Referat

"Romeo and Juliet"
ANALYSIS INFORMATION:
 General Storytelling: Majority Complete

 Act Order Storytelling: Complete
Complete with the

exception of the following
minor characters: Petruchio;
Capulet's cousin, Peter,
 Character List: Paris' page, Citizens,
Musicians, Watchmen,
Chorus, Attendants,
Maskers, Torchbearers, a
Boy with a drum,
Gentlemen, Gentlewomen,
Tybalt's page.
 Build Characters: Partial
William Shakespeare
Author:
Shakespeare's principal source for the plot was
Analysis sources: The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet
(1562), a long narrative poem by the English
poet Arthur Broke or Brooke (d. 1563). Broke
had based his poem on a French translation of
a tale by an Italian writer, Matteo Bandello
(1485-1561) (Merriam Webster 964).
ANALYSIS SOURCES:
Bevington, David. Introduction. Romeo and

Juliet. By William Shakespeare. Ed. David
Bevington. New York: Bantam, 1988. xi-xxv.
Bryant, J .A., Jr. Introduction. Romeo and Juliet.

By William Shakespeare. Ed. J. A. Bryant, Jr.
New York: Penguin, 1998. lxiii-lxxviii.
Charlton, H. B. Essay. Romeo and Juliet. By

William Shakespeare. Ed. J. A. Bryant, Jr. New
York: Penguin, 1998. 144-159.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Essay. Romeo and
Juliet. By William Shakespeare. Ed. J. A.
Bryant, Jr. New York: Penguin, 1998. 133-143.
Drabble, M., ed. The Oxford Companion to

English Literature. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1995.
Gibbons, Brian. Introduction. Romeo and Juliet.

By William Shakespeare. Ed. Brian Gibbons.
York: Methuen, 1980. 1-77.
Johnson, Samuel. Essay. Romeo and Juliet. By

York: Penguin, 1998. 131-32.
Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature.

Springfield, Mass: Merriam Webster, 1995.
Paster, Gail Kern. Essay. "Romeo and Juliet: A

Modern Perspective." Romeo and Juliet. By
William Shakespeare. Eds. Barbara A. Mowat
and Paul Werstine. New York: Washington
Square Press, 1992.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Eds.

Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York:
Washington Square Press, 1992.
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Ed. G. Carey.

Lincoln: Cliffs Notes, 1979.
Snyder, Susan. Essay. Romeo and Juliet. By

York: Penguin, 1998. 171-186.
Romance--"Though a tragedy, Romeo and Juliet
is in some ways more closely comparable to
Shakespeare's romantic comedies . . . . it revels
Genre: in punning, metaphor, and wit combat"
(Bevington ix).
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene)--
Setting: Verona, Italy
Late 1500's--told over the course of four or five
Period: days.
Katharine E. Monahan Huntley
Analysis by:
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ANALYSIS:
The text used for this analysis is The Folger Shakespeare Library edition of Romeo
and Juliet--second quarto, for the most part.
Comments:
Coleridge's commentary about Shakespeare (although completely unintentional),

relates to how Dramatica works so well with the Bard:
"Shakespeare has this advantage over all other dramatists--that he has availed
himself of his psychological genius to develop all the minutiae of the human heart:
showing us the thing that, to common observers, he seems solely intent upon, he
makes visible what we should not otherwise have seen: just as, after looking at
distant objects through a telescope, when we behold them subsequently with the
naked eye, we see them with greater distinctness, and in more detail, than we
should otherwise have done." (136-137) The "minutiae" of "Romeo and Juliet's"
characters and their actions is accounted for in this Dramatica storyform, and
explicated in its analysis.
Brief Synopsis:
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-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Doth with their death bury their parents' strife. (Partial Prologue)
Overall Character Mini-Synopsis:
According to Bryant:
Apart from the two protagonists, the people of Verona, or rather those that
Shakespeare has presented to us, may be arranged in two groups. The first of
these, by far the larger, includes all the supernumeraries, such minor characters as
Peter and the Apothecary, and a few relatively important figures like Tybalt, the
Capulets, and the Nurse, Paris, and Benvolio. These are the static or "flat"
characters, who are "by nature" what they are; and their functions are to present the
limited range of values they embody and to make the plot go. . . . The second group
consists of three characters who give a doubly strong impression of life because
they include among their qualities some degree of perception or understanding.
Prince Escalus, slight as he is, is one of these, and Friar Lawrence another. . . .
Mercutio . . . is the third member of this more perceptive group. . . . Mercutio, in
defense of both Romeo's honor and his person, picked up the challenge [issued by
Tybalt] and would have killed Tybalt but for Romeo's intervention. . . . Mercutio was
on the point of bringing to pass what neither civil authority [Prince Escalus] nor well-
intentioned but misplaced ingenuity [Friar Lawrence] had been able to accomplish,
and Romeo with a single sentimental action . . . destroyed his only hope of averting
tragedy long enough to achieve the maturity he needed in order to avoid it all
together. (1xxvii)
Dramatis Personae
Escalus, Prince of Verona
Mercutio, a young gentleman and kinsman to the Prince, friend of Romeo.
Paris, a noble young kinsman to the Prince.
Page to Paris.
Montague, head of a Veronese family at feud with the Capulets.
Lady Montague.
Romeo, Montague's son.
Benvolio, Montague's nephew and friend of Romeo and Mercutio.
Abram, a servant to Montague.
Balthasar, Romeo's servant.
Capulet, head of a Veronese family at feud with the Montagues.
Lady Capulet.
Juliet, Capulet's daughter.
Tybalt, Lady Capulet's nephew.
Capulet's Cousin, an old gentleman.
Nurse, a Capulet servant, Juliet's foster mother.

Peter, a Capulet servant attending on the Nurse.
Of the Capulet household:
Sampson,
Gregory,
Anthony,
Potpan,
Servingmen.
Of the Franciscan Order:
Friar Lawrence,
Friar John,
An Apothecary, of Mantua.
Three Musicians.
Members of the Watch, Citizens of Verona, Masquers, Torchbearers, Pages,

Servants.
Chorus.
THE OVERALL CHARACTERS:
Name: Romeo
ID: Main Character
Gender: Male
Description:
CAPULET
"Young Romeo is it? (1.5.72) He bears him like a portly gentleman,/And, to say truth,
Verona brags of him/To be a virtuous and well-governed youth" (1.5.75-77).
Role: Lover
Story Activities: "The sudden crisis [killing Tybalt] awakens primitive instincts which
momentarily overwhelm his finer nature" (Gibbons 71).
Background & Family History: "He appears to be in love with Rosaline; but, in truth,
he is in love only with his own idea. He felt the necessity of being beloved which no
noble mind can be without" (Coleridge 142).
Character Type: Complex

Characteristics:
Motivation: Pursuit
Purpose: Desire; Actuality; Self Aware
Name: Juliet
ID: Impact Character
Gender: Female
Description:
"Youth, freshness, and vulnerable innocence" (Gibbons 40)
Role: Object of Affection

Characteristics:
Motivation: Logic; Faith

Purpose: Ability; Aware
Name: Abram
Gender: Male
Role: Servant to Montague
Name: Apothecary
Gender: Male
Description:
"caitiff [miserable] wretch"
Role: Medicine Man
Name: Balthasar
Gender: Male
Description:
Loyal to a fault
Role: Romeo's servingman

Characteristics:
Motivation: Support
Name: Benvolio
Gender: Male
Role: Romeo's cousin
Story Activities: "And Benvolio, a relative of the Montagues, is a consistent

peacemaker. He tries to suppress a brawl amongst the rival retainers and invites
Tybalt, a Capulet to assist him in the work. Later he begs his friends to avoid trouble
by keeping out of the way of the Capulets, for it is the season of hot blood" (Charlton
153):
I pray thee, good Mercutio, let's retire:/The day is hot, the Capulet's abroad,/And if
we meet, we shall not scape a brawl;/For now, these hot days, is the mad blood
stirring (3.1.1-4).

Characteristics:
Motivation: Avoidance
Methodology: Acceptance
Purpose: Inertia
Name: Friar Lawrence

Gender: Male
Description:
"Vigorous and ingenuous" (Bryant lxxvi)
Role: Priest
Story Activities: "Trying only to bring peace to Verona, he agrees to help Romeo and
Juliet, but he quickly finds himself . . . entangled in new complications. Unfortunately,
his well-laid plans depend on chance" (Carey 12).
Skills & Occupations: "Friar Laurence is one of the tribe of manipulators, whose job it
is to transform or otherwise get round seemingly intractable realities" (Snyder 180).

Characteristics:
Motivation: Consider; Help
Methodology: Reduction; Evaluation
Evaluation: Expectation; Ending
Purpose: Equity; Projection
Name: Gregory
Gender: Male
Role: Servant to Capulet
Name: Lady Capulet

Gender: Female
Description:
Young, beautiful "a nasty temper" (Carey 13)
Role: Juliet's mother:
Name: Lady Montague

Gender: Female
Description:
Lady Montague is extremely concerned for her family's safety. She does not want
her husband engaging in any quarrels--and later grieves for her son's death, dying of
sadness herself.
Role: Romeo's mother
Name: Lord Capulet

Gender: Male
Description:
"His querulous fussiness, his casual bonhomie, his almost senile humor, and his
childish irascibility hardly make him the pattern of a clan chieftain" (Charlton 152).
"Lady Capulet ridicules her ageing [sic] husband's marital pretension" (Gibbons 41).
Role: Juliet's father
Story Activities: "Juliet's father is on stage much more than Montague. He is very
likeable in the ball scene as he reminisces with an old kinsman while watching the
young people dance, and later when he is defending Romeo and upbraiding Tybalt.
But his moods can undergo immediate change, as when he feels crossed by Juliet"
(Carey 11).

