Romeo & Juliet

About this Novel

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare's most famous tragedy and one of the world's most enduring
love stories, derives its plot from several sixteenth century sources. Shakespeare's primary
inspiration for the play was Arthur Brooke's Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562), a
long and dense poem. Brooke's poem, in turn, was based on a French prose version written
by Pierre Boiastuau (1559), which was derived from an Italian version written by Bandello in
1554. Bandello's poem, meanwhile, was an interpretation of Luigi da Porto's 1525 version of
a story by Masuccio Salernitano (1476).

The plot of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet remains mostly true to Brooke's poem, though
Shakespeare exercised artistic license in several instances. For example, as he often does,
Shakespeare telescopes the events from Brooke's poem (which took place over 90 days) into
a few days in the play. Additionally, Shakespeare's Juliet is thirteen, while Brooke wrote her
as sixteen. The time compression and the younger Juliet enhance the youthful nature of the
central relationship, emphasizing its passion and newness.

One of the most powerful aspects of Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare's use of language. The
characters curse, vow oaths, banish each other, and, in general, demonstrate great verbal
dexterity through an overuse of action verbs. In addition, the play is saturated with
oxymorons, puns, paradoxes, and double entendres. Shakespeare even calls the use of
names into question, most famously in Juliet's balcony soliloquy. Shakespeare also executed
a rather strong shift in the language spoken by both Romeo and Juliet after they fall in love.
Whereas Romeo is hopelessly normal in his courtship before meeting Juliet, after he falls in
love, his language becomes infinitely richer and stronger.

Romeo and Juliet also deals with the issue of authoritarian law and order. Many of
Shakespeare's plays feature characters that represent the unalterable force of the law, such as
the Duke in The Comedy of Errors and Prince Escalus in Romeo and Juliet. In this play, the
law attempts to stop the civil disorder, and even banishes Romeo at the midpoint. However,
as in The Comedy of Errors, the law is eventually overpowered by the forces of love.

There are several different sources that inform the contemporary text of Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet was first published in quarto in 1597, and republished in a new edition
only two years later. The second copy was used to created yet a third quarto in 1609, from
which both the 1623 Quarto and First Folio are derived. The first quarto is generally
considered a bad quarto, or an illicit copy created from the recollections of several actors
rather than from the writer's original material. The second quarto seems to be taken from
Shakespeare's rough draft, and thus has some inconsistent speech and some lines which
Shakespeare apparently meant to eliminate. Please see the "About Shakespearian Theater"
section of this note for more guidance as to these concepts.

Romeo and Juliet was popular during Shakespeare's time, but over the centuries it has
become nothing short of omnipresent. It is arguably the most-filmed play of all time, and has
been adapted 4 times to date - first by George Cukor in 1936, then by Franco Zeffirelli in
1968, Baz Luhrmann in 1996, and most recently, by Carlo Carlei in 2013. John Madden's
Academy-Award winning film Shakespeare in Love is a fictional account of Shakespeare's life
while writing the play. It was the basis for Prokofiev's famous ballet, and has inspired
numerous Operas, pop and jazz songs, books, games, and musicals.

Short Summary
Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, Italy, where there is an ongoing feud between the
Montague and Capulet families. The play opens with servants from both houses engaged in a
street brawl that eventually draws in the family patriarchs and the city officials, including
Prince Escalus. The Prince ends the conflict by issuing a decree that prohibits any further
fighting at the risk of great punishment.

Meanwhile, Romeo, a young man from the Montague house, laments his unrequited love for
a woman named Rosaline, who has vowed to remain chaste for the rest of her life. Romeo
and his friend Benvolio happen to stumble across a Capulet servant, Peter, who is trying to
read a list of invitees to a masked party at the Capulet house that evening. Romeo helps Peter
read the list and decides to attend the party because Rosaline will be there. He plans to wear
a mask so that he will nobody will recognize him as a Montague.

Romeo arrives at the Capulets' party in costume. He falls in love with young Juliet Capulet
from the moment he sees her. However, Juliet's cousin Tybalt recognizes Romeo and wants to
kill him on the spot. Lord Capulet intervenes, insisting that Tybalt not disturb the party
because it will anger the Prince. Undeterred, Romeo quietly approaches Juliet and confesses
his love for her. After exchanging loving words, they kiss.
Afterwards, Juliet's Nurse tells Romeo that Juliet is a Capulet, which upsets the smitten
youngster. Meanwhile, Juliet is similarly distraught when she finds out that Romeo is a
Montague. Later that night, Romeo climbs the garden wall into Juliet's garden. Juliet emerges
on her balcony and speaks her private thoughts out loud. She wishes Romeo could shed his
name and marry her. Upon hearing her confession, Romeo appears and tells Juliet that he
loves her. She warns him to be true in his love, and he swears by his own self that he will be.
Before they part, they agree that Juliet will send her Nurse to meet Romeo at nine o'clock the
next day, at which point he will set a place for them to be married.

The Nurse carries out her duty, and tells Juliet to meet Romeo at the chapel where Friar
Laurence lives and works. Juliet meets Romeo there, and the Friar marries them in secret.

Benvolio and Mercutio (another one of Romeo's friends) are waiting on the street later that
day when Tybalt arrives. Tybalt demands to know where Romeo is so that he can challenge
him to a duel, in order to punish him for sneaking into the party. Mercutio is eloquently
vague, but Romeo happens to arrive in the middle of the verbal sparring. Tybalt challenges
him, but Romeo passively resists fighting, at which point Mercutio jumps in and draws his
sword on Tybalt. Romeo tries to block the two men, but Tybalt cuts Mercutio and runs away,
only to return after he hears that Mercutio has died. Angry over his friend's death, Romeo
fights with Tybalt and kills him. Then, he decides to flee. When Prince Escalus arrives at the
murder scene, he banishes Romeo from Verona forever.

The Nurse tells Juliet the sad news about what has happened to Tybalt and Romeo. Juliet is
heart-broken, but she realizes that Romeo would have been killed if he had not fought Tybalt.
She sends her Nurse to find Romeo and give him her ring.

That night, Romeo sneaks into Juliet's room, and they consummate their marriage. The next
morning, he is forced to leave when Juliet's mother arrives. Romeo travels to Mantua, where
he waits for someone to send news about Juliet or his banishment.
During Romeo and Juliet's only night together, however, Lord Capulet decides that Juliet
should marry a young man named Paris, who has been asking for her hand. Lord and Lady
Capulet tell Juliet of their plan, but she refuses, infuriating her father. When both Lady
Capulet and the Nurse refuse to intercede for the girl, she insists that they leave her side.
Juliet then visits Friar Laurence, and together they concoct a plan to reunite her with Romeo.
The Friar gives Juliet a potion that will make her seem dead for at least two days, during
which time Romeo will come to meet her in the Capulet vault. The Friar promises to send
word of the plan to Romeo.

Juliet drinks the Friar's potion that night. The next morning, the day of Juliet and Paris'
wedding, her Nurse finds her "dead" in bed. The whole house decries her suicide, and Friar
Laurence insists they quickly place her into the family vault.

Unfortunately, Friar John has been unable to deliver the letter to Romeo informing him of the
plan, so when Romeo's servant brings him news in Mantua that Juliet has died, Romeo is
heart-broken. He hurries back to Verona, but first, buys poison from an Apothecary and
writes a suicide note detailing the tragic course of events. As soon as Friar Laurence realizes
that his letter never made it to Romeo's hands, he rushes to the Capulet tomb, hoping to
arrive before Romeo does.

Romeo arrives at the Capulet vault and finds it guarded by Paris, who is there to mourn the
loss of his betrothed. Paris challenges Romeo to a duel, and Romeo kills him quickly. Romeo
then carries Paris' body into the grave and sets it down. Upon seeing Juliet's "dead" body
lying in the tomb, Romeo drinks the poison, gives her a last kiss - and dies.

Friar Laurence arrives to the vault just as Juliet wakes up. He tries to convince her to flee, but
upon seeing Romeo's dead body, she takes her own life as well.

The rest of the town starts to arrive at the tomb, including Lord Capulet and Lord Montague.
Friar Laurence explains the whole story, and Romeo's letter confirms it. The two families
agree to settle their feud and form an alliance despite the tragic circumstances.

Character List
Romeo
Sixteen-year-old Romeo Montague falls in love with Juliet Capulet at a masquerade, thus
igniting their tragic affair. Romeo is defined by a self-indulgent melancholy at the beginning
of the play, but later becomes a much more active and committed character, which is clear
when he kills Tybalt. Romeo's final act of passion is when, believing his beloved Juliet is
dead, he takes his own life. Throughout the play, Romeo embraces an idealistic view of love,
which explains why he falls for Juliet so quickly and passionately.

Lord Montague
Romeo's father and a mortal enemy of the Capulets.

Lady Montague
Romeo's mother, who dies from a broken heart after Romeo is banished from Verona.

Benvolio
Romeo's cousin, and a staunch pacifist.
Abram
A Montague servingman involved in the street brawl in 1.1.

Balthasar
Romeo's servant, who is involved in the street fight of 1.1, and later assists Romeo in the final
Act.

Friar Laurence
A older man and a friend to Romeo. He officiates the wedding of Romeo and Juliet, hoping
to gain political peace through the union. When that doesn't work out, he concocts the plan
to reunite the star-crossed lovers by giving Juliet a sleeping potion - but the plan backfires.

Juliet
Juliet Capulet is a thirteen-year-old girl who falls in love with Romeo Montague. She has a
strong will and a rebellious streak - she knows what she wants. Defined by a shrewd
intelligence and pronounced agency, Juliet is in many ways a more masculine character than
Romeo is, even if the patriarchy of her family limits her power. Her final decision to kill
herself speaks to her pronounced focus and commitment.

Lord Capulet
Juliet's father and a temperamental bully who initially pretends to consider his daughter's
welfare while arranging her marriage, but later demands her quick union with Count Paris.
Her father's pressure is a catalyst in the final sequence of events that ends in Juliet's suicide.

Lady Capulet
Juliet's mother is submissive to her husband, and refuses to intercede for Juliet when their
daughter expresses concern over the arranged marriage to Count Paris.

Tybalt
Juliet's hot-headed cousin, whose penchant for violence leads to the Act III street fight -
ending in his own death as well as Mercutio’s.

Pertruccio
Tybalt's page

Nurse
Juliet's nurse is ostensibly the young girl's confidante, but also harbors a certain amount of
resentment that makes her useless when it comes to saving the girl. Nurse often makes
trouble for Juliet by refusing to give her information quickly, and later turns into a traitor by
arguing Juliet should marry Paris, even though she knows about her secret marriage to
Romeo.

Peter
A Capulet servingman who serves as great comic relief in Act I when he is unable to read the
list of invitees to the Capulet ball.

Sampson
A Capulet servingman who is involved in the street brawl in 1.1.

Gregory
A Capulet servingman who is involved in the street brawl in 1.1.
Prince Escalus
The ruler of Verona who provides for and represents law and order in the city. He frequently
attempts to cede the violence between the Montagues and Capulets, but he finds himself
powerless against true love.

Mercutio
Romeo's friend, a kinsman of the Prince, and one of the play's most colorful characters. In
the early Acts, Mercutio displays a pronounced wit and colorful language. However, by Act
III, as he lies dying after the street fight, he delivers a damning speech on the feuding houses.
Mercutio's death marks the play's turn into tragedy.

Paris
Count Paris is Juliet's suitor - Lord Capulet supports the union but Juliet despises him. Though
never as insidious as Lord Capulet, Paris behaves arrogantly once the marriage date is set. He
confronts Romeo in Act V, which leads to the Count's death in battle.

