Romeo and Juliet: A Summary

In the streets of Verona another brawl breaks out between the servants of the
feuding noble families of Capulet and Montague. Benvolio, a Montague, tries to stop the
fighting, but is himself embroiled when the rash Capulet, Tybalt, arrives on the scene.
After citizens outraged by the constant violence beat back the warring factions, Prince
Escalus, the ruler of Verona, attempts to prevent any further conflicts between the
families by decreeing death for any individual who disturbs the peace in the future.

Romeo, the son of Montague, runs into his cousin Benvolio, who had earlier seen
Romeo moping in a grove of sycamores. After some prodding by Benvolio, Romeo
confides that he is in love with Rosaline, a woman who does not return his affections.
Benvolio counsels him to forget this woman and find another, more beautiful one, but
Romeo remains despondent.

Meanwhile, Paris, a kinsman of the Prince, seeks Juliet’s hand in marriage. Her
father Capulet, though happy at the match, asks Paris to wait two years, since Juliet is
not yet even fourteen. Capulet dispatches a servant with a list of people to invite to a
masquerade and feast he traditionally holds. He invites Paris to the feast, hoping that
Paris will begin to win Juliet’s heart.

Romeo and Benvolio, still discussing Rosaline, encounter the Capulet servant
bearing the list of invitations. Benvolio suggests that they attend, since that will allow
Romeo to compare his beloved to other beautiful women of Verona. Romeo agrees to
go with Benvolio to the feast, but only because Rosaline, whose name he reads on the
list, will be there.

In Capulet’s household, young Juliet talks with her mother, Lady Capulet, and her
nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris. Juliet has not yet considered marriage, but
agrees to look at Paris during the feast to see if she thinks she could fall in love with him.

The feast begins. A melancholy Romeo follows Benvolio and their witty friend
Mercutio to Capulet’s house. Once inside, Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and
instantly falls in love with her; he forgets about Rosaline completely. As Romeo watches
Juliet, entranced, a young Capulet, Tybalt, recognizes him, and is enraged that a
Montague would sneak into a Capulet feast. He prepares to attack, but Capulet holds
him back. Soon, Romeo speaks to Juliet, and the two experience a profound attraction.
They kiss, not even knowing each other’s names. When he finds out from Juliet’s nurse
that she is the daughter of Capulet—his family’s enemy—he becomes distraught. When
Juliet learns that the young man she has just kissed is the son of Montague, she grows
equally upset.

As Mercutio and Benvolio leave the Capulet estate, Romeo leaps over the
orchard wall into the garden, unable to leave Juliet behind. From his hiding place, he
sees Juliet in a window above the orchard and hears her speak his name. He calls out to
her, and they exchange vows of love.

Romeo hurries to see his friend and confessor Friar Lawrence, who, though
shocked at the sudden turn of Romeo’s heart, agrees to marry the young lovers in secret
since he sees in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud between Capulet
and Montague. The following day, Romeo and Juliet meet at Friar Lawrence’s cell and
are married. The Nurse, who is privy to the secret, procures a ladder, which Romeo will
use to climb into Juliet’s window for their wedding night.

The next day, Benvolio and Mercutio encounter Tybalt—Juliet’s cousin—who, still
enraged that Romeo attended Capulet’s feast, has challenged Romeo to a duel. Romeo
appears. Now Tybalt’s kinsman by marriage, Romeo begs the Capulet to hold off the
duel until he understands why Romeo does not want to fight. Disgusted with this plea
for peace, Mercutio says that he will fight Tybalt himself. The two begin to duel. Romeo
tries to stop them by leaping between the combatants. Tybalt stabs Mercutio under
Romeo’s arm, and Mercutio dies. Romeo, in a rage, kills Tybalt. Romeo flees from the
scene. Soon after, the Prince declares him forever banished from Verona for his crime.
Friar Lawrence arranges for Romeo to spend his wedding night with Juliet before he has
to leave for Mantua the following morning.

In her room, Juliet awaits the arrival of her new husband. The Nurse enters, and,
after some confusion, tells Juliet that Romeo has killed Tybalt. Distraught, Juliet
suddenly finds herself married to a man who has killed her kinsman. But she resettles
herself, and realizes that her duty belongs with her love: to Romeo.

Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room that night, and at last they consummate their
marriage and their love. Morning comes, and the lovers bid farewell, unsure when they
will see each other again. Juliet learns that her father, affected by the recent events,
now intends for her to marry Paris in just three days. Unsure of how to proceed—unable
to reveal to her parents that she is married to Romeo, but unwilling to marry Paris now
that she is Romeo’s wife—Juliet asks her nurse for advice. She counsels Juliet to proceed
as if Romeo were dead and to marry Paris, who is a better match anyway. Disgusted
with the Nurse’s disloyalty, Juliet disregards her advice and hurries to Friar Lawrence. He
concocts a plan to reunite Juliet with Romeo in Mantua. The night before her wedding
to Paris, Juliet must drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid
to rest in the family’s crypt, the Friar and Romeo will secretly retrieve her, and she will
be free to live with Romeo, away from their parents’ feuding.

Juliet returns home to discover the wedding has been moved ahead one day, and
she is to be married tomorrow. That night, Juliet drinks the potion, and the Nurse
discovers her, apparently dead, the next morning. The Capulets grieve, and Juliet is
entombed according to plan. But Friar Lawrence’s message explaining the plan to
Romeo never reaches Mantua. Its bearer, Friar John, gets confined to a quarantined
house. Romeo hears only that Juliet is dead.

Romeo learns only of Juliet’s death and decides to kill himself rather than live
without her. He buys a vial of poison from a reluctant Apothecary, then speeds back to
Verona to take his own life at Juliet’s tomb. Outside the Capulet crypt, Romeo comes
upon Paris, who is scattering flowers on Juliet’s grave. They fight, and Romeo kills Paris.
He enters the tomb, sees Juliet’s inanimate body, drinks the poison, and dies by her
side. Just then, Friar Lawrence enters and realizes that Romeo has killed Paris and
himself. At the same time, Juliet awakes. Friar Lawrence hears the coming of the watch.
When Juliet refuses to leave with him, he flees alone. Juliet sees her beloved Romeo and
realizes he has killed himself with poison. She kisses his poisoned lips, and when that
does not kill her, buries his dagger in her chest, falling dead upon his body.

The watch arrives, followed closely by the Prince, the Capulets, and Montague.
Montague declares that Lady Montague has died of grief over Romeo’s exile. Seeing
their children’s bodies, Capulet and Montague agree to end their long-standing feud and
to raise gold statues of their children side-by-side in a newly peaceful Verona.
 HAMLET: A summary
On a dark winter night, a ghost walks the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in Denmark.
Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the ghost resembles
the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius has inherited the throne
and married the king’s widow, Queen Gertrude. When Horatio and the watchmen bring
Prince Hamlet, the son of Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost, it speaks to him,
declaring ominously that it is indeed his father’s spirit, and that he was murdered by
none other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to seek revenge on the man who usurped
his throne and married his wife, the ghost disappears with the dawn.

Prince Hamlet devotes himself to avenging his father’s death, but, because he is
contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delays, entering into a deep melancholy and
even apparent madness. Claudius and Gertrude worry about the prince’s erratic
behavior and attempt to discover its cause. They employ a pair of Hamlet’s friends,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to watch him. When Polonius, the pompous Lord
Chamberlain, suggests that Hamlet may be mad with love for his daughter, Ophelia,
Claudius agrees to spy on Hamlet in conversation with the girl. But though Hamlet
certainly seems mad, he does not seem to love Ophelia: he orders her to enter a
nunnery and declares that he wishes to ban marriages.

A group of traveling actors comes to Elsinore, and Hamlet seizes upon an idea to
test his uncle’s guilt. He will have the players perform a scene closely resembling the
sequence by which Hamlet imagines his uncle to have murdered his father, so that if
Claudius is guilty, he will surely react. When the moment of the murder arrives in the
theater, Claudius leaps up and leaves the room. Hamlet and Horatio agree that this
proves his guilt. Hamlet goes to kill Claudius but finds him praying. Since he believes that
killing Claudius while in prayer would send Claudius’s soul to heaven, Hamlet considers
that it would be an inadequate revenge and decides to wait. Claudius, now frightened of
Hamlet’s madness and fearing for his own safety, orders that Hamlet be sent to England
at once.