Characteristics:
Purpose: Inequity
Name: Lord Montague

Gender: Male
Description:
Like his wife, Lord Montague is concerned for his son.
Role: Romeo's father
Story Activities: "As father of Romeo, he is worried about his son's disturbed
emotional state. After Romeo's death, Montague promises Capulet to honor Juliet
with a golden statue" (Carey 11).
Name: Mercutio
Gender: Male
Description:
"Mercutio's wit, gaiety, and courage, will always procure him friends that wish him a
longer life . . ." (Johnson 131)
Role: Romeo's friend; Prince's kinsman
Story Activities: "Mercutio is a man possessing all the elements of a poet: the whole
world was, as it were, subject to his laws of association. . . . By his loss it was
contrived that the whole catastrophe of the tragedy should be brought about: it
endears him to Romeo and gives to the death of Mercutio an importance which it
could not otherwise have acquired" (Coleridge 137).
Skills & Occupations: "He is the best of game-players, endlessly inventive and full of
quick moves and countermoves" (Snyder 177).

Characteristics:
Motivation: Disbelief; Oppose

Methodology: Proaction; Induction
Purpose: Chaos; Change
Name: Nurse
Gender: Female
Description:
". . . at once loquacious and secret, obsequious and insolent, trusty and dishonest"
(Johnson 132).
Role: Juliet's nurse
Story Activities: "From the beginning, she is garrulous, corruptible, and insensitive;
and as long as nothing requires her to be otherwise, she can also be amusing. At
her crisis, when Juliet asks her to be wise, the Nurse can only suggest bigamy, a
course quite in keeping with the values she herself is made of" (Bryant lxxiv).
Physical Traits & Mannerisms: ". . . in the Nurse you have all the garrulity of old age,
and all its fondness . . . . You have also in the Nurse the arrogance of ignorance and
the pride of meanness at being connected with a great family" (Coleridge 139).

Characteristics:
Motivation: Reconsider
Name: Paris
Gender: Male
Description:
Lady Capulet gives Juliet "a very affected description of Paris as if he were a
beautiful but unbound book in need of a cover (binding)" (Mowat and Werstine 38).
Role: Juliet's suitor
Story Activities: "He is handsome and courteous, and he hopes to marry Juliet. He
duels with Romeo in the Capulet tomb, mistakenly believing . . . Romeo has come to
desecrate the bodies of Juliet and Tybalt" (Carey 11).
Physical Traits & Mannerisms: Nurse describes Paris' physical beauty as "a man of
wax" (1.3.82)--"The ideal form of a man such as an artist might fashion in wax"
(Mowat and Werstine 38).

Characteristics:
Purpose: Perception
Name: Prince Escalus

Gender: Male
Description:
Fair-minded and "forthright" (Bryant lxxvi)
Role: Prince of Verona
Story Activities: "The fact that the Prince must intervene [in the Montague and
Capulet feud] is especially significant to this play because it serves to lift the action
out of the realm of a domestic tragedy--that is, the feud has reached the stage where
the issue is of public import" (Carey 11).

Characteristics:
Motivation: Control; Conscience

Purpose: Order
Name: Sampson
Gender: Male
Story Activities: "Samson and Gregory in the first scene are slapstick cowards,
hiding behind the law and daring to quarrel only when reinforcements arrive"
(Bevington xxi).
Name: Servingman
Gender: Male
Description:
Illiterate
Name: Tybalt
Gender: Male
Description:
". . . the embodiment of violent aggression" (Gibbons 39).
Role: Kinsman to the Capulets
Story Activities: "Tybalt alone resents Romeo's presence at the ball . . . because
Tybalt feels Romeo's coming to be an insult, he seeks him out next day to challenge
him, so providing the immediate occasion of the new outburst" (Charlton 154).
Affiliations & Beliefs: "Tybalt alone takes the feud really seriously. It is his inner law,
the propeller of his fiery nature" (Snyder 176).
Skills & Occupations: "a fierce and skilled fencer" (Carey 12)
Interests: Tybalt's passionate hatred of the Montagues is illustrated in Act 1, Scene

1:
TYBALT
What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?/Turn thee, Benvolio; look upon
thy death.
BENVOLIO
I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword,/Or manage it to part these men with me.
TYBALT
What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word/As I hate hell, all Montagues, and
thee. (1.1.67-72)

Characteristics:
Motivation: Feeling; Uncontrolled; Temptation; Hinder

Methodology: Nonacceptance
Character Relationships for "Romeo and Juliet"
Character: Abram
Abram's Introduction in the story:
Abram is introduced in Act 1, Scene 1, when he quarrels with Sampson and Gregory.
Abram's dismissal from the story:
Abram does not appear after Act 1, Scene 1.

PRINCE
Once more, on pain of death, all men depart (1.1.105).
Character: Apothecary
Apothecary's Introduction in the story:
The apothecary is introduced in Act 5, Scene 1, when Romeo purchases "mortal

drugs" (5.1.66) from him.
Apothecary's dismissal from the story:
The apothecary is dismissed in Act 5, Scene 1, after selling Romeo poison that will
"dispatch you straight" (5.1.108).
Character: Balthasar
Balthasar's Introduction in the story:
Balthasar is introduced in Act 5, Scene 1, when he arrives in Matua with the report of
Juliet's death.
Balthasar's dismissal from the story:
Balthasar is dismissed in Act 5, Scene 3, when he tells the Prince of his master's
actions.
Character: Benvolio
Benvolio's Introduction in the story:
Benvolio is introduced in Act 1, Scene 1, as he quells Montague servingmen from

fighting: "Part, fools! Put up your swords. You know not what you do" (1.65-66).
Benvolio's dismissal from the story:

Benvolio explains to Prince Escalus what happened in the "bloody fray" (3.1.159)
involving Romeo, Tybalt, and Mercutio. He does not appear thereafter.
Benvolio's relationship with Tybalt
". . . Benvolio, the man of good will, is set against Tybalt, the embodiment of violent
aggression" (Gibbons 39).
Character: Friar Lawrence
Friar Lawrence's Introduction in the story:
Romeo leaves Juliet and goes straight to his confidant, Friar Lawrence, in Act 2,
Scene 3.
Friar Lawrence's dismissal from the story:
Friar Lawrence explains to all what has transpired between Romeo and Juliet in Act
5, Scene 3.
Friar Lawrence's relationship with Prince Escalus
The Prince and Friar Lawrence desire the same goal:
"Like the Prince, the Friar has had from the start a clear perception of the danger
latent in the old quarrel, and like the Prince he has taken steps appropriate to his
position to mend the differences and restore order" (Bryant lxxv).
Character: Gregory
Gregory's Introduction in the story:
Sampson and Gregory are introduced in Act 1, Scene 1. They enter with "swords
and bucklers." "They encounter two Montague servingmen, Abram and another"
(Carey 14).
Gregory's dismissal from the story:
Gregory is dismissed In Act 1, Scene 1, after the "fray":
PRINCE
Character: Juliet
Juliet's Introduction in the story:
At the bidding of Nurse, Juliet obediently comes to her mother, Lady Capulet, in Act
1, Scene 3: "Madam, I am here. What is your will?" (1.3.7)
Juliet's dismissal from the story:
Grief-stricken, Juliet stabs herself with Romeo's dagger in Act 5, Scene 3.
Juliet's relationship with Nurse
"The Nurse . . . is emphatically coarse in her vitality, providing a foil for Juliet's
lightness and natural delicacy" (Gibbons 39).
Juliet's relationship with Romeo
"In their first kiss Romeo and Juliet withdraw into a private world of intimacy,
suspending the world's ordinary time and replacing it with the rival time of the
imagination" (Gibbons 55).
Character: Lady Capulet
Lady Capulet's Introduction in the story:
Lady Capulet accompanies Lord Capulet in Act 1, Scene, 1, as they come across
Benvolio and Tybalt and others engaged in a fracas.
Lady Capulet's dismissal from the story:
Lady Capulet mourns her daughter in Act 5, Scene 3.
Character: Lady Montague
Lady Montague's Introduction in the story:
Lady Montague accompanies Lord Montague as they arrive at the brawl immediately
after Lord Capulet, in Act 1, Scene 1:
Montague: Thou villain Capulet!--Hold me not; let me go.
Lady Montague: Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe. (1.1.81-82)
Lady Montague's dismissal from the story:
Lord Montague tells the Prince of his wife's death:
MONTAGUE
Alas, my liege, my wife is dead tonight./Grief of my son's exile hath stopped her
breath (5.3.218/19).
Character: Lord Capulet
Lord Capulet's Introduction in the story:
Lord Capulet is introduced in Act 1, Scene, 1, as he comes across Benvolio and

Tybalt and others engaged in a fracas: "What noise is this? Give me my long sword,
ho!" (1.1.76)
Lord Capulet's dismissal from the story:
Capulet's last words are uttered in the final scene: "As rich shall Romeo's by his lady
lie,/Poor sacrifices of our enmity." (5.3.314-15)
Character: Lord Montague

Lord Montague's Introduction in the story:
Lord Montague arrives at the brawl immediately after Capulet in Act 1, Scene 1:
CAPULET
My sword, I say. Old Montague is come/And flourishes his blade in spite of me.
MONTAGUE
Thou villain Capulet!--Hold me not; let me go. (1.1.79-81)
Lord Montague's dismissal from the story:
Montague responds to Capulet's gesture of friendship with the promise to raise a

"statue in pure gold" (5.3.310) of Juliet.
Character: Mercutio
Mercutio's Introduction in the story:
Mercutio is introduced in Act 1, Scene 4, as the young gallants discuss attending

Capulet's feast.
Mercutio's dismissal from the story:
Mercutio is fatally wounded in Act 3, Scene 1, as he curses: "A plague o' both your
houses!" (3.1.111)
Mercutio's relationship with Romeo
"Mercutio is a foil to Romeo the lover." (Gibbons 40)
Character: Nurse
Nurse's Introduction in the story:
Nurse is introduced in Act 1, Scene 3, bidding Juliet to come to Lady Capulet.