Apothecary
Shakespeare describes the apothecary of Mantua as a skeleton - so he appears to personify
Death itself. A poor man, he is easily convinced to sell Romeo the poison that he uses to kill
himself.

Citizens of the Watch

These unspeaking characters often arrive at the scene of a street brawl, representing the
forces of law and order that combat the disorder wrought by the family feud.

Major Themes
Love
Though Romeo and Juliet is arguably the most archetypal love story in the English language,
it portrays only a very specific type of love: young, irrational, passionate love. In the play,
Shakespeare ultimately suggests that the kind of love that Romeo and Juliet feel leads lovers
to enact a selfish isolation from the world around them. Romeo and Juliet eschew their
commitments to anyone else, choosing to act selflessly only towards one another. Sexuality
does pervade the play, both through bawdy jokes and in the way that Romeo and Juliet
anticipate consummating their marriage, but it does not define their love. Instead, their
youthful lust is one of many reasons why their relationship grows so intense so quickly.
Throughout the play, Shakespeare only describes Romeo and Juliet's love as a short-term
burst of youthful passion. In most of his work, Shakespeare was more interested in exploring
the sparks of infatuation than long-term commitment. Considering that no other relationships
in the play are as pure as that between Romeo and Juliet, though, it is easy to see that
Shakespeare respects the power of such a youthful, passionate love but also laments the
transience of it.

Death
In Romeo and Juliet, death is everywhere. Even before the play shifts in tone after Mercutio's
death, Shakespeare makes several references to death being Juliet's bridegroom. The threat of
violence that pervades the first acts manifests itself in the latter half of the play, when key
characters die and the titular lovers approach their terrible end. There are several ways in
which the characters in Romeo and Juliet consider death. Romeo attempts suicide in Act III as
an act of cowardice, but when he seeks out the Apothecary in Act V, it is a sign of strength
and solidarity. The Chorus establishes the story's tragic end at the beginning of the play,
which colors the audience's experience from the start - we know that this youthful, innocent
love will end in tragedy. The structure of the play as a tragedy from the beginning makes
Romeo and Juliet's love even more heartbreaking because the audience is aware of their
impending deaths. The journey of the play is the cycle from love to death - and that is what
makes Romeo and Julie so lasting and powerful.

Age
Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare establishes the ideological divide that often
separates youths from adults. The characters in the play can all be categorized as either
young, passionate characters or older, more functional characters. The youthful characters are
almost exclusively defined by their energy and impulsiveness – like Romeo, Juliet, Mercutio,
and Tybalt. Meanwhile, the older characters all view the world in terms of politics and
expediency. The Capulet and Montague patriarchs are certainly feisty competitors, but think
in terms of victory as a concept, ignoring the potential emotional toll of their feud. Friar
Laurence, who ostensibly represents Romeo and Juliet's interests, sees their union in terms of
its political outcome, while the young lovers are only concerned with satisfying their rapidly
beating hearts. While Shakespeare does not posit a moral to the divide between young and
old, it appears throughout the play, suggesting that the cynicism that comes with age is one of
the many reasons that humans inevitably breed strife amongst themselves. It also implicitly
provides a reason for young lovers to seek to separate themselves from an 'adult' world of
political violence and bartering.

Identity
Romeo and Juliet suggests that individuals are often hamstrung by the identities forced upon
them from outside. Most notably, this theme is manifest in Juliet's balcony soliloquy, in which
she asks, "Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" (2.1.75). The central obstacle of
the play is that the two passionate lovers are separated by a feud based on their family
names. The fact that their love has little to do with their given identities means nothing to the
world around them, and so they must choose to eschew those identities while they are
together. Unfortunately, this act of rejection also means Romeo and Juliet must ignore the
world outside their comfortable cocoon, and, as a result, the violent forces ultimately crash
down upon them. A strong sense of identity can certainly be a boon in life, but in this play, it
only forces separation between the characters. Even Mercutio, who is not actually a
Montague, is killed for his association with that family. The liveliest characters in Romeo and
Juliet die not because of who they are, but because of the labels that the outside world has
foisted upon them.

Gender
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare upends certain gender expectations while simultaneously
reminding his audience that these defined roles do exist. Romeo arguably displays feminine
characteristics, at least as defined by his peers. He ignores all calls to action, and has little
use for the aggression that most males around him exhibit. His pensive nature is cause for his
friends' mockery. Even after he falls in love, Romeo is far less prone to action than Juliet, who
in fact shows a tendency towards efficient maneuvering that is otherwise exhibited by male
characters in the play. She makes quick decisions, like her idea that she and Romeo should
wed, and is not easily discouraged by bad news. In these two protagonists, Shakespeare is
certainly reversing what his Elizabethan audience would have expected, as he frequently did
with his heroines. However, the pressures on Juliet to get married – especially from Lord
Capulet, who is interested only in a good match and uninterested in love – remind the
audience that such atypical strength in a woman can be threatening to a patriarchal society.
Juliet's individualism is quickly quashed by her father's insistence on a marriage to Paris, and
though she ultimately outwits him, his demands are a reminder that the world of Romeo and
Juliet did not value reversals of gender roles as much as the audience might have.

Revenge
Romeo and Juliet suggests that the desire for revenge is both a natural and a devastating
human quality. From the moment that the play spirals towards disaster in Act III, most of the
terrible events are initiated by revenge. Tybalt seeks out Romeo and kills Mercutio from a
half-cooked desire for revenge over Romeo's attendance at the masquerade ball, and Romeo
kills Tybalt to avenge Mercutio. Romeo's desire for revenge is so overpowering that he does
not pause to think about how his attack on Tybalt will compromise his recent marriage to
Juliet. Of course, the basic set-up of the play is contingent on a long-standing feud between
the Montagues and Capulets, the cause of which no longer matters. All that matters is that
these families have continued to avenge forgotten slights for generations. Though Shakespare
rarely, if ever, moralizes, Romeo and Juliet certainly presents revenge as a senseless action
that always causes more harm than good.

Marriage
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare does not paint an attractive picture of the institution of
marriage. The only positive portrayal of matrimony – between the titular lovers – can only be
conducted in secret, and even Friar Laurence slightly disapproves because Romeo and Juliet
have decided to wed so quickly. Shakespeare seems to be suggesting that marriage based on
pure love does not belong in a world that abuses the sacred union. The manner in which
Lord Capulet insists upon Juliet's marriage to Paris suggests both the way he views his
daughter as object and the way in which marriage can serve as a weapon against a rebellious
young woman. Even the religious figure, Friar Laurence, sees marriage as political; he marries
Romeo and Juliet to gain the political power end the feud between their families, and not
because he necessarily approves of their love. Ultimately, the central marriage in Romeo and
Juliet ends in death, showing that this kind of passionate, irrational union cannot exist in a
world fueled by hate and revenge.

Quotes and Analysis

CHORUS
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Prologue.1-14
Romeo and Juliet begins with a Chorus, which establishes the plot and tone of the play. This
device was hardly new to Shakespeare, and in fact echoes the structure of Arthur Brooke's
The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, the poem that served as Shakespeare's inspiration.
However, the Chorus also introduces a number of contradictions that resonate throughout the
rest of the play. The Chorus speaks in a sonnet, a very structured form of poetry that implies
order. However, the content of the sonnet – two families are unable to control themselves,
and hence bringing disaster to themselves – suggests incredible disorder. This systematic
dissolution is central to the play. It is typical for a tragedy to begin with a Chorus, and
certainly, the dire circumstances of this opening address reinforce that trope. However,
Shakespeare never clearly addresses the question of whether or not Romeo and Juliet is a
classical tragedy - which is defined as a tragedy of Fate. By introducing a foreboding tone but
refusing to lay the blame at the universe’s feet, the Chorus also introduces Shakespeare's
unique approach to tragedy.

ROMEO
To JULIET If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
JULIET
Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.
ROMEO
Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
JULIET
Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
ROMEO
O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
JULIET
Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.
ROMEO
Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.
Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.
JULIET
Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
ROMEO
Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!
Give me my sin again.
JULIET
You kiss by the book.

1.5.91-108
This exchange, Romeo and Juliet's first, is suitably passionate while also introducing the idea
that their relationship transcends traditional religious expectation. The lovers speak in a
sonnet that invokes the images of saints and pilgrims. Shakespeare's choice to use a sonnet –
a highly structured form – suggests that their love represents order. The sonnet refers to the
fact that Romeo’s name translates to ‘pilgrim’ in Italian, but it is more significant for its
sacrilegious use of the imagery. Romeo and Juliet use religious images in a sexualized
manner, which would most certainly have been considered sacrilegious. This conveys to the
audience that the love between Romeo and Juliet exists despite the complications in the
world around them. Therefore, as the sonnet implies, the only way for them to pursue their
feelings is to create their own little world.

JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
ROMEO
Aside Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
JULIET
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

2.2.75-91
Juliet's famous soliloquy is notable for more than its gorgeous language. It also allows
Shakespeare to establish the private nature of love by breaking the convention of a soliloquy,
and it introduces the theme of identity as well. A soliloquy is commonly used to reveal a
character's private thoughts to the audience, but kept secret from all of the other characters in
the play. By having Romeo overhear Juliet's private words, Shakespeare creates a cocoon
around their love, insinuating that pure love is meant to exist in a private world. Romeo's
presence during Juliet's soliloquy is, on one hand, an invasion, but on the other hand, it is a
reminder of the cost of intimacy. That Juliet both allows and cherishes Romeo's interruption
reminds the audience that true love asks requires lovers to reveal their most private thoughts
to one another. Shakespeare also explicitly introduces the theme of identity in this passage.
Juliet wishes that Romeo could transcend the conflict surrounding his name. Her famous
declaration – "What's in a name? that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell
as sweet" – explicitly expresses the idea that a person is more than his or her public identity
or label. At this point, the lovers understand that they must eschew the expectations of
society if they are to ever find true happiness.

JULIET
Do not swear at all;
Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I'll believe thee.
2.1.154-157
This short line from the balcony scene explores the idea that true love requires both parties to
be a self-contained unit. Juliet encourages this idea by suggesting that she will believe Romeo
only if he swears to himself, rather than to a heavenly power. Romeo tries to swear by the
moon, but Juliet remarks that because the moon waxes and wanes, it is too unreliable.
Instead, she says, "Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self." Shakespeare often has
characters encourage each other to be true to themselves first - and if they can, it is a sign
that they can also be true to others. In this context, the characters must accept their
individual identities (rather than their family names) in order to experience true love. By
stressing this point, Juliet invokes the insular, selfish nature of love that defines her
relationship with Romeo throughout the play.

FRIAR LAURENCE
O, she knew well
Thy love did read by rote and could not spell.
But come, young waverer, come, go with me,
In one respect I'll thy assistant be;
For this alliance may so happy prove,
To turn your households' rancour to pure love.
ROMEO
O, let us hence; I stand on sudden haste.
FRIAR LAURENCE
Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.

2.2.86-94
Shakespeare introduces Friar Laurence as a character with complicated motives. In this
exchange, Laurence presents his unique multi-faceted psychology. He is, in many ways, an
imperfect religious figure, one who is willing to compromise the religious sanctity of
marriage for the sake of a political goal. He clearly finds Romeo’s new passion suspect, but
agrees to perform the ceremony so that he can help end the feud. The dichotomy between
society's pressures and Romeo and Juliet's desires is again apparent here. Friar Laurence also
promotes moderation in the final line. Many scholars believe that Shakespeare meant his
audience to understand that the tragedy in Romeo and Juliet is the result of a lack of
moderation – Romeo and Juliet subsumed themselves too quickly to passion, and it
consumed them. However, this presumed message does not account for the complexities of
their love. Laurence's insistence on moderation is arguably more applicable to Romeo and
Juliet's families, who cannot manage their feud. In this small exchange, Shakespeare again
reveals his ability to craft unique psychology, even in a minor character.

