. After the party Romeo can’t bear to leave Juliet behind and he sneaks into the Capulet garden and finds Juliet on her balcony. There they exchange love vows and plan a marriage for the next day. Their only problem is that the Capulet and Montague families are enemies so they must keep their love hidden!

The following morning, Romeo visited Friar Lawrence to plan the wedding and that afternoon the couple went to confession and the ceremony proceeded.

After the wedding Romeo left to find Tybalt, who is now his cousin by marriage. Tybalt had asked to have a sword fight with Romeo and Romeo declined. Mercutio, disgusted with Romeo said he would fight instead. Romeo tried to step between Tybalt and Mercutio but somehow Tybalt managed to fatally wound Mercutio who passed away. In revenge, Romeo killed Tybalt.

As punishment for Tybalt’s murder Romeo is banished from Verona. By some, this is considered a lighter punishment because Prince Escalus had previously ruled that the punishment for causing trouble would be death. Romeo is devastated though.

Romeo is devastated by Prince Escalus’s ruling and says he would rather die. Romeo goes to Friar Lawrence’s house to talk about his banishment where he tries to commit suicide. Friar stops him though and promises that he will find a way for Romeo to come back but Romeo must live in Mantua until he has a plan.

While Romeo and the Friar are talking Nurse comes and tell Romeo that Juliet is very upset. Friar tells Romeo he should spend the night with Juliet and go to Mantua in the morning. Romeo then goes to the Capulet house, sneaks into Juliet’s bedroom through the balcony window and they have a romantic wedding night together.

After Romeo has left, Capulet plans a wedding for Juliet to Paris. When he tells Juliet though, she becomes very angry and upset. Capulet is disappointed in Juliet’s reaction and tells her that if she doesn’t agree to marry then he will disown her.

After this traumatic fight Juliet runs to see Friar Lawrence to find a solution. Friar gives her a potion she can take that will make her appear dead for 48 hours, in which time her family will bring her to her tomb and Romeo will come get her when she awakens. That night, after reconciling with her family and agreeing to marry Paris, a day early, Wednesday, Juliet takes the potion.

The following morning, Nurse finds Juliet in her bed. Juliet appears to be dead and everyone is devastated. Friar comes and a funeral is planned immediately. Meanwhile, Balthasar goes to Mantua to inform Romeo of Juliet’s death.

When Romeo finds out from Balthasar that Juliet has died he turns to drastic measures. Romeo goes to apothecary who sells him poison even though it is not allowed. The apothecary is desperate for food and money. Romeo then rushes back to Verona and goes to Juliet’s tomb.

Friar John was supposed to deliver a letter to Romeo explaining Juliet’s situation but he gets stuck in quarantine. As soon as Friar Lawrence hears this he rushes to Juliet’s tomb for fear that she may awaken without Romeo there.

When Romeo arrives at the tomb he encounters Paris who is mourning for Juliet. The two men have a disagreement and fight to the death with Romeo as the winner. When Romeo sees Juliet he notices that she looks very alive but fails to see the truth and believes she is truly dead. Romeo then drinks the poison and falls, dead, next to Juliet.

Juliet awakens just as Romeo dies and Friar arrives. Juliet, seeing that Romeo is dead becomes upset herself. She tries to find a way to kill herself and tries to kiss the poison off of Romeo’s lips. Because that doesn’t work, Juliet uses a knife and stabs herself as a last resort. Friar is helpless to save her.

After Romeo and Juliet’s death the families congregate in the tomb. Friar explains everything that has happened and Capulet tells that Lady Capulet has died of grief. Prince Escalus recognize that the cause of all these deaths was the hate between the families and tells the families that they must reconcile. The families then realize their mistakes and begin to get along. The Capulet’s allow Romeo to rest in the Capulet tomb with Juliet and the Montague’s put up a monument for Juliet.

The End