Nurse's dismissal from the story:
Nurse is dismissed in Act 4, Scene 5, as she mourns Juliet: ". . . this is a pitiful case"
(4.5.104).
Nurse's relationship with Juliet
"The Nurse . . . is emphatically coarse in her vitality, providing a foil for Juliet's
lightness and natural delicacy" (Gibbons 39).
Character: Paris
Paris's Introduction in the story:
Paris is introduced in Act 1, Scene 2, discussing with Capulet his suit for Juliet's
hand.
Paris's dismissal from the story:
Paris is mourning Juliet at the church when Romeo comes upon him. They fight, and
Romeo slays Paris. As he is dying, Paris beseeches his rival to "lay me with Juliet"
(5.3.73), a request Romeo honors.
Paris's relationship with Romeo
". . . Paris [is] rival to Romeo in the second half of the play, once Tybalt and Mercutio
are dead and Benvolio fades from the action. . . . Thus Shakespeare develops Paris
into a noble rival to Romeo; he has public acceptability and observes the rules of
conventional courtship, so contrasting with Romeo's secret and unconventional love"
(Gibbons 41).
Character: Prince Escalus
Prince Escalus's Introduction in the story:
Prince Escalus, with his train, comes upon the fray in Act 1, Scene 1, and makes his
pronouncement: "If you ever disturb our streets again,/Your lives shall pay the forfeit
of the peace." (1.1.98-99)
Prince Escalus's dismissal from the story:
Prince Escalus has the final word in Romeo and Juliet: "For never was a story of
more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo." (5.3.320-321)
Prince Escalus's relationship with Friar Lawrence
The Prince and Friar Lawrence desire the same goal:
"Like the Prince, the Friar has had from the start a clear perception of the danger
latent in the old quarrel, and like the Prince he has taken steps appropriate to his
position to mend the differences and restore order" (Bryant lxxv).
Character: Romeo
Romeo 's Introduction in the story:
Romeo is introduced in Act 1, Scene 1, wandering about--disconsolate over his

infatuation with Rosaline: "Out of favor where I am in love" (1.173).
Romeo 's dismissal from the story:
Romeo, believing Juliet is dead, takes the apothecary's poison and dies in Act 5,
Scene 3:
ROMEO
Eyes, look your last./Arms take your last embrace./And, lips, O, you/The doors of
breath, seal with a righteous kiss/A dateless bargain to engrossing death./. . . O true
apothecary,/Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. (5.3.111-15, 119-20)
Romeo 's relationship with Juliet
"In their first kiss Romeo and Juliet withdraw into a private world of intimacy,
suspending the world's ordinary time and replacing it with the rival time of the
imagination" (Gibbons 55).
Romeo 's relationship with Mercutio
"Mercutio is a foil to Romeo the lover." (Gibbons 40)
Romeo 's relationship with Paris
". . . Paris [is] rival to Romeo in the second half of the play, once Tybalt and Mercutio
are dead and Benvolio fades from the action. . . . Thus Shakespeare develops Paris
into a noble rival to Romeo; he has public acceptability and observes the rules of
conventional courtship, so contrasting with Romeo's secret and unconventional love"
(Gibbons 41).
Romeo 's relationship with Tybalt
Romeo and Tybalt belong to rival households. Tybalt, believing Romeo to have
insulted the Capulet's, challenges him to a duel, resulting in his death at Romeo's
hands.
Character: Sampson
Sampson's Introduction in the story:
Sampson and Gregory are introduced in Act 1, Scene 1. They enter with "swords
and bucklers." "They encounter two Montague servingmen, Abram and another"
(Carey 14).
Sampson's dismissal from the story:
Sampson is dismissed after the "fray":
PRINCE
Character: Servingman
Servingman's Introduction in the story:
Capulet's servingman is introduced in Act 1, Scene 2. He bears the list of the guests
to be invited to Capulet's feast. He cannot read, and coming across Romeo, asks for
help. Further, the servingman, not realizing he is talking to his master's enemy,
invites Romeo and Benvolio to ". . . come and crush a cup of wine" (1.2.87-88).
Servingman's dismissal from the story:
The servingman is dismissed in Act 4, Scene 4, as he and others prepare for Juliet's
wedding to Paris.
Character: Tybalt
Tybalt's Introduction in the story:
Tybalt is introduced in Act 1, Scene 1, as he comes upon Benvolio and challenges

the Montague kinsman to a sword fight.
Tybalt's dismissal from the story:
Tybalt is dismissed in Act 3, Scene 1, when Romeo kills him.
Tybalt's relationship with Benvolio
". . . Benvolio, the man of good will, is set against Tybalt, the embodiment of violent
aggression" (Gibbons 39).
Tybalt's relationship with Romeo
Romeo and Tybalt belong to rival households. Tybalt, believing Romeo to have
insulted the Capulet's, challenges him to a duel, resulting in his death at Romeo's
hands.
AUDIENCE AND STORY DYNAMICS STORY POINTS:

Nature as it relates to Actual Work:
The nature of the story is actual work as the community must change to Romeo's
point of view.
Essence as it relates to Negative Feel:
The essence of the story is negative, as the objective characters attempt to avoid
the expectations placed upon them.
Tendency as it relates to Unwilling:
Romeo's first approach to problem solving is to internalize the dilemma, thus as a

be-er in an action story, he is uncomfortable.
Reach as it relates to Both:
Women and men will empathize with ". . . the brilliant and violent delights of love at
first sight" (Gibbons 61).
Main Character Resolve as it relates to Steadfast:
Romeo remains steadfast in his love for Juliet and desire to remain at her side--to
the point of following his wife in death.
Impact Character Resolve as it relates to Change:
Juliet changes from the Capulet's dutiful daughter to wife of Romeo. She has a mind
of her own with no one, save Friar Lawrence, to guide her. As an example, she looks
to the woman who raised her for advice: "At her crisis, when Juliet asks her to be
wise, the Nurse can only suggest bigamy, a course quite in keeping with the values
she herself is made of. Here the Nurse is no longer funny, but she has not changed.
It is Juliet who has done that" (Bryant lxxiv).
Main Character Growth as it relates to Start:
Romeo has to start acting like the man that Juliet is certain he can be.
Main Character Approach as it relates to Be-er:
Romeo's first preference in approaching a conflict is to adapt himself to the