MERCUTIO
Why, is not this better now than groaning for love?
now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art
thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature:
for this drivelling love is like a great natural,
that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole.

2.3.78-82
When Romeo reconnects with Benvolio and Mercutio after meeting Juliet in her courtyard,
Mercutio speaks these lines to him out of admiration. As Mercutio notes, Romeo has traded
his tendency for pensive moping and can now verbally jest with ease. In calling Romeo
"sociable," Mercutio is potentially suggesting that after meeting Juliet, Romeo has reclaimed
his masculinity - he is now the man he is meant to be "by art as well as nature." However,
these lines also indicate that Romeo has discovered his true identity now that he has sworn
his love to Juliet. He loves no less than he had before (he actually loves more), but he now
knows that he need not broadcast those feelings to the world. He no longer has use for
generating attention in that way, because he has found a new outlet for his passion.
Therefore, when Mercutio commends his friend's new attitude, he is noting that Romeo has
indeed matured. By extension, Shakespeare suggests that love helps a person achieve
autonomy, and therefore, navigate the world with confidence.

MERCUTIO
No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a
church-door; but 'tis enough,'twill serve: ask for
me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man. I
am peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague o'
both your houses! 'Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a
cat, to scratch a man to death! a braggart, a
rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of
arithmetic! Why the devil came you between us? I
was hurt under your arm.
ROMEO
I thought all for the best.
MERCUTIO
Help me into some house, Benvolio,
Or I shall faint. A plague o' both your houses!
They have made worms' meat of me: I have it,
And soundly too: your houses!

3.1.96-109
In the final lines before his death, Mercutio cements his place as one of Romeo and Juliet's
most enduring characters. Even while he is on his deathbed, Mercutio displays a singular
talent for verbal acrobatics and jest, insisting he will be a "grave man" by the next day and
suggesting that his mortal wound is still not enough to force him to go to church. However,
his energy also takes a darker turn, as he cries out, "A plague o' both your houses." Mercutio
uses his last breaths to chastise the Montagues and Capulets for their bloody feud - which is
entirely preventable. He screams this famous phrase three times in succession, as if it were
an actual curse - an appropriate punishment for the bloodshed that has occurred. Mercutio’s
murder, meanwhile, forces Romeo into adulthood. Before his friend's death, Romeo is able to
separate himself from his family, considering the feud a childish distraction - but once it starts
to affect him directly, he cannot help but take action. He kills Tybalt to avenge Mercutio's
death, and must suffer the consequences. When Mercutio dies, Romeo learns the hard way
that his actions have real-world consequences, despite his noble intentions. Perhaps to make
sure his pensive friend does not miss out on the lesson, Mercutio makes it abundantly clear
in his final words – Romeo is a member of the Montague 'house' whether he likes it or not.

JULIET
Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phoebus' lodging: such a wagoner
As Phaethon would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately.
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,
That runaway's eyes may wink and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk'd of and unseen.
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties; or, if love be blind,
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match,
Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods:
Hood my unmann'd blood, bating in my cheeks,
With thy black mantle; till strange love, grown bold,
Think true love acted simple modesty.
Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night;
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow on a raven's back.
Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow'd night,
Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
O, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possess'd it, and, though I am sold,
Not yet enjoy'd: so tedious is this day
As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child that hath new robes
And may not wear them. O, here comes my nurse,
And she brings news; and every tongue that speaks
But Romeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence.

3.2.1-33
This is one of Romeo and Juliet's most elegant soliloquies. Juliet testifies to the power of
separation from her beloved and reminds the audience of the play's recurring theme of order
vs. disorder. As Shakespeare establishes earlier in the play, Juliet associates order with the
calm of night and disorder with the complications of daytime. The dramatic irony of her
speech is that by this point, the audience knows that Romeo has killed Tybalt and will soon
be punished, while Juliet does not - which only underscores the intensity of the divide
between order and disorder. Furthermore, Juliet's language has sexual overtones because she
is anticipating the consummation of her marriage. She thinks of nighttime as the time when
she and her lover can find peace away from the chaos surrounding them. She also betrays her
age and youthful idealism in her childish hope that the power of their love can change the
world. Her optimism is all the more affecting because the Nurse arrives moments later and
tells Juliet the bad news of Romeo's banishment.

FRIAR LAURENCE
Hold thy desperate hand:
Art thou a man? thy form cries out thou art:
Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts denote
The unreasonable fury of a beast:
Unseemly woman in a seeming man!
Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!
Thou hast amazed me: by my holy order,
I thought thy disposition better temper'd.
Hast thou slain Tybalt? wilt thou slay thyself?
And stay thy lady too that lives in thee,
By doing damned hate upon thyself?
Why rail'st thou on thy birth, the heaven, and earth?
Since birth, and heaven, and earth, all three do meet
In thee at once; which thou at once wouldst lose.
Fie, fie, thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit;
Which, like a usurer, abound'st in all,
And usest none in that true use indeed
Which should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy wit:
Thy noble shape is but a form of wax,
Digressing from the valour of a man;
Thy dear love sworn but hollow perjury,
Killing that love which thou hast vow'd to cherish;
Thy wit, that ornament to shape and love,
Misshapen in the conduct of them both,
Like powder in a skitless soldier's flask,
Is set afire by thine own ignorance,
And thou dismember'd with thine own defence.
What, rouse thee, man! thy Juliet is alive,
For whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead;
There art thou happy: Tybalt would kill thee,
But thou slew'st Tybalt; there are thou happy too:
The law that threaten'd death becomes thy friend
And turns it to exile; there art thou happy:
A pack of blessings lights up upon thy back;
Happiness courts thee in her best array;
But, like a misbehaved and sullen wench,
Thou pout'st upon thy fortune and thy love:
Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable.
Go, get thee to thy love, as was decreed,
Ascend her chamber, hence and comfort her:
But look thou stay not till the watch be set,
For then thou canst not pass to Mantua;
Where thou shalt live, till we can find a time
To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,
Beg pardon of the prince, and call thee back
With twenty hundred thousand times more joy
Than thou went'st forth in lamentation.
Go before, nurse: commend me to thy lady;
And bid her hasten all the house to bed,
Which heavy sorrow makes them apt unto:
Romeo is coming.

3.3.108-158
In this passage, Friar Laurence chides Romeo for attempting suicide when the young man is
facing banishment for Tybalt's murder. Friar Laurence criticizes Romeo for his cowardice,
suggesting that by trying to take his own life, Romeo is displaying feminine characteristics.
Laurence also tries to snap Romeo out of his pessimism, pointing out that neither he nor
Juliet are actually dead. The Friar's rebuke is an example of the fact that Romeo and Juliet is a
new kind of tragedy - where psychology is to blame rather than fate. At this point, Romeo is
desperate and has chosen to end his life - but human intervention is the only reason he does
not follow through. In telling Romeo to simply wait until "we can find a time/To blaze your
marriage," Friar Laurence is demanding that Romeo behave like a rational adult and deal
with his problem in a suitably mature way. While some of Friar Laurence's lesson gets
through to Romeo, what the holy man does not understand is that Romeo is still a passionate
youth who might reconnect with Juliet but has little interest in the demands of measured
maturity. In this way, this speech also foreshadows the way that impetuous, passionate youth
plays a major part in the play's tragic ending.

PRINCE
A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

5.3.304-309
In the concluding speech of Romeo and Juliet, the Prince wraps up the tragic plot and
suggests the possibility of future peace between the Montagues and Capulets. He does
describe it as a "glooming peace", which does not detract from the fact that the play has
reached a reconciliation, but it is also indicative of some more subtle points. First of all,
Romeo and Juliet is not truly a classical tragedy because it ends with a reconciliation instead
of total annihilation. Some scholars do not ascribe to this interpretation but regardless, it is
clear that the play has moral overtones, since the youthful purity of Romeo and Juliet's love
leads to positive changes in their world, even though they are no longer alive. When the
Prince notes that the "sun…will not show his head," it reminds the audience about the
connection between daytime and disorder. The lesson here seems to be then, that tragedy can
lead to change, if people are actually willing to learn from it.

Summary and Analysis of Act 1

Summary
Prologue
The chorus introduces the play and establishes the plot that will unfold. They explain how
two families in Verona – the Capulets and the Montagues - have reignited an ancient feud,
and how two lovers, one from each family, will commit suicide after becoming entangled in
this conflict. These lovers are Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague. Only after the suicides
will the families decide to end their feud.

Act One, Scene One

Two Capulet servants – Sampson and Gregory – loiter on the street, waiting for some
Montague servants to pass. They banter, using sexual innuendo and raunchy puns to joke
about women, and speak with animosity about the Montagues. They lament that the law
prohibits fighting, and wonder how to start a battle legally.

When the Montague servants – Abram and Balthasar – arrive, Sampson bites his thumb at
them (which is rude but not illegal). Insulted, Abram confronts Sampson and a fight begins.

Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, arrives to discover the fight in progress. Drawing his sword, he
commands them to stop. Then, Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, walks onto the street. Upon seeing his
rival, Benvolio, Tybalt also draws his sword, reigniting the altercation.
Lord Capulet – the patriarch of the family – arrives at the battle, and demands a sword so that
he might join in. However, Lady Capulet restrains him, even after Lord Montague emerges
ready to fight.

It turns out that the Citizens of the Watch have spread word of the street fight, and Prince
Escalus arrives before anyone is killed. The Prince chides the Montagues and the Capulets for
their mutual aggression, which he believes is making the streets of Verona unsafe. The Prince
then orders everyone to return home and cease hostilities at the risk of great punishment. He
personally accompanies the Capulets home.

The Montagues and Benvolio remain on stage. The family asks Benvolio where Romeo is,
and he tells them that the boy has been in a strange mood lately. When a somber Romeo
finally appears, the Montagues ask Benvolio to determine the cause of his melancholy, after
which they depart.

When Benvolio asks Romeo about the source of his gloom, Romeo explains that he is pining
for a woman named Rosaline, who plans to remain chaste for the rest of her life. This
unrequited love is the cause of Romeo's depression.

Act One, Scene Two

Paris Lord Capulet for permission to marry Juliet, but Capulet insists that Paris should be
patient, since Juliet is only thirteen. However, Capulet does grant Paris permission to woo
Juliet and thereby win her approval. Capulet suggests to Paris that he should try to impress
Juliet at a masked ball that the Capulets are hosting that evening. Capulet then hands his
servant Peter a list of names and orders the man to invite everyone on the list to the party.

Out on the streets, Peter runs into Romeo and Benvolio, who are talking about Rosaline.
Peter cannot read, so he asks them to help him interpret the list. Romeo and Benvolio
comply, and upon reading the list, they discover that Rosaline will be at the Capulets' party.
They decide to attend - even though it is a Capulet party, they will be able to disguise their
identities by wearing masks.

Act One, Scene Three

At the Capulet home, Lady Capulet asks the Nurse to call for Juliet. While they await the girl’s
arrival, the Nurse laments the fact that Juliet will be fourteen in under two weeks. When Juliet
arrives, the Nurse tells a rambling, embarrassing story about how her late husband had once
made an inappropriate sexual joke about Juliet when she was an infant. The Nurse keeps
telling her endless tale until Juliet orders her to stop.

Lady Capulet tells Juliet about Paris’s intention to marry her. The mother describes Paris as
beautiful, comparing him to a fine book that only lacks a cover. Juliet does not promise
anything to her mother, but she does agree to study Paris that night.

