Scene: Verona, Italy in the late 1500s.
Two families - the
and the
- have been feuding for years.
Juliet's father throws a party, and Romeo goes along to get a look at
; a young girl he has been chasing. He
himself and slips into the party - but his attention is stolen by
. Romeo falls in
with her at first sight.
Juliet notices Romeo too, but when she finds out that Romeo is a Montague, she goes out onto her
to tell the stars about her feelings. Romeo, who is hiding in the
below, hears her. Romeo speaks to her and admits that he feels the
way. Next day, with the help of Friar
, Romeo and Juliet are secretly
.
Act 3 Scene 1:
On the wedding day , two of Romeo's friends, Benvolio and
, are confronted by Juliet's cousin,
, who is angry with Romeo for gate-crashing the party. Romeo shows up, but does not want to fight Tybalt because he no longer holds a
against Juliet's family.
Mercutio can't understand why Romeo won't stand up for himself, so he steps in to do it for him. A
with Tybalt follows, and Mercutio is killed. To avenge his death, Romeo
Tybalt, an act for which the Prince of Verona
Romeo.
A dangerous plan:
He is forced to leave Juliet, who is devastated by the
of her love.
Juliet's father, not knowing of his daughter's marriage, decides that she should marry
. Juliet asks Friar Lawrence what to do. He tells her to drink a
which will make it look as though she is dead. She will be put into the Capulet
vault, and then Friar Lawrence will send Romeo to
her.
A disastrous outcome:
Juliet does as the Friar says and is put into the vault, but before the Friar can tell Romeo of the
, Romeo hears from someone else that Juliet is dead. Overcome with grief, Romeo buys a
and goes to Juliet's tomb, drinks the poison and dies next to his sleeping wife. Just then, Juliet
to see Romeo's
body. With no reason left to live, Juliet kills herself with Romeo's
.
After this tragedy, the Montagues and the Capulets agree to never
again.