environment, for example, he lacks interest in the (contentious) " . . . activities of his
gang of friends, whom he accompanies only reluctantly to the Capulet feast: 'I'll be a
candle holder and look on'" (1.4.38) (Paster 258); After making Juliet his wife, he
tries to placate Tybalt rather than fight him; and so forth.
Main Character Problem-Solving Style as it relates to Logical:
Romeo uses cause and effect problem solving techniques. As an example, in his first
scene with Benvolio, he explains Rosaline's cold heart is the cause of his morose
behavior--he does not look beyond this to determine the real reason for his
unhappiness--that he has not yet found true love.
Story Driver as it relates to Action:
The "three civil brawls" (1.1.91) the Capulets and Montagues have engaged in force
Prince Escalus to determine: "If you ever disturb our streets again,/Your lives shall
pay the forfeit of the peace" (1.1.98-99), thus driving the story forward. Gibbons
asserts: "In Romeo and Juliet the play's decisive events occur with instantaneous
suddenness: servants brawl on sight, the lovers fall in love at first sight, the shock of
the tragic catastrophe converts the parents suddenly and completely from hate to
love" (70).
Story Limit as it relates to Optionlock:
With their two only children dead, the Montagues and Capulets come to their senses
and reconcile.
Story Outcome as it relates to Success:
The grief stricken Capulets and Montagues reconcile, horrified the ancient grudge
has resulted in their children's deaths:
PRINCE
A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for sorrow will not show his
head (5.3.316-317).
Story Judgment as it relates to Bad:
Romeo ultimately fails in his efforts to live happily ever after with his "heart's dear
love" (2.3.61)--"For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her
Romeo" (5.3.320-21).
THE OVERALL STORY THROUGHLINE:
Overall Story Name: "An Ancient Grudge"
Throughline Synopsis:
The Montagues and Capulets, the two chief families of Verona, are bitter enemies;
Escalus, the prince, threatens anyone who disturbs the peace with death. Romeo,
son of old Lord Montague, is in love with Lord Capulet's niece Rosaline. But at a
feast given by Capulet, which Romeo attends disguised by a mask, he sees and falls
in love with Juliet, Capulet's daughter, and she with him. After the feast he
overhears, under her window, Juliet's confession of her love for him, and wins her
consent to a secret marriage. With the help of Friar Laurence, they are wedded next
day. Mercutio, a friend of Romeo, meets Tybalt, of the Capulet family, who is
infuriated by his discovery of Romeo's presence at the feast, and they quarrel.
Romeo comes on the scene, and attempts to reason with Tybalt, but Tybalt and
Mercutio fight, and Mercutio falls. Then Romeo draws and Tybalt is killed. The
prince, Montague, and Capulet come up, and Romeo is sentenced to banishment.
Early the next day, after spending the night with Juliet, he leaves Verona for Mantua,
counselled by the friar, who intends to reveal Romeo's marriage at an opportune
moment. Capulet proposes to marry Juliet to Count Paris, and when she seeks
excuses to avoid this, peremptorily insists. Juliet consults the friar, who bids her
consent to the match, but on the night before the wedding drink a potion which will
render her apparently lifeless for 42 hours. He will warn Romeo, who will rescue her
from the vault on her awakening and carry her to Mantua. The friar's message to
Romeo miscarries, and Romeo hears that Juliet is dead. Buying poison, he comes to
the vault to have a last sight of Juliet. He chances upon Count Paris outside the
vault; they fight and Paris is killed. Then Romeo, after a last kiss on Juliet's lips,
drinks the poison and dies. Juliet awakes and finds Romeo dead by her side, and
the cup still in his hand. Guessing what has happened, she stabs herself and dies.
The story is unfolded by the friar and Count Paris's page, and Montague and
Capulet, faced by the tragic results of their enmity, are reconciled. The play begins
with a sonnet spoken by the chorus and in its poetry, language, and plot reflects the
sonnet craze of the 1590's from which period Shakespeare's own sequence dates.
(Drabble 854)
Backstory:
The backstory of Shakespeare's tragedy is described in the prologue: 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.
Throughline as it relates to Activity:
Problems in the objective story are derived from activities and endeavors, principally
to do with the ancient grudge between the Capulets and Montagues, and Friar
Lawrence's attempt to reconcile the two families. Gibbons explains:
Shakespeare makes the plot depend crucially on messages. He invents the episode
in which Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio learn by accident from Capulet's illiterate
servant of the proposed ball. This scheme is repeated when the Nurse haphazardly
encounters the young gallants, and Romeo lightheartedly identifies himself amidst
the bawdy mockery of his friends. Later, the Nurse brings Juliet a happy reply (II,v).
In the second, tragic, movement of the play, the Nurse brings Juliet the news of
Tybalt's death and Romeo's banishment . . . . Shakespeare stresses in both scenes
the ease with which messages can go wrong; so Juliet at first thinks it is Romeo, not
Tybalt, whom the Nurse saw bedaubed in gore-blood. . . . In the closing movement
of the play Balthasar brings Romeo the false report of Juliet's death (v.i);
immediately afterwards, as Romeo leaves the stage by one door, bearing a phail of
poison, Friar John enters by another to begin the next scene by telling Friar
Laurence how he failed to get through with the message that Juliet is drugged, not
dead. (41-42)
Concern as it relates to Doing:
The objective characters are concerned with engaging in battles of wits, wills, and
physical strength--much for the sake of a "quarrel between the two families
[Montagues and Capulets] . . . so ancient that the original motives are no longer
even discussed. Inspired by the 'fiery' Tybalt, factionalism pursues its mindless
course despite the efforts of the Prince to end it" (Bevington xxii).
Issue as it relates to Experience :
Thematic issues regarding experience in the objective story are illustrated in terms
of age. This is seen particularly in Lord Capulet and Nurse, both who think they know
what's best for Juliet, and Friar Lawrence, who counsels the young lovers.
Counterpoint as it relates to Skill :
Skill is illustrated in feats of swordplay, such as the duel between Mercutio and
Tybalt--and in feats of wordplay, such as Mercutio's "Queen Mab" speech.
Proficiency in both is well regarded.
Thematic Conflict as it relates to Experience vs. Skill:
In Romeo and Juliet, experience creates a generation gap between old and young.
Aptitude for a quick draw or insightful jest is held in higher esteem by the younger
generation, more than any experience an elder might try to pass on.
Problem as it relates to Expectation:
Expectations the objective characters have for one another create problems. An
illustration of this is seen in Paris, Juliet's prospective bridegroom. Capulet has
granted permission for the young man to court and marry his daughter--when Juliet
refuses the suit, Capulet is outraged and abusive.
Solution as it relates to Determination:
Friar Lawrence, Prince Escalus, Capulet and Montague all determine their part and
acknowledge their accountability in the tragedy of the young lovers: "The long last
public ceremonial is important because, although the private catastrophe of the
lovers is unalterably complete, recognition occurs only when the whole story is
known by all" (Bevington xxv).
Symptom as it relates to Non-Accurate:
The Prince will not tolerate any more "frays" on the part of the Capulets and
Montagues; Lord Capulet does not tolerate his daughter's insubordination, neither
does Lady Capulet: "Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word./Do as thou wilt, for I
have done with thee" (3.5.215).
Response as it relates to Accurate:

Despite Prince Escalus' pronouncement against further outbreaks of violence
between the Capulets and Montagues: "Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace"
(1.1.99), he is tolerant when Romeo kills Tybalt, allowing him banishment instead of
death.
Catalyst as it relates to Enlightenment:
The objective story accelerates when Friar Lawrence intuitively discerns, if he aids
Romeo and Juliet in their desire to marry, their rival families will ultimately reconcile:
"In one respect I'll thy assistant be,/For this alliance may so happy prove/To turn your
households' rancour to pure love" (2.3.96-99); After Mercutio's death: ". . . Romeo
sees at once that an irreversible process has begun . . . . The temper of this new
world is largely a function of onrushing events" (Snyder 178).
Inhibitor as it relates to Threat:
The action that starts the story is halted when, after the feuding families have
engaged in "Three civil brawls"(1.1.91), the Prince threatens Capulet and Montague:
"If ever you disturb our streets again,/Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace"
(1.1.98-99); As a warning to the community against further battles, Prince Escalus
banishes Romeo. The objective story is impeded--Friar Lawrence counsels Romeo
to wait patiently ". . . . till we can find a time/To blaze your marriage, reconcile your
friends,/Beg pardon of the Prince, and call thee back" (3.3.150-52).
Benchmark as it relates to Gathering Information:
Much of the tragedy can be attributed to ignorance and misinformation. As the

characters begin to learn the true nature of people and events, they can begin to
make informed decisions.
Goal as it relates to Doing:
Friar Lawrence states the goal, the Capulet and Montagues' feud must be undone--
Romeo and Juliet will marry: "To turn your households' rancour to pure love"
(2.3.99). "The Friar's aims are those implicit in the play's comic movement: an
inviolable union for Romeo and Juliet and an end to the families' feud" (Snyder 180).
Consequence as it relates to Playing a Role:
If the Capulets and Montagues cannot come to terms, they will continue to be arch-
enemies--passing on the role to younger generations. The violence acted out over a
long forgotten grudge will continue to bring grief to the community of Verona.
Cost as it relates to How Things are Changing:
Friar Lawrence aids in Romeo and Juliet's marital union in hopes it will advance
mending the rift between the feuding families--the cost of this progress is the loss of
their and other's lives. In another example: "Friar Laurence and the Nurse have no
place in the new world brought into being by Mercutio's death, the world of limited
time, no effective choice, no escape. They define and sharpen the tragedy by their
very failure to find a part in the dramatic progress, by their growing estrangement
from the true springs of the action" (Snyder 181).
Dividend as it relates to Impulsive Responses:
Romeo and Juliet give into their impulse to love rashly--which gives them brief
happiness; The impulsive banter Mercutio and the Nurse engage in entertains the
gallants; and so forth.
Requirements as it relates to Gathering Information:
Montague and Capulet learn of the events that have transpired, and vow to keep
peace.
Prerequisites as it relates to Conceiving an Idea:
Friar Lawrence devises a way to end the feud--marry Romeo and Juliet.
Preconditions as it relates to The Present:
Romeo explains to Friar Lawrence the circumstances of Juliet and his relationship--
and in the young man's mind it is imperative they wed right now: "Then plainly know
my heart's dear love is set/On the fair daughter of rich Capulet./As mine on hers, so
hers is set on mine (2.3.61-63). We met, we wooed, and made exchange of vow"
(2.3.66).
Forewarnings as it relates to Contemplation:

An example of "conscious" as a forewarning to the consequence of "being"--the
Capulets and Montagues remaining rivals--is illustrated during Capulet's feast, when
Tybalt becomes cognizant of Romeo on the premises, and wishes to remove him.
Capulet refuses to allow Tybalt to create a fracas during the party; Tybalt exits
bitterly, contemplating revenge at a later date: "I will withdraw, but this intrusion
shall,/Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt'rest gall." (102-103)
THE MAIN VS. IMPACT STORY THROUGHLINE:
Main vs. Impact Story Name: "Love at First Sight"
The characters of Romeo and Juliet have been depicted in literature, music, dance,
and theater. The appeal of the young hero and heroine--whose families, the
Montagues and Capulets, respectively, are implacable enemies--is such that they
have become, in the popular imagination, the representative type of star-crossed
lovers. . . . Shakespeare set the scene in Verona, Italy, during July. Juliet, a Capulet,
and Romeo, a Montague, fall in love at a masked ball of the Capulets and profess
their love when Romeo later visits her at her private balcony in her family's home.
Because the two noble families are enemies, the couple is married secretly by Friar
Laurence. When Tybalt, a Capulet, kills Romeo's friend Mercutio in a quarrel, Romeo
kills Tybalt and is banished to Mantua. Juliet's father insists on her marrying Count
Paris, and Juliet goes to consult the friar. He gives her a potion that makes a person
appear to be dead. He proposes that she take it and that Romeo rescue her; she
complies. Unaware of the friar's scheme, Romeo returns to Verona on hearing of
Juliet's apparent death. He encounters Paris, kills him, and finds Juliet in the burial
vault. He gives her a last kiss and kills himself with poison. Juliet awakens, sees the
dead Romeo, and kills herself. The families learn what has happened and end their
feud. (Merriam Webster 964-65)
Backstory:
It is not simply that the families of Romeo and Juliet disapprove of the lover's
affection for each other; rather, the Montagues and the Capulets are on opposite
sides in a blood feud and are trying to kill each other on the streets of Verona. Every
time a member of one of the two families dies in the fight, his relatives demand the
blood of his killer. Because of the feud, if Romeo is discovered with Juliet, he will be
killed. Once Romeo is banished, the only way that Juliet can avoid being married to
someone else is to take a potion that apparently kills her, so that she is buried with
the bodies of her slain relatives. In this violent, death-filled world, the movement of
the story from love at first sight to the union of the lovers in death seems almost
inevitable. (Mowat and Werstine xiii)
Throughline as it relates to Manipulation:
Romeo and Juliet do not fall in with their families' way of thinking:
Romeo and Juliet find a new discourse of romantic individualism . . . their union
imperils the traditional relations between males that is founded upon the exchange
of women, whether the violent exchange Gregory and Sampson crudely imagine or
the normative exchange planned by Capulet and Paris. Juliet, as the daughter
whose erotic willfulness activates her father's transformation from concerned to
tyrannical parent, is the greater rebel. (Paster 264)
Concern as it relates to Playing a Role:
The suddenness of Romeo and Juliet's love, the circumstances in which they are a
part--that of belonging to feuding families, and their extreme youth all contribute to
the feeling that this is a temporary relationship. Romeo and Juliet's concern is
temporarily keeping their marriage secret--hoping to eventually fulfill the role of
peacemakers.
An example of Romeo and Juliet's concern with who they are is illustrated in Juliet's
balcony speech:
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. (2.2.36-39)
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's a Montague? . . . What's in a name?
That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet . . . (2.2.41-43/46-47)