Act One, Scene Four

Romeo, Benvolio, and their friend Mercutio walk through the streets to the Capulets' party.
Romeo remains depressed over Rosaline, so Mercutio tries to cheer him up with a story
about Queen Mab, a fictitious elf who infiltrates men's dreams. Romeo hushes his friend,
admitting his concern about the attending a party at the home of his rivals.
Act One, Scene Five
At the party, Romeo mopes in the corner, away from the dancing. From this vantage point, he
notices Juliet, and falls in love with her immediately.

Tybalt overhears Romeo asking a servingman about Juliet, and recognizes the masked man's
voice. However, before Tybalt can create a scene, Lord Capulet reminds him of the prince’s
prohibition of public fighting, and orders the boy to stand down.

Romeo approaches Juliet and touches her hand. They speak together in a sonnet, and Romeo
eventually earns Juliet's permission for a kiss. However, before they can talk further, the
Nurse calls Juliet to see her mother. After Juliet leaves, Romeo asks the Nurse her name, and
is shocked to learn that his new object of desire is a Capulet.

As the party winds down, Juliet asks her Nurse about Romeo. When she learns about
Romeo’s identity, she is heartbroken to find out that she has fallen in love with a "loathed
enemy" (1.5.138).

Analysis
Though Romeo and Juliet is ostensibly a tragedy, it has endured as one of Shakespeare’s most
renowned masterpieces because of its magnificent blend of styles and remarkable, multi-
faceted character development. The play often veers from meticulous plot into more free-
form explorations, making it difficult to categorize. However, these are singularly
Shakespearean qualities that are apparent from the play’s first Act. Romeo and Juliet begins
with a Chorus, which establishes the plot and tone of the play. This device was hardly new to
Shakespeare, and in fact mirrors the structure of Arthur Brooke's The Tragical History of
Romeus and Juliet, from which Shakespeare adapted Romeo and Juliet.

Additionally, the Chorus poses the question of whether or not Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.
During Shakespeare's time, it was typical for a tragedy to begin with a Chorus. In Romeo and
Juliet, the opening sonnet presents dire enough circumstances to support that convention.
However, tragedy in its strictest form presupposes certain formal conceits. Most important is
the idea that an individual (or individuals) is (or are) defeated by forces beyond his or her
control; tragedies most often celebrate human willpower in the face of bad luck or divine
antagonism. And yet, the forces at play in Romeo and Juliet are hardly beyond human
control. Instead, the Montagues and Capulets have allowed their feud to fester. This is evident
from the first scene, when even the patriarchs of both families enter the public street fight,
ready to kill. The Chorus introduces Shakespeare's unique approach to tragedy by
introducing certain established tropes of that genre but by refusing to lay the blame at the
universe’s feet.

In addition, the Chorus also introduces certain sources of dramatic tension that re-appear
throughout the rest of the play. For example, the diametric opposition between order and
disorder is central to to Romeo and Juliet. In the Prologue, the Chorus speaks in sonnet form,
which was usually reserved for a lover addressing his beloved. The sonnet is a very structured
form of poetry, which indicates a level of order. However, the content of this sonnet – two
families who cannot control themselves, and hence bring down disaster on their heads –
suggests incredible disorder. The conflict between order and disorder resonates through the
rest of Act I. Immediately following the Sonnet is the introduction of Sampson and Gregory,
two brutish men whose appearance lays the groundwork for a disordered street brawl.
Furthermore, the disorder within the play is evidenced by inverted circumstances. Servants
start the quarrel, but soon draw the noblemen into it. The young men enter the fight, but the
older men soon try to defy their aged bodies by participating. Moreover, the fact that the near
disaster takes place in broad daylight in a public place undermines any expectation of
security in Verona.

This underlying theme of disorder is also manifest in the hybrid of styles that Shakespeare
employs. The Chorus establishes the fact that the story is meant to be tragic, and yet, Abram
and Gregory are typically comic characters, both because of their low status and the
lighthearted nature of their speech. While they do discuss their aggression towards the
Capulets, they also make numerous sexual puns, undoubtedly intended to amuse the
audience. That these sexual innuendos often slide into violent talk of rape only underscores
the difficulty of categorizing Shakespeare’s tonal intentions.

It is important to note that Shakespeare wanted Romeo and Juliet to be recognized as tragedy,
even though he subverts the genre in many ways. There are a few motifs in Romeo and Juliet
that reveal this intention. The first is the recurring motif of death. In Act I, there are several
moments where the characters foreshadow the death to come. After she meets Romeo, Juliet
states, "If he be married, / My grave is like to be my wedding bed" (1.5.132). When Benvolio
tries to stop the street fight, he remarks, "Put up your swords. You know not what you
do" (1.1.56). The phrasing of Benvolio's line is a Biblical allusion because it evokes Jesus’s
insistence that his apostles cease fighting the Roman guards during his arrest. This symbolism
foreshadows Juliet’s death, which occurs after her resurrection.

The Nurse also makes two references that foreshadow Juliet’s death. In the story she tells to
Lady Capulet, the Nurse speaks of Juliet’s fall when she was a child. The story foreshadows
the fact that Juilet will fall, evoking the medieval and Renaissance concept of the wheel of
fortune. Over the course of the play, Juliet indeed rises (appearing at her balcony to speak to
Romeo) and falls (her death in the vault). The Nurse also foreshadows the tragedy when she
tells Juliet, "An I might live to see thee married once" (1.3.63). Alas, this is exactly what will
occur, and Juliet dies barely one day after her marriage. So even as he veers between styles
and forms, Shakespeare does ensure that Romeo and Juliet a tragic story.

Even more impressive than his stylistic virtuosity is Shakespeare’s carefully calibrated
character development. Almost every character in Romeo and Juliet reveals his or her inner
nature through action. For instance, we learn in Act 1 that Benvolio is a pacifist, while Tybalt
is hot-headed. Other characters that Shakespeare introduces in Act 1 reveal a glimmer of
their inner desires even if they do not yet have a chance to express them. For instance, in the
scene between Lord Capulet and Paris, the patriarch introduces his desire to control his
daughter. While theoretically defending Juliet's youthful freedom, he also reveals his
tendency to think of her as an object by granting Paris the opportunity to woo her. Lord
Capulet's attitude towards Juliet will later force the final, tragic turn of events.

Eminent literary critic Harold Bloom believes that, along with Juliet, Mercutio and the Nurse
are Shakespeare’s most marvelous creations in the play. The Nurse is intriguing because of
her self-deceit. While she claims to care deeply for young Juliet, it becomes evident that she
selfishly wishes to control the girl. Her story about Juliet's fall and sharing her late husband's
sexual joke are wildly inappropriate comments, and reveal the Nurse's self-obsession and her
fascination with sex. For such a functional character, the Nurse is particularly memorable,
and a shining example of Shakespeare's ability to create multi-faceted personalities, even for
his supporting characters.

Similarly, Shakespeare reveals a lot about Mercutio's character in the young man's Queen
Mab speech. At first glance, the speech (and the preceding scene) paint Mercutio as a
colorful, sexually-minded fellow, who prefers transient lust over committed love. However, as
his speech continues, Mercutio portrays a level of intensity that Romeo lacks. Queen Mab is
a rather vicious figure who forces sexuality upon women in a largely unpleasant and violent
way. While he shares this story, Mercutio's tone becomes so passionate that Romeo must
forcefully quieten him. This speech serves as an indication that Mercutio is a far more mature
and insightful figure than his behavior immediately suggests.

In contrast, Prince Escalus and the Citizens of the Watch are largely two-dimensional
characters. They serve a merely functional purpose, representing law and order in Verona.
While the Prince frequently exhibits strong authority - declaring street fighting illegal and
later, banishing Romeo - his decrees only produce minimal results, and the law is never as
powerful as the forces of love in the play. Meanwhile, the Citizens of the Watch, though
silent, are a nod to the society's attempts to protect itself. Shakespeare regularly indicates that
the Citizens are always nearby, which emphasizes the ongoing conflict between the feuding
families and society's attempts to restore order.

Though Romeo and Juliet has become an archetypal love story, it is in fact a reflection of only
one very specific type of love – a young, irrational love that falls somewhere between pure
affection and unbridled lust. Sexuality is rampant throughout the play, starting with the
servants' bawdy jokes in the first scene. Also, the lovers do not think of their passion in
religious terms (a religious union would have signified a pure love to a Renaissance
audience)

Meanwhile, Romeo is a far less complex character than Juliet – indeed, in Shakespeare’s
work, the heroines are often more multi-dimensional than their male counterparts. In Act 1,
Romeo's most pronounced qualities are his petulance and capriciousness. His friends (and
potentially, the audience) find Romeo's melancholy mood to be grating, and are confused
when he quickly forgets Rosaline to fall madly in love with Juliet. However, Romeo stands
apart from the other men in Act 1. Even Benvolio, the eternal pacifist, has recognized the
violent nature of the world, and most of the other men quickly turn to anger and aggression
as solutions to their problems. Romeo, on the other hand, exhibits qualities that could be
considered feminine by Shakespearean standards – he is melancholy and introverted,
choosing to remain distant from both the feud and the violence in Verona.

Juliet, on the other hand, is pensive and practical. When her mother insists she consider Paris
as a potential mate, Juliet is clearly uninterested, but understands that a vocal refusal will
gain her nothing. Her act of innocent submission will allow her to be devious later on, to her
advantage. In Act 1, Juliet is already showing her powers of deception by asking her Nurse
about two other men before asking after Romeo because she does not want to arouse her
chaperone’s suspicions.

Romeo and Juliet's quick attraction to one other must be viewed through the lens of their
youth. Even when Romeo is lusting after Rosaline, he is more interested in her sexuality than
her personality, and he is upset to learn that she has chosen a life of chastity. Romeo feels
sparks of desire for Juliet before they even speak, reinforcing the young man's quick passions.
Shakespeare further underscores Romeo's sexual motivation by associating his and Juliet's
love with darkness. For example, Romeo compares Juliet to "a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear"
when he first sees her (1.5.43). The darkness is central to their love, as they can only be
together when the day is over. Throughout the play, Shakespeare associates daytime with
disorder – not only does the Act I street fight occur in the daytime, but Romeo also kills
Tybalt during the day – while order appears within the secrecy afforded by nighttime.
However, the love between Romeo and Juliet is not frivolous. In the fifth scene, the lovers
speak in a sonnet that invokes sacrilegious imagery of saints and pilgrims. This indicates the
way in which these lovers can only be together when they are completely separated from the
flawed morality and complications of the world around them. This disorder is ultimately the
obstacle that keeps the apart - and they will eventually decide to withdraw from the world in
order to be together. Both Romeo and Juliet believe in the purity of their love - their future
may be uncertain, but in the moment, their passion is all-consuming.

Summary and Analysis of Act 2

Summary
Act Two, Introduction
The Chorus explains that Romeo has traded his old desire for a new affection, and that Juliet
has also fallen in love. Though their secret romance puts Romeo and Juliet at risk, their
passion drives them to meet, regardless of the danger.

Act Two, Scene One

Out in the street, Romeo escapes from Mercutio and Benvolio. Mercutio calls to him, using
lots of obscene wordplay. Benvolio finally gets tired of searching for Romeo, and they leave.

(Please note that some editions of Romeo and Juliet end Scene One here to begin a new one.
Others, including the Norton Shakespeare, which this note is based on, continue the scene as
follows.)

Meanwhile, Romeo has succeeded in leaping over the Capulets' garden wall and is hiding
beneath Juliet's balcony. He wants to determine whether her attraction is equal to his own.
She soon appears and delivers her famous soliloquy, asking "Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore
art thou Romeo?" (2.1.75). She wishes that Romeo’s name were different, so that they would
not be enemies. Romeo overhears her speech, which confirms his own feelings. He interrupts
Juliet to confess his own love.

