THE PLOT

An ancient feud between two noble families, the Montagues and the Capulets, is tearing the city of Verona apart. The households regularly fght each other in the streets!

At the start of the play, yet another brawl breaks out, and Prince Escalus declares any more public fghting between the two families will be punishable by death.

Meanwhile, Romeo, the young son of the Montagues, is lovesick over a girl named Rosaline. His cousin, Benvolio, and friend, Mercutio, persuade him to crash a masked ball thrown by the Capulets, to distract him from being sad.

We soon learn that Lord Capulet is arranging a marriage between his young daughter, Juliet, and the County Paris, a young nobleman. It is planned for them to meet at the Ball, and Juliet is encouraged by her close friend the Nurse, and her Mother Lady Capulet, to meet Paris.

However, the matchmaking attempt is foiled when Romeo, who is wearing a disguise, falls instantly in love with Juliet! Romeo comes in secret to Juliet’s garden later that night, and they vow to marry.

The next morning, Romeo goes to Friar Lawrence, a priest and close mentor, who warns him about moving so fast – however, Friar Lawrence also sees the young lovers as an opportunity to heal the rift between Montagues and Capulets, and agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet in secret.

The day after the marriage, Tybalt confronts Romeo on the street, as he is furious about Romeo crashing the Capulet Ball. The newlywed Romeo refuses to fght his wife’s cousin, and Mercutio thinks Romeo is being a coward. Mercutio fghts Tybalt who kills Mercutio. After his friend is murdered, Romeo re-enters and kills Tybalt.

Juliet is devastated when she learns that Romeo, her new husband, has killed her cousin, but she lets him visit her room before he leaves. He sneaks out the window the next morning, and Juliet’s parents and her Nurse come to her with the news that she is to marry Paris.

Juliet refuses and goes to Friar Lawrence for help. He concocts an elaborate plan to reunite the newlyweds: He’ll give Juliet a drug that makes her seem as if she’s dead, when in fact she’ll just be asleep. Friar Lawrence says he will send a message to Romeo to come and fnd her.

Juliet takes the drug, and her family believes she is dead. The message that Friar Lawrence attempts to send to Romeo alerting him of the plan is never delivered, and Romeo thinks Juliet is dead, too.

After meeting with an apothecary (a pharmacist) who gives him a deadly poison, Romeo rushes to Juliet’s tomb where he fnds Paris there mourning her and fghts with him. Paris is killed. Romeo then goes to be with Juliet, drinks the poison, and dies.

Friar Lawrence arrives at the tomb to care for Juliet as she awakes, only to fnd her discovering Romeo lying next to her dead. He tries to convince Juliet to leave, but she refuses and he fees at the sound of approaching footsteps. Left alone, Juliet stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger. In the wake of these horrors, the Montagues and Capulets are compelled to make a tragic peace.