Issue as it relates to Desire :
"The logic of Juliet's almost instant disobedience in looking at, and liking, Romeo
(rather than Paris) can be understood as the ironic fulfillment of the fears in
traditional patriarchal culture about the uncontrollability of female desire, the alleged
tendency of the female gaze to wander." (Paster 260)
Counterpoint as it relates to Ability :
The thematic counterpoint to Romeo and Juliet's desire to be together is "ability"--in

this case their inability to engage in romance publicly.
Thematic Conflict as it relates to Desire vs. Ability:
Romeo and Juliet overcome all obstacles in their desire to be together--for the brief
time they are able.
Problem as it relates to Effect:
Romeo and Juliet must deal with the effects of their romance. Because they choose
to keep it secret, mishaps and misunderstandings occur--to the relationship's
detriment.
Solution as it relates to Cause:
If certain objective characters had understood the cause of Romeo and Juliet's
strange behavior, the tragedy may not have occurred. For example: "For all his
dictatorial ways, and the manifest advantages he sees in marrying his daughter to
an aristocrat, Capulet would never knowingly force his daughter into bigamy"
(Bevington xxiii).
"Non-Accurate" as the subjective story focus is emphasized in Romeo and Juliet.

Tragic mishaps occur because of non-accurate information, for example, Balthasar's
report to Romeo of Juliet's death is not quite accurate. In terms of "non-accurate"
meaning "not within tolerance," the Capulets and Montagues, at least from the
outset, would not tolerate a relationship between the two--hence Romeo and Juliet's
(and Friar Lawrence and Nurse's) need for secrecy; Mercutio, as Romeo's closest
friend, does not really tolerate Romeo's romantic pursuits, let alone a true love that
would separate Romeo as a man from the "boys"; and so forth.
Accuracy is attempted in Romeo and Juliet's relationship. For example, Friar

Laurence is careful to give Juliet just the right amount of poison:
FRIAR LAWRENCE
If thou darest, I'll give thee remedy. (4.1.77)
The efforts in the subjective story are directed toward making the relationship
acceptable, however: ". . . the secret marriage in which this new language of feeling
is contained cannot here be granted the sanction of a comic outcome. When Romeo
and Juliet reunite, it is only to see each other, dead, in the dim confines of the
Capulet crypt. In this play the autonomy of romantic individualism remains 'star-
crossed'" (Paster 264).
Catalyst as it relates to Thought:
Romeo overhears Juliet musing aloud. Juliet's honest expression of her feelings for
him spurs on their relationship:
JULIET
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore [why] 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
. . . Romeo, doff thy name;/And for thy name, which is no part of thee,/Take all
myself.
ROMEO
I take thee at thy word./Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. . . (2.2.33-38, 47-
50)
Inhibitor as it relates to Worry:

The apprehension concerning the future of Romeo and Juliet's relationship impedes
the subjective story progress:
JULIET
O God, I have an ill-diving soul!/Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low,/As one
dead in the bottom of a tomb (3.5.54-56).
Benchmark as it relates to Conceiving an Idea:
As an example of "conceiving" as the standard by which growth is measured in the

subjective story, after their first meeting, Juliet conceives of the next step in their
relationship:
JULIET
Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honorable,
Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow,
By one that I'll procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite
And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world. (2.2.149-155)
Romeo 's THROUGHLINE:
Role: Lover
Description:
CAPULET
"Young Romeo is it? (1.5.72) He bears him like a portly gentleman,/And, to say truth,
Verona brags of him/To be a virtuous and well-governed youth" (1.5.75-77).
When we first hear of Romeo in Shakespeare's play he is described in the attitude of

a typical Elizabethan melancholy lover; he is young and untried, but there is at first
an element of parody in Shakespeare's presentation of him; his conventionality and
bookishness are obvious in the first words he speaks, all absurdly stereotyped
paradox and similitude . . . it is only the unusually rapid and intense alternations of
mood, and a certain musical sensitivity on diction that enliven his speech. . . . When
Romeo enters Capulet's garden . . . . Romeo . . . finds new language. . . . Romeo's
development, however, is not achieved without uncertainties, hesitations, and false
notes. (Gibbons 47)
Backstory:
Romeo, infatuated with the fair Rosaline, pines away for the lady who does not
return his interest. He is a romantic, predisposed to fall in love with the first sight of
Juliet.
Throughline as it relates to Fixed Attitude:
What sets Romeo apart from the other males in the story is his disposition in regard
to women--one from which he essentially does not waver:
Feuding, then, is the form that male bonding takes in Verona, a bonding which
seems linked to the derogation of woman. But Romeo, from the very opening of the
play, is distanced both physically and emotionally from the feud . . . . He is
alienated . . . from the idea of sexuality that underlies it. Romeo subscribes to a
different, indeed a competing view of woman--the idealizing view of the Petrarchan
lover. (Paster 257)
Concern as it relates to Impulsive Responses:
Romeo embodies impulsive actions: As Friar Lawrence admonishes: "Wisely and

slow. They stumble that run fast" (2.4.101). "Romeo . . . misreads the signs of Juliet's
revival. Less than a minute's hesitation here would have saved his life and Juliet's,
but Romeo acts in passionate haste" (Gibbons 53).
Issue as it relates to Worry :
Romeo does not allow himself the luxury of confidence: "Romeo fears 'Some
consequence yet hanging in the stars' when he reluctantly goes to the Capulet's
feast (1.4.107); After he has slain Tybalt, he cries 'O, I am fortune's fool!' (3.1.135)"
(Bevington xxii).
Counterpoint as it relates to Confidence :
It is his love for Juliet that instills confidence in Romeo--enough to defy his family
and friends.
Thematic Conflict as it relates to Worry vs. Confidence:
Although Romeo's nature does not essentially change, he does mature from an
apprehensive boy to a man confident in his decisions. Gibbons explains:
When we first hear of Romeo . . . he is described in the attitude of a typical

Elizabethan melancholy lover . . . . By the beginning of the last scene, Romeo's
transformation of personality is expressed in a new note of resolution and command,
compressed, resonant and personal (50).
Problem as it relates to Result:
Romeo's desire for immediate results is the cause of his problems.
Solution as it relates to Process:
Romeo needs to take part of the process to achieve the results he desires.
Romeo focuses on what is inadequate to his needs and desires. An example of this
is when he learns he is banished:
ROMEO
Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say "death,"/For exile hath more terror in his
look,/Much more than death. Do not say "banishment (3.3.13).
FRIAR LAWRENCE
. . . O deadly sin, O rude unthankfulness! . . . This is a dear mercy, and thou seest it
not (3.3.25,30).
Romeo directs his efforts towards what is acceptable. "Romeo's love of introspective
solitude" (Gibbons 53) is tolerated by his parents; Romeo tolerates the antics of his
friends; After Friar Lawrence's sententious words, he goes off to Matua until his
presence will once more be tolerated in Verona; and so forth.
Unique Ability as it relates to Worth:
Romeo's steadfast belief in his own worth and his right to marry Juliet causes him to
defy his own family and that of the Capulets--crucial to the rival families' ultimate
reconciliation.
Critical Flaw as it relates to Desire:
What Romeo covets undermines his efforts--evidenced in his desire for Rosaline:
MONTAGUE
Many a morning hath he there been seen,/With tears augmenting the fresh morning
dew,/Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs (1.1.134-36).
BENVOLIO
. . . What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours?
ROMEO
Not having that, which, having, makes them short.
BENVOLIO
In love?
ROMEO
. . . Out of her favor where I am in love. . . . A sick man in sadness makes his will--/A
word ill urged to one that is so ill./In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman (1.1.210-
12).
Benchmark as it relates to Contemplation:
Romeo is first presented as a self-conscious "poseur"--and five days later he has

matured, but not quite enough to make sensible, informed decisions. Bryant asserts:
What Romeo needs most of all is a teacher, and the only one capable of giving him
instruction worth having and giving it quickly is Mercutio. All the rest are unavailable,
or ineffectual, like Benvolio, or unapt for dealing practically with human relations. . . .
His first line in the play, discharged at a young fool who is playing the ascetic for
love, is revealing: "Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance" (1.4.13). And when
gentle Romeo persists in day-dreaming, he says, "Be rough with love," declares that
love is a mire and that dreamers are often liars. The long fairy speech which follows
dignifies idle dreams by marrying them to earth; its intent is to compel Romeo to
acknowledge his senses and to bring him to an honest and healthy confession of
what he is really looking for, but Romeo is too wrapped up in self-deception to listen.
In Act 2 Mercutio tries harder, speaks more plainly, but prompts from his pupil only
the fatuous "He jests at scars that never felt a wound." Later still, in the battle of wits
(2.4), Mercutio imagines briefly that he has succeeded: "Why, is not this better now
than groaning for love? Now art though sociable, now art thou Romeo; now art thou
what thou art, by art as well as by nature" (92.95). There are no wiser words in the
whole play, and none more ironic; for Romeo even here has not found his identity
and is never really to find it except for those fleeting moments when Juliet is there to
lead him by the hand. (lxxviii)
Juliet's THROUGHLINE:
Role: Object of Affection
Description:
"Youth, freshness, and vulnerable innocence" (Gibbons 40)
Juliet is the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet. At the start of her throughline she
responds to her mother's question: "Can you like of Paris' love?" (1.4.102), with: "I'll
look to like, if looking liking move./But no more deep will I endart mine eye/Than your
consent gives strength to make it fly" (1.4.103-05). Over the course of several days,
however, Juliet transforms herself from dutiful daughter to a wife--fierce in her
commitment to her husband, Romeo, following him even in death: "If that thy bent of
love be honorable,/Thy purpose marriage . . . all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay/And
follow thee my lord throughout the world" (2.2.150-55).
Backstory:
Juliet is a young teen--as her father informs Paris: "My child is yet a stranger in the
world" (1.2.8). Paster states: "A woman's identity was conceived almost exclusively
in relation to male authority and marital status" (254).
Throughline as it relates to Situation:
Juliet is a very young girl and only child--she is expected to be obedient to her
parents' wishes, despite any of her own desires that may be to the contrary.
Concern as it relates to How Things are Changing:
Juliet is concerned with her changing status--obedient daughter of the Capulets to