Juliet warns Romeo to speak truthfully, since she has fallen in love with him and does not
want to be hurt. Romeo swears his feelings are genuine, and Juliet laments the fact that she
cannot fall in love with him again. The Nurse calls to Juliet, who disappears momentarily. She
comes back out and insists that if Romeo truly loves her, he should propose marriage and
plan a meeting place for them. The Nurse calls Juliet a second time, and she exits. Romeo is
about to leave when his love emerges yet a third time, and calls him back for some final
words of parting.

Act Two, Scene Two

At the chapel, Friar Laurence is collecting herbs. Romeo arrives and confesses his new love
for Juliet. He asks the Friar to marry them. Though the Friar is surprised that Romeo has
forgotten Rosaline so quickly, he is nonetheless delighted, because Romeo and Juliet's union
presents an opportunity to quell the raging feud between the Montagues and Capulets.

Act Two, Scene Three

Out in the street the next day, Benvolio tells Mercutio that Romeo has not yet returned home.
He also reveals that Tybalt has sent Romeo a threatening message. When Romeo joins them,
Mercutio mocks him, but Romeo matches his wit. Impressed, Mercutio notes,"Now art thou
sociable, now art thou Romeo" (2.3.77).
Juliet’s Nurse and Peter arrive and ask to speak with Romeo. Mercutio makes sexual jokes
about the Nurse, but eventually exits with Benvolio. The Nurse explains that Juliet will meet
Romeo and marry him. Romeo proposes they meet that afternoon at Friar Laurence’s chapel.

Act Two, Scene Four

Back in the Capulet orchard, Juliet eagerly awaits news from the Nurse. When the Nurse
eventually arrives, she comically refuses to give Juliet any information about Romeo until she
has received a back rub. Finally, the Nurse tells Juliet about the plan for her to meet Romeo
at Friar Laurence’s chapel.

Act Two, Scene Five

At the chapel, Romeo and Friar Laurence await Juliet’s arrival. The Friar cautions Romeo to
"love moderately" (2.5.9). Juliet soon appears, and Friar Laurence brings them into the church
to be married.

Analysis
Act 2 is more focused than Act 1, in that it mostly serves to establish the marriage which will
become the root of the play's dramatic conflict. However, within the the streamlined plot,
Shakespeare explores the complications of love. The theme of love is central to Act 2 of
Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet fall in love instantly, and marry one day later, sealing
their future. The balcony scene is crucial to understanding their relationship because it allows
Romeo and Juliet to test their initial passion and gain the courage to move forward with a
marriage plan.

The love that Romeo and Juliet share is the opposite of the selfish love that Shakespeare
references in the opening acts of the play. Shakespeare compares Juliet to the sun, and she is
one of the most generous characters in the play. She reveals her selflessness when she
declares, "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, / My love as deep. The more I give thee / The
more I have, for both are infinite" (2.1.175-177). Rosaline, on the other hand, prefers to keep
her beauty to herself. Shakespeare heightens this contrast when Romeo describes Rosaline as
a Diana (the goddess of the moon) and tells Juliet, "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon"
(2.1.46).

In the balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet recognize this selfish brand of love and then
transcend it. The garden setting is more than just a secretive meeting place – it invokes
images of a pastoral Eden, which symbolizes both purity and virginity. Romeo and Juliet's
connection is simultaneously rooted in pure love and unbridled passion. At the beginning of
the balcony scene, Romeo invades Juliet's privacy without her invitation, which becomes
doubly apparent when he overhears her soliloquy. Here, Shakespeare breaks the convention
of the soliloquy, which is traditionally a speech where a character shares his or her inner
thoughts only with the audience. That Romeo overhears Juliet's soliloquy is an invasion, on
one hand, but also serves as a reminder of the cost of intimacy. That Juliet both allows and
cherishes Romeo's interruption reminds the audience that true love requires two people to
open their hearts to one another.

Shakespeare underscores the idea that lovers must abandon their selfishness by having
Romeo and Juliet swear to themselves, rather than to other bodies. For instance, when
Romeo tries to swear by the moon, Juliet remarks that the moon waxes and wanes, and is too
variable. Instead, she says, "Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self" (2.1.155). Shakespeare
often has characters encourage one another to be true to themselves first, and only then can
they be true to others. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, the characters must accept their
unique identities (and transcend their family names) in order to experience the purest kind of
love.

Shakespeare also implies that when people fall in love, they can grow. Juliet's behavior
changes after she meets Romeo. She is used to obeying the Nurse's authority, and during the
balcony scene, she disappears twice. However, she also defies authority twice in order to
reappear and continue her conversation with Romeo. This is a sure sign of her emerging
independence, which explains her quick decision to marry Romeo and defy her parents.
Juliet also reveals her practical intelligence by understanding the need for a plan for them to
meet and by insisting on marriage, which is a reversal of Elizabethan gender roles. Romeo,
while less active than Juliet, also becomes more confident after their meeting, eschewing his
juvenile melancholy for a more gregarious personality that impresses Mercutio.

Shakespeare introduces the theme of identity in Act 2. In her soliloquy, Juliet wishes that
Romeo could transcend his name. Her famous declaration – "What's in a name? that which
we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet" – expresses the idea that people
can be more than their societal roles. Juliet understands that if she and Romeo are to be
together, they must defy the limitations of society and follow their individual passions.

In this act, Shakespeare also introduces Friar Laurence a multifaceted character who
understands the need for personal autonomy. Because of his underlying motivations,
however, the Friar is an imperfect religious figure. He is willing to compromise the religious
sanctity of marriage for the sake of a political goal. He clearly finds Romeo’s new passion
suspect, but agrees to perform the marriage ceremony so that he can end the feud between
the Montagues and Capulets. Friar Laurence's actions represent the dichotomy between
societal convention and individual desire.

Finally, Shakespeare continues to explore the contrasts that he introduced in Act I,

particularly the disparity between night and day (or darkness and light). Benvolio states,
"Blind is his love, and best befits the dark," in reference to Romeo's newfound passion
(2.1.32). When Romeo finally sees Juliet at her balcony, he wonders, "But soft, what light
through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. / Arise, fair sun, and kill
the envious moon" (2.1.44-46). Romeo then invokes the darkness as a form of protection
from harm: "I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes" (2.1.117). Unfortunately, the
disorder of the day eventually overcomes the passionate and protective night - destroying
both lovers in the process.

Shakespeare also underlines the contrast between youth and old age. Friar Laurence acts as
Romeo's confidante, and the Nurse advises Juliet. However, both these adults offer advice
that seems strangely out of place given the circumstances of the play. For instance, Friar
Laurence says to Romeo, "Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast" (2.2.94). He also
advises Romeo to "Therefore love moderately" (2.5.9). The Friar's advice for Romeo to love
"moderately", however, comes too late. In fact, by the end of the play we even see Friar
Laurence rejecting his own advice and stumbling to reach Juliet's grave before Romeo can
find her. "How oft tonight have my old feet stumbled at graves?" (5.3.123).

Finally, Shakespeare introduces the contrast between silver and gold in this act through his
use of imagery. Romeo says, "How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night" and "Lady, by
yonder blessed moon I vow, / That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops" (2.1.210, 149-50).
Shakespeare often employs silver as a symbol of love and beauty. On the other hand, he uses
gold as a sign of greed or desire. Rosaline is immune to showers of gold, an image that
evokes the selfishness of bribery. Later, when Romeo is banished, he comments that
banishment is a "golden axe," meaning that his punishment is merely a glossed- over
equivalent of death. And finally, the erection of the golden statues at the end a sign of the fact
that neither Capulet nor Montague has really learned anything from Romeo and Juliet's
deaths.

Summary and Analysis of Act 3

Summary
Act Three, Scene One
Outside on the Verona street, Benvolio and Mercutio wait around for Romeo to meet them.
Tybalt and Petruccio see them first, and start a quarrel. Tybalt makes it clear that he is looking
for Romeo, whom he wants to punish for sneaking into the Capulets' masked party the
previous day.

When Romeo arrives, overjoyed with his recent marriage, he is deferential to Tybalt, insisting
he harbors no hatred for the Capulet house. Tybalt is unsure how to deal with Romeo.
However, Mercutio challenges Tybalt to a duel, so he draws his sword and attacks Mercutio.
Romeo attempts to intervene, holding Mercutio back. While Romeo is restraining him, Tybalt
stabs Mercutio and then exits quickly.

Mercutio is mortally wounded, and chastises the Montagues and Capulets for encouraging
such violence before allowing Benvolio to lead him offstage. Benvolio soon returns with
news that Mercutio has died. Romeo vows revenge on Tybalt, who soon reappears. Romeo
and Tybalt duel, and Romeo kills Tybalt. He then flees quickly after Benvolio warns him that
the Prince will come soon.

The Prince, followed by the Montague and Capulet families, arrives on the scene. Benvolio
tells him the entire story, but the Prince refuses to hold Romeo blameless. Instead, he
banishes Romeo from Verona, insisting the boy will die if he does not obey.

Act Three, Scene Two

As she waits in her room for Romeo to arrive, Juliet delivers one of the play’s most elegant
soliloquies about her beloved. The Nurse enters, distraught and speaking unclearly; Juliet can
only discern that someone has died and that someone has been banished. As she did in the
previous scene, the Nurse refuses to tell Juliet what she knows. Instead, she allows Juliet to
believe that it is Romeo who has been killed.

When the Nurse finally reveals the truth, Juliet immediately chides Romeo over his pretense
of peace and contradictory violence. She then recants the accusation, and asks the Nurse,
"Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?" (3.2.97). Overcome, Juliet laments Romeo’s
banishment, and claims that she would rather have both her parents killed then see Romeo
suffer such indignity.

The Nurse promises to find Romeo – whom she knows is hiding with Friar Laurence - and
bring him to Juliet's bed that night. Juliet gives the Nurse a ring for Romeo to wear when he
comes to see her.

Act Three, Scene Three

In the chapel, where Romeo is hiding, Friar Laurence informs the boy about his punishment,
adding that he should be happy that the Prince commuted the death sentence. Romeo
considers banishment a fate worse than death, since it will separate him from his beloved
Juliet. When the Friar tries to console him, Romeo says, "Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy
love.../ Then mightst thou speak" (3.3.65-68).

The Nurse arrives to find Romeo collapsed on the ground, weeping. She orders him to stand,
but he is so upset that he prepares to stab himself. She snatches away his dagger, and Friar
Laurence begs Romeo to look at the bright side - at least he and Juliet are both still alive. The
Friar then convinces Romeo to visit Juliet that night, and to escape to Mantua in the morning.

Act Three, Scene Four

At the Capulet household, the elder Capulets and Paris prepare for bed; they have been up all
night mourning Tybalt’s death. They discuss Juliet's extreme despair which they believe to be
the result of losing her cousin, Tybalt.

Partly because he believes it will assuage her sadness, Lord Capulet decides right then that
Juliet will marry Paris, and that the wedding will take place later that week. He comments, "I
think she will be ruled / In all respects by me" (3.4.13-14). He orders Lady Capulet to inform
Juliet about the matter, and then leaves for bed.

Act Three, Scene Five

The next morning, Romeo and Juliet lie in her bed, pretending the night has not actually
passed. The Nurse arrives with news that Juliet’s mother is approaching, so Romeo descends
from the balcony and says goodbye.

Lady Capulet tells Juliet about the plans for her marriage, believing it will cheer her daughter
up. However, Juliet refuses, insisting she would rather marry Romeo Montague than marry
Paris. (Obviously, her mother thinks this simply a rhetorical statement, since Romeo is Tybalt’s
murderer.)

Then, Lord Capulet enters, and grows furious at her refusal. He calls Juliet "young baggage,"
and demands she prepare for marriage on the upcoming Thursday (3.5.160).