wife of a rival Montague--her particular concern is, the way things are going (her
family not aware of her marriage), she will soon find herself married off to Paris.
Issue as it relates to Threat :
Juliet threatens Romeo's relationship with his male friends: "Romeo is not really
asked to choose between Juliet and his family but between Juliet and Mercutio, who
are opposed in the play's thematic structure" (Paster 261); Juliet "threatens suicide if
Friar Lawrence cannot save her from marrying Paris" (Mowat and Werstine 176).
Counterpoint as it relates to Security :
A child of her father's house, Juliet only has security when she obeys the rules. Once
she decides not to live up to parental expectations, she has no familial protection:
CAPULET
Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!/I tell thee what: get thee to church
o' Thursday,/Or never after look me in the face. (3.5.166-68)
Thematic Conflict as it relates to Threat vs. Security:
Juliet's thematic conflict is best illustrated when she dares to disobey her parents.
Her apparent willfulness compels her father to threaten the very security she is
dependent upon.
Problem as it relates to Expectation:
Juliet is driven by the expectations placed upon her:
A woman . . . was a daughter, wife, or widow expected to be chaste, silent, and

above all, obedient. It is a profound and necessary act of historical imagination, then,
to recognize innovation in the moment when Juliet impatiently invokes the coming of
night and the husband she has disobediently married: "Come gentle night; come
loving black-browed night,/Give me my Romeo" (3.2.21-23) (Paster 254).
Solution as it relates to Determination:
Juliet's self-determination is what satisfies her personal drive.
Symptom as it relates to Hunch:
"In terms of the play's symbolic vocabulary, Juliet's preparations to imitate death on
the very bed where her sexual maturation from girl to womanhood occurred confirms
ironically her earlier premonition about Romeo" (Paster 263): If he be married,/My
grave is like to be my wedding bed (1.5.148-49).
Response as it relates to Theory:
At Friar Lawrence's suggestion, Juliet agrees to the theory if she takes the potion to
create a visage of death, her parents will plunge into a despair so great, that upon
her awakening, they will smile upon her marriage to Romeo. Unfortunately, Romeo is
not privy to this information, and believing her dead, kills himself.
Unique Ability as it relates to Fantasy:
Romeo creates fantasy girls--first seen with his mooning over Rosaline. He tries to
do the same with Juliet, but she will have none of that. She makes him realize he is
in love with a woman, not a fantastical creature of his imagination. Conversely, the
private world Juliet creates for Romeo is a fantasy from the reality of his harsh,
external environment.
JULIET
Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day.
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.
Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree.
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale. (3.5.1-5)
Critical Flaw as it relates to Experience:
Juliet's lack of experience undermines her efforts: "Her five-day maturation is a

miracle which only Shakespeare could have made credible; yet at the end she is still
a fourteen-year-old girl, and she succumbs to an adolescent's despair" (Bryant
lxxviii).
Benchmark as it relates to The Present:
Over the course of the story, Juliet's concern is measured against the current
situation and circumstances.
ACT PROGRESSIONS:
The Overall Throughline Act Order:
Overall Story Signpost 1 as it relates to Gathering Information:
Capulet and Montague learn what the consequences of further brawls between
households will be; Romeo's family wishes to: "learn from whence his sorrows grow"
(1.1.157); Romeo tells Benvolio: "Thou canst not teach me to forget" (1.1.246) about
Rosaline; Romeo and Benvolio learn of Capulet's feast, and that his niece Rosaline
is on the guest list; and so forth.
Overall Story Journey 1 from Gathering Information to Understanding:
Friar Lawrence learns of Romeo's change of heart, and immediately comprehends

what this could mean towards achieving peace in the community.
Overall Story Signpost 2 as it relates to Understanding:
Friar Lawrence appreciates what the marriage of Romeo and Juliet can mean to the
community; None of Romeo's gallant friends understand his not accepting Tybalt's
challenge--Mercutio in particular; and so forth.
Overall Story Journey 2 from Understanding to Doing:
The objective story progresses from misunderstandings to wrongdoings and

misadventures.
Overall Story Signpost 3 as it relates to Doing:
Capulet prepares for his daughter's wedding; Friar Lawrence prepares Juliet for
"death"; and so forth.
Overall Story Journey 3 from Doing to Obtaining:
The best example of how the objective story progresses from "doing" to "obtaining"
is found in Friar Lawrence's final speech, as he explains how the community's
actions have resulted in loss, and yet will have ultimately achieved a peace between
the Montagues and Capulets:
As the Prince and the lover's families stand silent in grief, the Friar gives a virtually
uninterrupted account . . . . This narrative awakens pity, compassion and guilt in
them, and as he delivers it the Friar begins his expiation in the act of confession. The
dangerous folly of his meddling in natural magic now apparent, his good intentions
may speak in mitigation of his guilt. Moreover, his narrative has such cumulative
effect that the Prince himself, in pronouncing judgement, includes his own name
among the guilty, and in that confession prepares the way for full reconciliation.
(Gibbons 76)
Overall Story Signpost 4 as it relates to Obtaining:
Lives are lost as peace is finally achieved between the Capulets and Montagues.
The Main vs. Impact Throughline Act Order:
Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 1 as it relates to Developing a Plan:
Romeo and Juliet begin to envision the import of falling in love with an enemy:
ROMEO
Is she a Capulet? O dear account? My life is my foe's debt. (1.5.131-132)
JULIET
My only love sprung my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth it is to me
That I must love a loathed enemy. (1.5.152-155)
Main vs. Impact Story Journey 1 from Developing a Plan to Playing a Role:
Having fallen immediately and irrevocably in love, Romeo and Juliet envision a plan
to secretly marry--involving only Nurse and Friar Lawrence in the pretense.
Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 2 as it relates to Playing a Role:
Romeo and Juliet pledge their love and secretly marry--outwardly acting as if nothing
has occurred.
Main vs. Impact Story Journey 2 from Playing a Role to Changing One's Nature:
Romeo and Juliet's relationship shifts from betrothal to that of husband and wife:
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Come, come with me, and we will make short work,/For, by your leaves, you shall
not stay alone/Till Holy Church incorporate two in one (2.6.35-37).
Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 3 as it relates to Changing One's Nature:
Romeo and Juliet become sexually intimate; Friar Lawrence plays an important part
in their crisis of Romeo's banishment and Juliet's upcoming nuptials to Paris: "Friar
Laurence is one of the tribe of manipulators, whose job it is to transform or otherwise
get round seemingly intractable realities" (Snyder 180).
Main vs. Impact Story Journey 3 from Changing One's Nature to Conceiving an Idea:
Romeo and Juliet have become husband and wife in life, and both share the idea to
continue on as one in death.
Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 4 as it relates to Conceiving an Idea:
Romeo has no idea Juliet is in a trance. Juliet awakens to find he has killed himself.
She cannot conceive life without him and kills her self as well.
The Main Character Throughline Act Order:
Main Character Signpost 1 as it relates to Impulsive Responses:
Benvolio reports to Lady Montague and her husband, once Romeo "was 'ware of
me" (1.1.126) he "gladly fled" (1.1.133); Romeo's first response to Juliet's beauty is
to fall in love.
Main Character Journey 1 from Impulsive Responses to Memories:
Romeo's immediate response to Juliet causes him to forget his melancholy love for
Rosaline:
FRIAR LAWRENCE
Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here!/Is Rosaline, that thou didst loves so
dear,/So soon forsaken? (2.3.69-71)
Main Character Signpost 2 as it relates to Memories:
Romeo tries to remember his loyalty to his new wife and her family when Tybalt
challenges him.
Main Character Journey 2 from Memories to Innermost Desires:
Mercutio's death prompts Romeo to forget his loyalty to his new wife and her family
as he takes revenge on Tybalt: " . . . Romeo intervenes in the duel [between Tybalt
and Mercutio] and then commits himself to angry revenge" (Gibbons 71).
Main Character Signpost 3 as it relates to Innermost Desires:
After taking revenge against Tybalt, Romeo is a "fearful man" (3.3.1), hiding out in
Friar Lawrence's cell. When informed of his punishment, he expresses his basic
motivation to live (with Juliet)--without her he'd rather die.
Main Character Journey 3 from Innermost Desires to Contemplation:
Romeo has wreaked vengeance on Tybalt and consummated his marriage to Juliet.
Now, banished to Mantua, he is conscious he must wait until word from Friar
Lawrence to return. Tragically, he is misinformed of his beloved's death--and makes
the conscious decision to follow her in the afterlife.
Main Character Signpost 4 as it relates to Contemplation:
Romeo believes he has all the facts when he hears of Juliet's death. He makes a
conscious decision to kill himself, exemplified by the purchase of poison from the
apothecary: ". . . Romeo's best speech is perhaps the one he delivers in the tomb;
with it he gives dignity, meaning, and finality to the one act he plans and executes,
however unwisely, without the help of his friends" (Bryant lxxii).
The Impact Character Throughline Act Order:

Impact Character Signpost 1 as it relates to The Past:
Nurse recounts Juliet's history; It is clear Juliet has had no suitors in her past:
LADY CAPULET
--Tell me, daughter Juliet,/How stands your disposition to be married?
JULIET
It is an honor that I dream not of (1.3.69-71).
Impact Character Journey 1 from The Past to How Things are Changing:
Juliet progresses from a young, innocent girl to a maturing woman preparing for
marriage.
Impact Character Signpost 2 as it relates to How Things are Changing:
Juliet is concerned with how the meeting is going between her Nurse and Romeo;
Juliet is "graduating" from girlhood to womanhood.
Impact Character Journey 2 from How Things are Changing to The Future:
Now that Juliet has determined her future with Romeo, she restlessly awaits the
union to move forward: "The clock struck none when I did send the Nurse. In half an
hour she promised to return. . . ./O, she is lame! Love's heralds should be
thoughts,/Which ten times faster glides than the sun's beams" (2.5.1,4-5). The
prospect her father has in mind, however, is quite different. He deems her future to
be wife of Paris.
Impact Character Signpost 3 as it relates to The Future:
Juliet attempts to halt the wedding to Paris.
Impact Character Journey 3 from The Future to The Present:

To circumvent her parents' plans for her future as wife of Paris, Juliet must act now.
Impact Character Signpost 4 as it relates to The Present:
Juliet's impact centers on her "death." At the present time her family and Romeo
believe her to be dead, and this belief precipitates all of their final actions.
Miscellaneous Other Storytelling Items:
All Concerns:
In this fast paced story, there is no sense of permanence (being)--particularly

illustrated in the young lovers' throughline. Romeo and Juliet's subjective story
domain (psychology) explores how they think differently about their families' feud
(objective story concern-doing). Both harbor a foreboding about their tragic end, but
while Juliet meditates on the changes in herself and environment, Romeo acts upon
impulse--precipitating their demise.
Master Plot Synopsis:
In the first two acts of "Romeo and Juliet," Shakespeare depicts a predominantly
comic world. Love is his main subject, and at times the feud between the opposed
houses of Montague and Capulet seems to be no more than an extension of the
parental opposition which young lovers frequently encounter in comedy. Thus in this
part of the play, the plot is motivated only by the feud (which requires secrecy on the
part of the lovers) and by love (which, since romantic, requires marriage). This
"comic" part of the play ends, as the tradition of comedy would lead us to expect,
with the marriage of the lovers (II,vi). At the beginning of the third act, however,
everything is changed by the death of Mercutio, for which, incidentally, Romeo has a
limited responsibility since the death wound was received under his arm. Mercutio's
death is the key event of the plot (story driver-action). . . . Mercutio's death leads to
Romeo's killing Tybalt; that killing leads to Romeo's banishment; his banishment
leads to the separation of the lovers; their separation, when complicated by
Capulet's insistence . . . Juliet marry Paris, leads to the potion plot; the potion plot,
through a failure of communication and the chance of Juliet's not awakening until
after Romeo has taken the poison, leads to Romeo's death; and Romeo's death
leads to Juliet's. Thus in the last three acts of the play, Shakespeare depicts a
predominantly tragic world. (Carey 53-54)
Master Theme Synopsis:
Shakespeare's theme of highly intense, out of control first love--immediately

recognizable to audiences--is expounded upon in Bryant's introduction to the classic
play:
She [Juliet] simply has not lived long enough in her wisdom to stand entirely alone.
This is really the source of pathos in Romeo and Juliet. One hears much about the
portrayal of young love here, about the immortality of the lovers and the eternality of
their love; but such talk runs toward vapid sentimentality and does an injustice to
Shakespeare. No one has more poignantly described the beauty of young love than
he, and no one has portrayed more honestly than he the destructiveness of any love
which ignores the mortality of those who make it. Romeo struggled toward full
understanding but fell far short of achievement, leaving a trail of victims behind him.
Juliet came much closer than we had any right to expect, but she too failed. Both
have a legitimate claim to our respect, she more than he; and the youth of both
relieves them of our ultimate censure, which falls not on the stars but on all those
whose thoughtlessness denied them the time they so desperately needed. (lxxviii)
Main vs. Impact Character Synopsis:
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a world of violence and generational

conflict in which two young people fall in love and die because of that love. The story
is rather extraordinary in that the normal problems faced by young lovers are here so
very large. . . . it has become the quintessential story of young love. Because most
young lovers feel that they have to overcome giant obstacles in order to be together,
because they feel that they would rather die than be kept apart, and especially
because the language that Shakespeare gives his young lovers is so exquisite,
allowing them to say to each other just what we would all say to a lover if we only
knew how, it is easy to respond to this play as if it were about all young lovers . . .
(Mowat and Werstine xiii).
JULIET
Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow/That I shall say "Good night"
till it be morrow" (2.3.199-201).
Master Character Synopsis:
Escalus, Prince of Verona: He is the symbol of law and order and justice in Verona. .
. . The fact that the Prince must intervene [in the Montague and Capulet feud] is
especially significant to this play because it serves to lift the action out of the realm
of a domestic tragedy--that is, the feud has reached the stage where the issue is of
public import.
Paris: He is handsome and courteous, and he hopes to marry Juliet. He duels with
Romeo in the Capulet tomb, mistakenly believing . . . Romeo has come to desecrate
the bodies of Juliet and Tybalt.
Montague: As father of Romeo, he is worried about his son's disturbed emotional

state. After Romeo's death, Montague promises Capulet to honor Juliet with a
golden statue.
Capulet: Juliet's father is on stage much more than Montague. He is very likeable in
the ball scene as he reminisces with an old kinsman while watching the young
people dance, and later when he is defending Romeo and upbraiding Tybalt. But his
moods can undergo immediate change, as when he feels crossed by Juliet.
Juliet: A thirteen-year-old girl, discovering love, being loved, then abruptly . . . as

good as widowed; throughout, there is an interplay of her happy, romantic youth and
the responsibility of her new womanhood.
The Nurse: Shakespeare created one of his immortal comic figures in Juliet's Nurse.
Life is for living; to love means to make love--her philosophy is that basic. She is a
realist, a woman who compromises easily, and is a coarse talker, fond of joking, of
anecdotes, of sentimentalizing, and of intrigue.
Mercutio: He is a satirist whose devastating wit remains with him to the end. He is a
cynic but attractive; the bitter tang of his sophistication is a refreshing
accompaniment to Romeo's dark Petrarchan misery.
Benvolio: . . . Romeo's companion who attempts to soften Mercutio's jests and to

bring Romeo out of his gloom.
Tybalt: . . . Hot tempered and quick to anger. He immediately swears revenge when
he discovers Romeo at the Capulet's ball. Mercutio describes him as shallow and
affected, though . . . a fierce and skilled fencer.
Friar Laurence: Trying only to bring peace to Verona, he agrees to help Romeo and
Juliet, but he quickly finds himself . . . entangled in new complications. Unfortunately,
his well-laid plans depend on chance.
Friar John: A Franciscan, he is sent to Mantua by Friar Laurence to deliver a letter to

Romeo, explaining the Friar's plan for the lovers.
Romeo: As the son of Montague, he is well spoken of in Verona. . . . as a Petrarchan