Lady Capulet refuses to intercede for Juliet, and even the Nurse betrays her, insisting that Paris
is a fine gentleman worthy of her hand. Juliet orders the Nurse to leave, and prepares to visit
Friar Laurence for advice. As the Nurse leaves, Juliet calls her, "Ancient
damnation!" (3.5.235).

Analysis
One of the most unique qualities of Romeo and Juliet is the stylistic variation within the play.
Some scholars criticize the play as uneven, while others applaud Shakespeare’s willingness to
explore both tragic and comedic conventions. In Act III, the play's tone moves away from the
largely comic romance of the first two acts. Mercutio’s death creates insurmountable
obstacles for Romeo and Juliet's well-laid plans, and negates the likelihood of any true peace
between the Montagues and Capulets.

Harold Bloom considers Mercutio one of the play’s most expressive and unique characters.
Mercutio provides much of the play’s early humor through his pronounced wit and clever
cynicism. However, in Act 3, his energy takes a darker turn, as he cries out "A plague o' both
your houses" (3.1.101). The true horror of the feud is manifest in the way Mercutio uses his
dying breaths to scream this phrase three times - making it sound like an actual curse.
Additionally, Mercutio's death forces Romeo's transition from childhood into adulthood.
Whereas before, Romeo was able to separate himself from his family's grudge, his decision to
avenge Mercutio's death by killing Tybalt instead fuels the feud he had once hoped to
escape.

The Nurse's first appearance Act 3 reinforces the shift to tragedy. Her inability (or refusal) to
expediently share her news with Juilet echoes the earlier scene (II.iv), when she teased Juliet.
However, whereas that scene was played for comedy, the same device becomes infuriating
and cruel under the tragic circumstances. These parallel scenes establish the tonal shift of the
play. As a side note, the parallel also reveals the complexities of the Nurse’s character.
Though Shakespeare could have written her as simply a functional character, he instead gives
her layers - she is defined by her service to a young woman whom she also resents.

The recurring disparity between order and disorder also reappears in Act 3. Juliet delivers one
of the play’s most beautiful soliloquies, when she begs for nightfall - which Shakespeare has
established as a time of order and protection. Juliet says, "Come, gentle night; come, loving,
black-browed night, / Give me my Romeo, and when he shall die / Take him and cut him out
in little stars, / And he will make the face of heaven so fine / That all the world will be in love
with night / And pay no worship to the garish sun" (3.2.20-25). The dramatic irony of her
speech – the audience knows at this point that Romeo has killed Tybalt and will soon be
punished, while Juliet does not – only underscores the intensity of the separation between
order and disorder at this point. Every remaining scene set in the dark – the bedroom and
then the vault – will be marked by the characters' tragic awareness that once the sun rises,
they will be subject to chaos and pain.

The argument that that Romeo and Juliet is not a classical tragedy gains some credence with
the circumstances surrounding the terrible events that occur in Act 3. Though Mercutio and
Tybalt's deaths and Romeo's banishment are undoubtedly disastrous, they are avoidable
occurrences instead of being mandated by fate - which would be the case in a classical
tragedy. Instead, these deaths are the result of an avoidable feud. The dual mortalities occur
after the characters randomly run into each other on the street, but the bloodshed is enabled
by specific human decisions. Romeo chooses to pursue vengeance on Tybalt, not for a
moment considering how his actions will affect his new wife. The emotionally charged
circumstances, though tragic, present a choice, not an inevitability. Especially considering
how Romeo has avoided violence and aggression thusfar in the play, it is easy to argue that
he is largely to blame for the play’s tragic turn.

Conversely, one could argue that the tragic forces at work are immovable even though they
are man-made. The feud between the Montagues and the Capulets is more powerful than the
love between Romeo and Juliet - and thus, it eventually defeats them. Romeo originally has
little interest in involving himself in his family's affairs, but Mercutio's death directly affects
him. Further, one could argue that the “plague” Mercutio places on the houses is the reason
for the lovers' deaths. In the final act of Romeo and Juliet, Friar John explains his inability to
deliver the letter to Romeo: "the searchers of the town, / Suspecting that we both were in a
house / Where the infectious pestilence did reign, / Sealed up the doors, and would not let us
forth" (5.2.8-11). The fact that an actual “plague” detoured the letter suggests that greater
forces had a role in the tragic ending.

Regardless of classical conventions, Shakespeare leaves little doubt over his tragic intentions
through the play’s focus on death. For instance, he introduces the image of the wheel of
fortune in Act 1 when the Nurse speaks of how Juliet has grown from a humble daughter into
a strong woman, while in Act 3, she tells Romeo that the girl "down falls again" (3.3.101).
Later, Juliet takes this image even further, saying, "Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low /
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb" (3.5.55-6). Juliet's character arc follows her growing
confidence in the early acts, but quickly descends into tragedy as the play comes to an end.
Furthermore, Shakespeare once again employs the image of death as Juliet’s bridegroom.
Lady Capulet comments about Juliet's refusal to marry Paris: "I would the fool were married
to her grave" (3.5.140). This phrase comes true, because Juliet dies while she is still married
to Romeo.

The intense love between Romeo and Juliet, however, is a counterpoint to the tragedy that
swirls around them. In Act 3, the lovers look forward to consummating their relationship.
However, sex, a conduit to new life, tragically marks the beginning of the sequence that will
end in Romeo and Juliet's deaths. In Act 3, Shakespeare continues to define love as a
condition wherein lovers can explore selfless devotion by the selfish act of retreating into a
private cocoon. For instance, Juliet's dedication to her marriage is strong throughout the Act.
Though she initially derides Romeo for killing Tybalt, she quickly corrects herself, asking,
"Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?" (3.2.97). She cold-heartedly insists that she
would sacrifice ten thousand Tybalts and her own parents to be with Romeo. While Juliet's
proclamation reinforces the depth of her love, it also reminds the audience that true love
exists in private realm, separated from moral codes and expectations.

Romeo also demonstrates the depth of his commitment to his beloved, though not with the
same determination as his wife. Whereas Juliet derives strength from her grief, Romeo
immediately resigns himself to misery. He proclaims, "Then 'banished' / Is death mistermed.
Calling death 'banished' / Thou cutt'st my head off with a golden axe" (3.3.20-22). Both Friar
Laurence and the Nurse chide Romeo his pessimism, since he and Juliet are both still alive –
but his solipsism is such that he lacks any broader perspective.

Shakespeare subverts gender roles once more by having Juliet demonstrate a more stoic
resolve than her husband. When the Nurse insists that Romeo “stand, an you be a man," she
is implicitly suggesting that he has been acting in a feminine manner (III.iii.88). Shakespeare
also reminds the audience of the existing patriarchy through Lord Capulet, who sees Juliet
simply as an object to be bartered. Though Capulet initially claims to have his daughter's
welfare in mind, he quickly turns cruel when she defies him. Juliet's strength is admirable to
the audience, but is anathema to men, like her father, whose power she is threatening.

The conflict between Juliet and her father is another example of the disparity between young
and old, which appears several times in Act 3. Romeo speaks of Friar Laurence’s ignorance of
his love for Juliet, saying that the Friar could never understand because he is not “young.”
Furthermore, the final scene reveals how adults can no longer understand youthful passion.
Lady Capulet refuses to consider Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris, and even the Nurse speaks of
Paris as a virtuous man worthy of her hand (thus revealing her underlying resentment of her
young charge). In response to the Nurse’s patronizing description of Paris, Juliet shouts,
"Ancient damnation!" (3.5.235). This serves as both reference to the Nurse's age and to the
problems she must deal with, all of which have been created by a feud that has its roots in
the older generation. Romeo and Juliet are two young people, who have fallen inescapably in
love - only to butt up against the political machinations of their elders - a quandary that has
resonated emotionally with teenagers for generations.

Summary and Analysis of Act 4

Summary
Act Four, Scene One
At the chapel, Paris speaks to Friar Laurence about his impending wedding to Juliet. Aware of
the complications that will arise from this new match, the Friar is full of misgivings.
Juliet, in search of Romeo, arrives at the chapel and finds Paris there. She is forced to speak
with him, and he behaves arrogantly now that their wedding is set. However, Juliet rebuffs
him with her vague answers, and then finally asks Friar Laurence if she might speak to him
alone. When the Friar assents, Paris is forced to leave.
Friar Laurence proposes a complicated plan to help Juliet reunite with Romeo. The Friar will
give Juliet a special potion that will effectively kill her for 48 hours; she will exhibit no signs
of life. Following their family tradition, her parents will place her body in the Capulet vault.
Meanwhile, Friar Laurence will send a letter to Romeo, instructing him of the plan so that the
boy can meet Juliet in the tomb and then lead her away from Verona. Juliet approves of the
plan.

Act Four, Scene Two

Happy to know that she will be reunited with Romeo, Juliet returns home and apologizes to
her father for her disobedience. He pardons her, and instructs her to prepare her clothes for
the wedding, which is now going to happen the next day. Lord Capulet then sets out to find
Paris to deliver the good news about Juliet's change of heart.

Act Four, Scene Three

Juliet convinces Lady Capulet and the Nurse to let her sleep alone that night. Juliet keeps a
knife nearby in case the potion should fail. She then drinks the Friar's potion and falls to her
bed, motionless.

Act Four, Scene Four

(Please note that some editions of the play separate this scene into two different scenes.)

When the Nurse arrives to fetch Juliet the next morning, she finds the young girl's lifeless
body. Lady Capulet soon follows, and is understandably devastated over her daughter's
apparent suicide. When Lord Capulet finds out his daughter is dead, he orders the the
wedding music to shift into funeral dirges. The grieving family prepares to move Juliet's body
to the Capulet tomb as soon as possible.

Analysis
As noted in the previous Analysis sections, Shakespeare foreshadows Romeo and Juliet's
tragic ending by peppering the whole play with images of death. In Act 4, death finally
comes to the forefront. Even though the audience understands that Juliet's death is a ploy,
watching her plan and execute her suicide is an emotional moment - the extreme measures
Juliet and Romeo are willing to take to be together are proof of their tragic desperation.

In Act 4, Juliet summons all of her internal strength, which is manifest in her willingness to
engage in the Friar's rash and precarious plan. Romeo does not appear in this Act; which
makes it feel like Shakespeare wanted to draw attention to Juliet's unwavering devotion
towards solving their problem. Where Romeo's reacted to his banishment by actually
attempting suicide in Act 3, Juliet looks at the problem logically, choosing to feign suicide in
order to reunited with her lover. These parallel decisions suggest Juliet's superior courage and
cleverness, and indicate the power of love in Romeo and Juliet.

Juliet's actions emphasize the recurring division between the young and the old in the play.
Her decision to comply with the Friar's plan might be rash, but it is unquestionably brave.
On the other hand, the adults in Act 4 act almost exclusively out of resignation and self-
interest. Paris is no longer trying to charm or woo Juliet but, upon hearing the news that she
has accepted his hand, becomes arrogant and obnoxious. Juliet's parents no longer concern
themselves with her well-being once she claims to accept her betrothal to Paris, and even the
Nurse (who knows the depth of her passion for Romeo) allows her to sleep alone. Only the
young lovers know the triumph and the heartbreak of true love, whereas their older
counterparts stoically accept the status quo, favoring ease and expediency. Juliet's parents are
so happy that she has agreed to the profitable match with Paris that they never question why
she has changed her mind about him so quickly.

From the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Laurence seems more like a politician than a
holy man. He knows that Romeo and Juliet's marriage is hasty and irrational but sees it as a
way to negotiate peace between the Montagues and the Capulets. In the first scene of Act 4,
Friar Laurence makes no attempt to interfere with Paris's marriage plans, even though the
Friar knows that Juliet is already married. He lacks the courage to state the truth, even though
he knows that Juliet and Paris' marriage would be complete sacrilege. Furthermore, the Friar
allows Juliet to use the sacrament of penance to get rid of Paris, which is another example of
his disrespect for religious conventions. Finally, the Friar's outrageous plan makes him seem
more like a mad scientist than a priest. He could have helped Romeo and Juliet to simply run
away, but had he done so, he would have lost an opportunity to reconcile the feud between
the Montagues and Capulets. By engineering a false tragedy and playing with death, Friar
Laurence reveals his priorities - his own desire for political influence is more important than
the lovers' happiness or his own religious vows.

Finally, the Friar's convoluted plan calls the play's tragic categorization into further question.
While the ending of Romeo and Juliet is undeniably sad, it keeps moving further away from
the tropes of classical tragedy. The fact that Juliet agrees the Friar's wild plan instead of simply
running away (which is a realistic option, especially since Romeo has already been banished)
suggests that the characters' choices play a major role in the lovers' ultimate demise. In a
classical tragedy, fate and other immovable forces lead to catastrophic events. However, in
the Friar and Juliet's plan, it seems that Juliet cannot fully relinquish her life in Verona – she
wants to claim victory over her parents. She is too headstrong to wonder whether her
youthful bravado might have its own negative consequences.

Summary and Analysis of Act 5

Summary
Act Five, Scene One
Romeo wanders the streets of Mantua, mulling over a dream he had the night before where
Juliet was dead. Then, Balthasar arrives from Verona with the news of Juliet's apparent
suicide.

Romeo immediately orders Balthasar to prepare a horse so he can rush to Verona and see
Juliet's body. Meanwhile, he writes a letter for Balthasar to give to Lord Montague, explaining
the situation. Finally, before he leaves Mantua, Romeo buys some poison from a poor
Apothecary.

Act Five, Scene Two

Back in Verona, Friar John, who was supposed to deliver the letter to Romeo telling him
about the plan, apologizes to Friar Laurence for his inability to complete the task. Apparently,
during his journey, some people believed that Friar John carried the pestilence (the plague)
and locked him in a house.

Friar Laurence realizes that this new wrinkle derails his plan, so he immediately orders a
crowbar so that he can rescue Juliet from the Capulet tomb.
Act Five, Scene Three
Mournful Paris and his Page stand guard at Juliet’s tomb so that no one will rob the vault.
Romeo and Balthasar arrive, and Paris tries to restrain Romeo, who is focused on breaking
into the tomb. Paris recognizes Romeo as the man who killed Tybalt, and believes that he has
come to desecrate Juliet's corpse. Their argument escalates into a sword fight, and Romeo
kills Paris. Paris' Page rushes away to fetch the City Watchmen.

Romeo opens the tomb and finds Juliet's body. Understandably devastated, he sits next to his
beloved and drinks the Apothecary’s poison, kisses Juliet, and then dies. Meanwhile, Friar
Laurence arrives at the Capulet tomb to find Paris’s body outside the door.
As planned, the potion wears off and Juliet awakens in the tomb, finding Romeo's dead body
beside her. When she sees the poison, she realizes what has happened. She kisses Romeo in
hopes that the poison will kill her as well, but it doesn't work. From outside the tomb, Friar
Laurence begs Juliet to exit the vault and flee, but she chooses to kill herself with Romeo’s
dagger.

Soon thereafter, Prince Escalus arrives, accompanied by the City Watchmen and the
patriarchs of the feuding families. Lord Montague announces that Lady Montague has died
from a broken heart as a result of Romeo's banishment. Friar Laurence then explains what
has happened to Romeo and Juliet, and Balthasar gives the Prince the letter from Romeo,
which confirms the Friar's tale.

To make amends for Juliet's death, Lord Montague promises to erect a golden statue of her
for all of Verona to admire. Not to be outdone, Capulet promises to do the same for Romeo.
The Prince ends the play by celebrating the end of the feud, but lamenting the deaths of the
young lovers, claiming, "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her
Romeo" (5.3.308-9).

Analysis
As the plot of Romeo and Juliet spirals to its mournful end, it is easy to forget that the story
takes place over a few days. Regardless, Romeo and Juliet are so certain of their love that
they choose to accept death rather than being separated. As noted in the Analysis for Act 3,
Romeo and Juliet mature considerably over the course of the play, and learn to accept the
tragic edge of life more fully than their parents can.

Death is the most prominent theme in Act 5, although Shakespeare has foreshadowed the
tragic turn of events throughout the play. However, Shakespeare ultimately frames death as a
heroic choice. For example, Romeo’s eventually commits suicide because of his unwavering
devotion to Juliet, which is a contrast to the cowardly motivations for his suicide attempt in
Act 3. When Romeo hears of Juliet's death, he makes an active choice, ordering Balthasar to
prepare a horse immediately. Despite the desperate circumstances, Romeo shows that he has
learned from Juliet's forward planning by purchasing the poison before going to Verona. He
wants to embrace death as Juliet has, and plans to take his life in a show of solidarity with his
beloved.

When Romeo buys his poison, Shakespeare describes the scene as if Romeo were purchasing
the poison from Death himself - most notably in his description of the Apothecary: "Meagre
were his looks. / Sharp misery had worn him to the bones" (5.1.40-1). Symbolically, Romeo is
actively seeking out death. Shakespeare shows that death will not come upon Romeo
unawares, but is willing to work in service of the heartbroken young man. In this way,
Shakespeare aligns Romeo with the classical archetype of the tragic hero who accepts his
terrible fate head on. Much in the way that the characters in Richard III dream about their
fates in the final act of that play, Romeo also has a dream which foretells his fate. He says, "I
dreamt my lady came and found me dead" (5.1.6). The dream both foreshadows the ending
and suggests that greater forces – perhaps the “plague” that Mercutio tried to bring forth –
have come together to ensure a tragic ending.

The events of Act 5 do not provide a clear answer to the question of whether Romeo and
Juliet is a tragedy of fate. Instead, one could continue to argue that the tragic ending is the
result of individual decisions - most notably, Friar Laurence's complicated plan. The success
of this plan is highly contingent on timing and circumstance. What if Friar John had not been
waylaid? What if Romeo had arrived at the Capulet tomb two hours later, or if Friar Laurence
had arrived one hour earlier? Fate is not typically so contingent on human actions, which
suggests that the most powerful force at work in Romeo and Juliet is actually the psychology
of the characters. The uncertainty in these final scenes makes the play less classically tragic
and yet more unique for not being fully aligned any one form.

Friar Laurence continues to advocate for moderation in the final scenes of Romeo and Juliet.
Many scholars believe that Shakespeare meant for his audience to take away the message
that a lack of moderation is the reason for Romeo and Juliet's demise. Some believe that
Romeo and Juliet acted too quickly and intensely on their youthful passion, and allowed it to
consume them. However, this moral reading feels like an oversimplification, and ignores the
complexities of their love. Instead, the idea of caution is arguably more applicable to Romeo
and Juliet's families, who have allowed their feud to get out of control.

Shakespeare also uses the recurring motif of gold and silver to criticize the childishness of the
feuding adults. Gold continues to represent wealth and jealousy, the vices that keep Romeo
and Juliet apart. When Romeo pays the Apothecary in gold, he remarks, "There is thy gold -
worse poison to men's souls" (5.1.79). Gold, as a symbol, underlies the family feuding. Even
after Romeo and Juliet are dead and their families supposedly agree to peace, they still try to
outdo one another by creating commemorative gold statues. Romeo recognizes the power of
gold and yet repudiates it, allowing Shakespeare to create a distinction between the kinds of
people who value money and those who value true love.

Though death is paramount in Act 5, love is still a major theme as well. In particular,
Shakespeare employs erotic symbolism, especially in the death scene. Romeo drinks from a
chalice, a cup shaped like a woman’s torso. Meanwhile Juliet says, "O happy dagger, / This is
thy sheath! There rust, and let me die" (5.3.169). The dagger she speaks of is Romeo's, thus
highlighting the sexual overtones of her proclamation. Additionally, Shakespeare uses the
word "die" ambiguously. In Shakespeare's time, "To die" could either refer to real death or
sexual intercourse. Thus, even at the very end of the play, the audience could interpret Juliet's
final statement as her intention to commit suicide or her desire to engage with Romeo
sexually. The sexual nature of their relationship stands in stark contrast to Juliet's arranged
marriage to Paris, which is based on politics and greed, not love.

It is important to note that in Romeo and Juliet, the moral conventions of marriage, religion,
and family are all stained by human folly. The purity of Romeo and Juliet's love has no place
in a world filled with moral corruption. Shakespeare frames Romeo and Juliet's 'tale of woe'
as a tragic lesson to their their families, which makes an impact on the audience as well. The
Montagues and Capulets reconcile over a shared sense of loss, rather than moral or societal
pressure. The audience comes away from the play hoping that these families have learned
from the tragic events.
However, one analysis of Friar Laurence suggests the issue is a bit more complicated. As
noted previously, the Friar is more of a shrewd politician than a pious clergyman. He
manipulates a love-and-death situation for the sake of political peace. He does this by
creating a potion that has remarkable powers - as if he is playing God. By giving Juliet the
potion, Friar Laurence puts her in a Christ-like position (since they both ‘died’ and then were
resurrected from a tomb). Friar Laurence's failure could be read as a criticism of hubris, as
well as punishment for an earthly man trying to enact divine power - thus reinforcing the
secular nature of the play.

About Shakespearean Theater

Before Shakespeare's time (and even during his early childhood), it was common for troupes
of actors to perform wherever they could - staging plays in halls, courts, courtyards, or any
other available open spaces. However, in 1574, when Shakespeare was ten years old, the
Common Council passed a law that required all plays and theaters in London to be licensed.
In 1576, James Burbage, an actor and future Lord Chamberlain's Man, built the first
permanent theater, called "The Theatre," outside London's city walls. After this, many more
theaters were established, including the Globe Theatre, which was where most of
Shakespeare's plays premiered.

Elizabethan theaters were generally modeled on the design of the original Theatre. These
theaters were built of wood and comprised three tiers of seats in a circular shape around a
stage area on one side of the circle. There was a roof over a section of the audience seating,
but much of the main stage and the standing room in front of it were subject to the elements.
About 1,500 audience members could pay extra money to sit in the covered seating areas,
while about 800 "groundlings" paid less money to stand in the open area directly in front of
the stage.

The stage itself was divided into three levels: a main stage area with doors at the rear and a
curtained area in the back for "discovery scenes"; an upper, canopied area called "heaven",
for balcony scenes; and an area under the stage called "hell," which could be accessed by a
trap door in the stage. There were dressing rooms located behind the stage, but no curtain in
the front of it, which meant that scenes had to flow into each other, and "dead bodies" had to
be dragged off.

Performances took place during the day, and the open plan theater allowed for the use of
natural light. Since there could be no dramatic lighting and there was very art direction
(scenery and props), audiences relied on the actors' lines and stage directions to supply the
time of day and year, as well as the weather, location, and mood of the scenes. Shakespeare
developed creative and entertaining ways to supply this information. For example, in Hamlet,
the audience learns within the first twenty lines of dialogue where the scene takes place
("Have you had quiet guard?"), what time of day it is ("'Tis now strook twelf"), what the
weather is like ("'Tis bitter cold"), and what mood the characters are in ("and I am sick at
heart”).