lover . . . he is amusing, and he uses language in an artificial and witty manner; he is
consciously "love sick." Love for Juliet transforms him: his declarations of love are
lyric and vivid, and he is defiant and passionate. His love for her is desperate and
impulsive; his death also.
Lady Montague: She abhors the violence of the opening quarrel and is much
relieved to learn . . . Romeo was not involved. Later . . . she has died, grieving for
her son. Hers is yet another life sacrificed to the old, bitter feud.
Lady Capulet: The rather young wife of Capulet, she has a nasty temper. After she
learns that her nephew Tybalt has been killed, she demands . . . the Prince execute
Romeo. The Prince wisely punishes him, however, according to the circumstances
and not according to Lady Capulet's desire for revenge. Ultimately, she is humbled
when she is brought in to see her daughter dead, with Romeo's dagger in her breast.
The Apothecary: A shabby shopkeeper whose poverty forces him to (illegally) sell
poison to Romeo.
(Carey 11-14)
"Romeo and Juliet"
Scene #1 - "Here's much to do with hate, but more with love."
Act 1, Scene 1
A street fight breaks out between the Montagues and the Capulets, which is broken
up by the ruler of Verona, Prince Escalus. He threatens the Montagues and Capulets
with death if they fight again. A melancholy Romeo enters and is questioned by his
cousin Benvolio, who learns that the cause of Romeo's sadness is unrequited love.
(Mowat and Werstine 8)
Scene #2 - "I will make thee think thy swan a crow."
Act 1, Scene 2
In conversation with Capulet, Count Paris declares his wish to marry Juliet. Capulet
invites him to a party that night. Capulet gives a servant the guest list for the party
and orders him off to issue invitations. The servant cannot read the list and asks for
help from Romeo and Benvolio. When they find out that Rosaline, on whom Romeo
dotes, is invited to the party, they decide to go too. (Mowat and Werstine 26)
Scene #3 - "I'll look to like, if looking liking move."
Act 1, Scene 3
Lady Capulet informs Juliet of Paris's marriage proposal and praises him
extravagantly. Juliet says that she has not even dreamed of marrying, but that she
will consider Paris as a possible husband if her parents wish her to. (Mowat and
Werstine 32)
Scene #4 - "True, I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain."
Act 1, Scene 4
Romeo and Benvolio are going to the Capulets' party with their friend Mercutio and
others, wearing the disguises customarily donned by "maskers." Romeo is anxious
because of an ominous dream. Mercutio mocks him with a speech about a dream-
giving queen of fairies. (Mowat and Werstine 40)
Scene #5 - "My only love sprung from my only hate!"
Act 1, Scene 5
Capulet welcomes the disguised Romeo and his friends. Romeo, watching the
dance, is caught by the beauty of Juliet. Overhearing Romeo ask about her, Tybalt
recognizes Romeo's voice and is enraged at Romeo's intrusion. Romeo then meets
Juliet, and they fall in love. Not until they are separated do they discover that they
belong to enemy houses. (Mowat and Werstine 50)
Scene #6 - "Can I go forward when my heart is here?"
Act 2, Scene 1
Romeo finds himself so in love with Juliet that he cannot leave her. He scales a wall
and enters Capulet's garden. Meanwhile Benvolio and Mercutio look for him in vain.
Scene #7 - "Parting is such sweet sorrow."
Act 2, Scene 2
From Capulet's garden Romeo overhears Juliet express her love for him. When he
answers her, they acknowledge their love and their desire to be married. (Mowat and
Werstine 68)
Scene #8 - "Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast."
Act 2, Scene 3
Determined to marry Juliet, Romeo hurries to Friar Lawrence. The Friar agrees to
marry them, expressing the hope that the marriage may end the feud between their
families. (Mowat and Werstine 82)
Scene #9 - "Where the Devil should this Romeo be?"
Act 2, Scene 4
Mercutio and Benvolio meet the newly enthusiastic Romeo in the street. Romeo
defeats Mercutio in a battle of wits. The Nurse finds Romeo, and he gives her a
message for Juliet: meet me at Friar Lawrence's cell this afternoon, and we will there
be married. (Mowat and Werstine 90)
Scene #10 - "O, honey Nurse, what news?"
Act 2, Scene 5
Juliet waits impatiently for the Nurse to return. Her impatience grows when the
Nurse returns but is slow to deliver Romeo's message. Finally Juliet learns that if
she wants to marry Romeo, she need only go to Friar Lawrence's cell that afternoon.
Scene #11 - "These violent delights have violent ends."
Act 2, Scene 6
Juliet meets Romeo at Friar Lawrence's cell. After expressing their mutual love, they
exit with the Friar to be married. (Mowat and Werstine 108)
Scene #12 - "A plague o' both your houses!"
Act 3, Scene 1
Mercutio and Benvolio encounter Tybalt on the street. As soon as Romeo arrives,
Tybalt tries to provoke him to fight. When Romeo refuses, Mercutio answers Tybalt's
challenge. They duel and Mercutio is fatally wounded. Romeo then avenges
Mercutio's by killing Tybalt in a duel. Benvolio tries to persuade the Prince to excuse
Romeo's slaying of Tybalt; however, the Capulets demand that Romeo pay with his
life; the Prince instead banishes Romeo from Verona. (Mowat and Werstine 114)
Scene #13 - "Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds."
Act 3, Scene 2
Juliet longs for Romeo to come to her. The Nurse arrives with the news that Romeo
has killed Tybalt and has been banished. Juliet at first feels grief for the loss of her
cousin Tybalt and verbally attacks Romeo, but then, renounces these feelings and
devotes herself to grief for Romeo's banishment. The Nurse promises to bring
Romeo to Juliet that night. (Mowat and Werstine 128)
Scene #14 - "Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy."
Act 3, Scene 3
Friar Lawrence tells Romeo that his punishment for killing Tybalt is banishment, not
death. Romeo responds that death is preferable to banishment from Juliet. When the
Nurse enters and tells Romeo that Juliet is grief-stricken, Romeo attempts suicide.
Friar Lawrence then says that Romeo may spend the night with Juliet and leave for
exile in Mantua next morning. The Friar promises that Balthasar will bring Romeo
news of Verona and suggests . . . Romeo can expect in time . . . the Prince may
relent and allow him to return to Verona.
Scene #15 - "These times of woe afford no time to woo."
Act 3, Scene 4
Paris again approaches Capulet about marrying Juliet. Capulet, saying that Juliet will
do as she is told, promises Paris that she will marry him in three days. (Mowat and
Werstine 128)
Scene #16 - "Then window, let day in, and let life out."
Act 3, Scene 5
Romeo and Juliet separate at the first light of day. Just after Romeo has descended
from Juliet's room, her mother comes to announce that Juliet must marry Paris.
When Juliet refuses, her father becomes enraged and vows to put her out on the
streets if she will not accept Paris as her husband. The Nurse recommends . . . Juliet
forget the banished Romeo and regard Paris as a more desirable husband. Juliet is
secretly outraged at the Nurse's advice and decides to seek Friar Lawrence's help.
Scene #17 - "Past hope, past care, past help!"

Act 4, Scene 1
Paris is talking with Friar Lawrence about the coming wedding when Juliet arrives.
After Paris leaves, she threatens suicide if Friar Lawrence cannot save her from
marrying Paris. Friar Lawrence gives her a potion that will make her appear as if
dead the morning of the wedding. He assures her . . . when she awakes in the vault,
Romeo will be there to take her away. (Mowat and Werstine 176)
Scene #18 - "Not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty."
Act 4, Scene 2
Capulet energetically directs preparations for Juliet's wedding. When she returns
from Friar Lawrence and pretends to have learned obedience, Capulet is so
delighted that he moves the wedding up to the next day and goes off to tell Paris the
new date. (Mowat and Werstine 186)
Scene #19 - "Romeo! Here's drink--I drink to thee!"
Act 4, Scene 3
Juliet sends the Nurse away for the night. After facing her terror at the prospect of
awaking in her family's burial vault, Juliet drinks the potion that Friar Lawrence has
given her. (Mowat and Werstine 190)
Scene #20 - "Go waken Juliet."
Act 4, Scene 4
The Capulets and the Nurse stay up all night to get ready for the wedding. Capulet,
hearing Paris approach with musicians, orders the Nurse to awaken Juliet. (Mowat
and Werstine 194)
Scene #21 - "O lamentable day!"
Act 4, Scene 5
The Nurse finds Juliet in the deathlike trance caused by the Friar's potion and
announces Juliet's death. Juliet's parents and Paris join the Nurse in lamentation.
Friar Lawrence interrupts them and begins to arrange Juliet's funeral. The scene
closes with an exchange of wordplay between Capulet's servant Peter and Paris's
musicians. (Mowat and Werstine 196)
Scene #22 - "I defy you, stars!"
Act 5, Scene 1
Romeo's man, Balthasar, arrives in Mantua with news of Juliet's death. Romeo
sends him to hire horses for their immediate return to Verona. Romeo then buys
poison so that he can join Juliet in death in the Capulet's burial vault. (Mowat and
Werstine 210)
Scene #23 - "I will write again to Mantua."
Act 5, Scene 2
Friar John enters, bringing with him the letter that he was to have delivered to
Romeo. He tells why he was unable to deliver the letter. Friar Lawrence anxiously
goes to the tomb to be there when Juliet comes out her trance. (Mowat and Werstine
216)
Scene #24 - "Never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her
Romeo."
Act 5, Scene 3
Paris visits Juliet's tomb and, when Romeo arrives, challenges him. Romeo and
Paris fight and Paris is killed. Romeo then takes poison, dying as he kisses Juliet. As
Friar Lawrence enters the tomb, Juliet awakes to find Romeo lying dead. Frightened
by a noise, the Friar flees the tomb. Juliet kills herself with Romeo's dagger. Alerted
by Paris's page, the watch arrives and finds the bodies. Then the Prince, the
Capulets, and Montague arrive. Friar Lawrence gives an account of the marriage of
Romeo and Juliet, whose deaths lead Montague and Capulet to declare their
hostility is at an end. (Mowat and Werstine 218)

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"Romeo and Juliet"

 General Storytelling: Majority Complete

Complete with the

Bevington, David. Introduction. Romeo and

Bryant, J .A., Jr. Introduction. Romeo and Juliet.

Charlton, H. B. Essay. Romeo and Juliet. By

Drabble, M., ed. The Oxford Companion to

Gibbons, Brian. Introduction. Romeo and Juliet.

Johnson, Samuel. Essay. Romeo and Juliet. By

Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature.

Paster, Gail Kern. Essay. "Romeo and Juliet: A

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Eds.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Ed. G. Carey.

Snyder, Susan. Essay. Romeo and Juliet. By

Coleridge's commentary about Shakespeare (although completely unintentional),

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-crossed lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Overall Character Mini-Synopsis:

Escalus, Prince of Verona

Mercutio, a young gentleman and kinsman to the Prince, friend of Romeo.

Paris, a noble young kinsman to the Prince.

Montague, head of a Veronese family at feud with the Capulets.

Romeo, Montague's son.

Benvolio, Montague's nephew and friend of Romeo and Mercutio.

Abram, a servant to Montague.

Balthasar, Romeo's servant.

Capulet, head of a Veronese family at feud with the Montagues.

Juliet, Capulet's daughter.

Tybalt, Lady Capulet's nephew.

Capulet's Cousin, an old gentleman.

Nurse, a Capulet servant, Juliet's foster mother.

Of the Capulet household:

Of the Franciscan Order:

Members of the Watch, Citizens of Verona, Masquers, Torchbearers, Pages,

THE OVERALL CHARACTERS:

Character Type: Complex

"Youth, freshness, and vulnerable innocence" (Gibbons 40)

Role: Object of Affection

Motivation: Logic; Faith

"caitiff [miserable] wretch"

Role: Medicine Man

Role: Romeo's servingman

Story Activities: "And Benvolio, a relative of the Montagues, is a consistent

Character Type: Complex

Name: Friar Lawrence

"Vigorous and ingenuous" (Bryant lxxvi)

Character Type: Complex

Name: Lady Capulet

Young, beautiful "a nasty temper" (Carey 13)

Role: Juliet's mother:

Name: Lady Montague

Role: Romeo's mother

Name: Lord Capulet

Role: Juliet's father

Character Type: Complex

Name: Lord Montague

Like his wife, Lord Montague is concerned for his son.

Role: Romeo's father