One important difference between plays written in Shakespeare's time and those written
today is that Elizabethan plays were published after their performances, sometimes even after
their authors' deaths, and were in many ways a record of what happened on stage during
these performances rather than directions for what should happen. Actors were allowed to
suggest changes to scenes and dialogue, and had much more freedom with their parts than
actors do today.
During Shakespeare's life, his plays were published in various forms, and with a wide range
of accuracy. The discrepancies between different versions of his plays from one publication to
the next make it difficult for editors to put together authoritative editions of his works. Plays
could be published in large anthologies called Folios (the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays
contains 36 plays), or in smaller Quartos. Folios were so named because of the way their
paper was folded in half to make chunks of two pages each, which were sewn together to
make a large volume. Quartos were smaller, cheaper books containing only one play. Their
paper was folded twice, making four pages. In general, the First Folio have lasted better than
the quartos. Therefore, plays that are printed in the First Folio are in better condition and
therefore, much easier for editors to compile.

Although Shakespeare's language and classical references seem archaic to some modern
readers, his audiences would have understood every word. Shakespeare's audience would
have represented a variety of social classes, and appropriately, his plays appealed to all kinds
of sensibilities - from his "highbrow" tales of kings and queens to the "lowbrow" blunderings
of clowns and servants. Even his most tragic plays include clown characters for comic relief
and to provide lucid commentary on the story. Audiences would have been familiar with his
numerous references to classical mythology and literature, since these stories were staples of
the Elizabethan knowledge base. While Shakespeare's plays appealed to all levels of society
and included familiar story lines and themes, they also expanded his audiences'
vocabularies. He coined many phrases and words that we use today, like "amazement," "in
my mind's eye," and "the milk of human kindness". His plays contain a greater variety and
number of words than almost any other body of work in the English language, showing that
he a brilliant innovator, had a huge vocabulary, and was interested developing new phrases
and words. While Shakespeare's theater work was entirely representative of his time, it has
remained timeless because of his timeless stories and memorable characters.

Suggested Essay Questions

In what way do Romeo and Juliet break gender conventions? How do these roles fluctuate
throughout the play?
At the beginning of the play, the young lovers' behavior reverses common gender
conventions – Romeo acts in a way that his friends call feminine, while Juliet exhibits
masculine qualities. Romeo is by no means an archetypal Elizabethan man; he is
disinterested in asserting his physical power like the other male characters in the play.
Instead, Romeo chooses to stew in his pensive melancholy. On several instances, Romeo's
companions suggest that his introspective behavior is effeminate. On the other hand, Juliet
exhibits a more pronounced sense of agency than most female characters in Shakespeare's
time. While the women around her, like her mother, blindly act in accordance with Lord
Capulet's wishes, Juliet proudly expresses her opinion. Even when she has lost a battle (like
when Lord Capulet insists she consider marrying Paris), she demonstrates a shrewd ability to
deflect attention without committing to anything. In her relationship with Romeo, Juliet
clearly takes the lead by insisting on marriage and proposing the plan to unite them. As the
play progresses, Romeo starts to break out of his pensive inaction to the point that Mercutio
notices this change. Romeo also makes a great shift from his cowardly attempt at suicide in
Act III to his willful decision in Act V. Overall, Romeo and Juliet are arguably a good match
because they are so distinct. Juliet is headstrong, while Romeo is passive until passion strikes
and inspires him to action.
Contrast Romeo's attempted suicide in Act 3 with his actual suicide in Act 5. How do these
two events reveal changes in his character and an evolving view of death?
Romeo considers suicide in both Act 3 and Act 5. In Act 3, Romeo's desire to take his own
life is a cowardly response to his grief over killing Tybalt. He is afraid of the consequences of
his actions and would rather escape the world entirely than face losing Juliet. Both Friar
Laurence and the Nurse criticize Romeo for his weakness and lack of responsibility - taking
the knife from his hands. In contrast, Romeo actually does commit suicide in Act V because
he sees no other option. He plans for it, seeking out the Apothecary before leaving Mantua,
and kills himself out of solidarity with Juliet, not because he is afraid. While suicide is hardly
a defensible action, Romeo's dual attempts to take his life reveal his growing maturity and his
strengthened moral resolve.

Several characters criticize Romeo for falling in love too quickly. Do you believe this is
true? Does his tendency towards infatuation give the audience occasion to question
Romeo's affection for Juliet?
This question obviously asks for a student opinion, but there is evidence to support both sides
of the argument. In Act 2, Friar Laurence states his opinion that Romeo does indeed fall in
love too quickly. Romeo is arguably in love with being in love more than he is in love with
any particular woman. The speed with which his affections shift from Rosaline to Juliet – all
before he ever exchanges a word with the latter – suggests that Romeo's feelings of 'love' are
closer to lust than commitment. This interpretation is supported by the numerous sexual
references in the play, which are even interwoven with religious imagery in Romeo and
Juliet's first conversation. However, it also possible to argue that Romeo's lust does not
invalidate the purity of his love. Romeo and Juliet celebrates young, passionate love, which
includes physical lust. Furthermore, whereas Romeo was content to pine for Rosaline from
afar, his love for Juliet forces him to spring into action. He is melancholy over Rosaline, but
he is willing to die for Juliet. Therefore, a possible reading is that Romeo and Juliet's
relationship might have been sparked by physical attraction, but it grew into a deep, spiritual
connection.

Examine the contrast between order and disorder in Romeo and Juliet. How does
Shakespeare express this dichotomy through symbols, and how do those motifs help to
underline the other major themes in the play?
The contrast between order and disorder appears from the Prologue, where the Chorus tells a
tragic story using the ordered sonnet form. From that point onwards, the separation between
order and disorder is a common theme. Ironically, violence and disorder occurs in bright
daylight, while the serenity of love emerges at night. The relationship between Romeo and
Juliet is uncomplicated without the disorderly feud between their families, which has taken
over the streets of Verona. The contrast between order and disorder underscores the way that
Shakespeare presents love - a safe cocoon in which the lovers can separate themselves from
the unpredictable world around them. At the end of the play, it becomes clear that a
relationship based on pure love cannot co-exist with human weaknesses like greed and
jealousy.

Many critics note a tonal inconsistency in Romeo and Juliet. Do you find the shift in tone
that occurs after Mercutio's death to be problematic? Does this shift correspond to an
established structural tradition or is it simply one of Shakespeare's whims?
After the Prologue until the point where Mercutio dies in Act III, Romeo and Juliet is mostly a
comic romance. After Mercutio dies, the nature of the play suddenly shifts into tragedy. It is
possible that this extreme shift is merely the product of Shakespeare's whims, especially
because the play has many other asides that are uncharacteristic of either comedy or tragedy.
For example, Mercutio's Queen Mab speech is dreamy and poetic, while the Nurse's colorful
personality gives her more dimension than functional characters generally require. However,
it is also possible to see the parallels between this tonal shift and the play's thematic contrast
between order and disorder. Shakespeare frequently explored the human potential for both
comedy and tragedy in his plays, and it is possible that in Romeo and Juliet, he wanted to
explore the transition from youthful whimsy into the complications of adulthood. From this
perspective, the play's unusual structure could represent a journey to maturity. Romeo grows
from a petulant teenager who believes he can ignore the world around him to a man who
accepts the fact that his actions have consequences.

Eminent literary critic Harold Bloom considers Mercutio to be one of Shakespeare's

greatest inventions in Romeo and Juliet. Why do you agree or disagree with him? What sets
Mercutio apart?
One of Shakespeare's great dramatic talents is his ability to portray functional characters as
multi-faceted individuals. Mercutio, for example, could have served a simple dramatic
function, helping the audience get to know Romeo in the early acts. Then, his death in Act 3
is a crucial plot point in the play, heightening the stakes and forcing Romeo to make a life-
changing decision. Mercutio barely appears in Arthur Brooke's Romeus and Juliet, which
Romeo and Juliet is based on. Therefore, Shakespeare made a point of fleshing out the
character. In Mercutio's Queen Mab speech, Shakespeare has the opportunity to truly delve
into the bizarre and often dangerous sexual nature of love. Further, Mercutio's insight as he
dies truly expresses the horrors of revenge, as he declares a plague on both the Montague
and Capulet families. He is the first casualty of their feud - and because he transcends
functionality, the audience mourns his untimely death and can relate to Romeo's capricious
revenge.

How does Shakespeare use symbols of gold and silver throughout the play? What does each
element represent?
Shakespeare uses gold and silver as symbols to criticize human folly. He often invokes the
image of silver to symbolize pure love and innocent beauty. On the other hand, he uses gold
as a sign of greed or desire. For example, Shakespeare describes Rosaline as immune to
showers of gold, an image that symbolizes the selfishness of bribery. Later, when Romeo is
banished, he comments that banishment is a "golden axe," meaning that banishment is
merely a shiny euphemism for death. Finally, the erection of the golden statues at the end of
the play is a sign of the fact that neither Lord Capulet nor Lord Montague has really learned
anything from the loss of their children. They are still competing to claim the higher level of
grief. Romeo, however, recognizes the power of gold and rejects it - through him,
Shakespeare suggests a distinction between a world governed by wealth and the cocoon of
true love.

Do a character analysis of Friar Laurence. What motivates him? In what ways does this
motivation complicate his character?
Friar Laurence is yet another character who transcends his functional purpose. When Romeo
first approaches the Friar to plan his marriage to Juliet, the older man questions the young
man's sincerity, since Romeo openly pined for Rosaline only a few days before. However, the
Friar shows a willingness to compromise by agreeing to marry the young lovers nevertheless.
What ultimately motivates Friar Laurence is his desire to end the feud between the Capulets
and the Montagues, and he sees Romeo and Juliet's marriage as a means to that end. While
his peaceful intentions are admirable, his devious actions to achieve them – conducting a
marriage that he explicitly questions – suggests he is more driven by politics than by an
internal moral compass. The fact that a religious figure would compromise one of the
Church's sacraments (marriage) further suggests that the Friar wants his power to extend
beyond the confines of his Chapel. He also displays his hubris by helping Juliet to fake her
death, rather than simply helping her get to Mantua to be with Romeo. While Friar Laurence
is not an explicit villain, his internal contradictions speak to Shakespeare's ability to create
multi-faceted characters.

Should Romeo and Juliet be considered a classical tragedy (in which fate destroys
individuals)? Or is it more a tragedy of circumstance and personality? Moreover, could the
tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet have been avoided?
In classical tragedy, an individual is defeated by Fate, despite his or her best efforts to change
a pre-determined course of events. A classical tragedy both celebrates an individual's
willpower while lamenting the fact that the universe cannot be bested by mankind. The tragic
elements in Romeo and Juliet are undeniable - two young lovers want nothing more than to
be together and fall victim to an ancient feud and rigid societal conventions. However, while
Romeo and Juliet's deaths result from human folly, the immovable power of fate also has a
hand in sealing their destinies. For instance, Romeo and Juliet had many opportunities to
simply run away together instead of being separated after Romeo is banished from Verona.
Furthermore, many of the tragic occurrences are contingent on antagonistic characters
running into one another, and then choosing to pursue vengeance rather than simply walk
away. Based on this evidence, it is possible to read Shakespeare's intent as suggesting that
behavioral adjustment can often prevent tragic events.

How is Romeo and Juliet a criticism of organized religion? Examine the play's secularism to
develop your answer.
While Romeo and Juliet does not present explicit attacks against religion, Shakespeare
reveals his skepticism of Christianity in subtle ways. In many ways, Romeo and Juliet must
reject the tenets of Christianity in order to be together. In their first meeting, they banter,
using religious imagery to share their sexual feelings. In this exchange, the lovers
acknowledge the omnipresence of Christianity, but cheekily use religious images in an
unexpected context. Further, Christian tradition would have required Juliet to submit to her
father's desire, but instead, she manipulates his expectations to distract him from her real
agenda. Even Friar Laurence, an explicitly religious figure, uses Christianity as a tool towards
his own ends. In this way, the play implicitly suggests that the rigid rules of religion often
work in opposition to the desires of the heart - and to pursue true happiness, one must throw
off the shackles of organized faith.