Hamlet goes to confront his mother, in whose bedchamber Polonius has hidden
behind a tapestry. Hearing a noise from behind the tapestry, Hamlet believes the king is
hiding there. He draws his sword and stabs through the fabric, killing Polonius. For this
crime, he is immediately dispatched to England with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
However, Claudius’s plan for Hamlet includes more than banishment, as he has given
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sealed orders for the King of England demanding that
Hamlet be put to death.

In the aftermath of her father’s death, Ophelia goes mad with grief and drowns in
the river. Polonius’s son, Laertes, who has been staying in France, returns to Denmark in
a rage. Claudius convinces him that Hamlet is to blame for his father’s and sister’s
deaths. When Horatio and the king receive letters from Hamlet indicating that the
prince has returned to Denmark after pirates attacked his ship en route to England,
Claudius concocts a plan to use Laertes’ desire for revenge to secure Hamlet’s death.
Laertes will fence with Hamlet in innocent sport, but Claudius will poison Laertes’ blade
so that if he draws blood, Hamlet will die. As a backup plan, the king decides to poison a
goblet, which he will give Hamlet to drink should Hamlet score the first or second hits of
the match. Hamlet returns to the vicinity of Elsinore just as Ophelia’s funeral is taking
place. Stricken with grief, he attacks Laertes and declares that he had in fact always
loved Ophelia. Back at the castle, he tells Horatio that he believes one must be prepared
to die, since death can come at any moment. A foolish courtier named Osric arrives on
Claudius’s orders to arrange the fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes.

The sword-fighting begins. Hamlet scores the first hit, but declines to drink from
the king’s proffered goblet. Instead, Gertrude takes a drink from it and is swiftly killed by
the poison. Laertes succeeds in wounding Hamlet, though Hamlet does not die of the
poison immediately. First, Laertes is cut by his own sword’s blade, and, after revealing to
Hamlet that Claudius is responsible for the queen’s death, he dies from the blade’s
poison. Hamlet then stabs Claudius through with the poisoned sword and forces him to
drink down the rest of the poisoned wine. Claudius dies, and Hamlet dies immediately
after achieving his revenge.

At this moment, a Norwegian prince named Fortinbras, who has led an army to
Denmark and attacked Poland earlier in the play, enters with ambassadors from
England, who report that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Fortinbras is stunned
by the gruesome sight of the entire royal family lying sprawled on the floor dead. He
moves to take power of the kingdom. Horatio, fulfilling Hamlet’s last request, tells him
Hamlet’s tragic story. Fortinbras orders that Hamlet be carried away in a manner
befitting a fallen soldier.
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA: A SUMMARY

Mark Antony, one of the three rulers of the Roman Empire, spends his time in
Egypt, living a life of decadence and conducting an affair with the country’s beautiful
queen, Cleopatra. When a message arrives informing him that his wife, Fulvia, is dead
and that Pompey is raising an army to rebel against the triumvirate, Antony decides to
return to Rome. In Antony’s absence, Octavius Caesar and Lepidus, his fellow triumvirs,
worry about Pompey’s increasing strength. Caesar condemns Antony for neglecting his
duties as a statesman and military officer in order to live a decadent life by Cleopatra’s
side.

The news of his wife’s death and imminent battle pricks Antony’s sense of duty,
and he feels compelled to return to Rome. Upon his arrival, he and Caesar quarrel, while
Lepidus ineffectually tries to make peace. Realizing that an alliance is necessary to
defeat Pompey, Antony and Caesar agree that Antony will marry Caesar’s sister, Octavia,
who will solidify their loyalty to one another. Enobarbus, Antony’s closest friend,
predicts to Caesar’s men that, despite the marriage, Antony will surely return to
Cleopatra.

In Egypt, Cleopatra learns of Antony’s marriage and flies into a jealous rage.
However, when a messenger delivers word that Octavia is plain and unimpressive,
Cleopatra becomes confident that she will win Antony back. The triumvirs meet Pompey
and settle their differences without going to battle. Pompey agrees to keep peace in
exchange for rule over Sicily and Sardinia. That evening, the four men drink to celebrate
their truce. One of Pompey’s soldiers discloses to him a plan to assassinate the
triumvirs, thereby delivering world power into Pompey’s hands, but Pompey dismisses
the scheme as an affront to his honor. Meanwhile, one of Antony’s -generals wins a
victory over the kingdom of Parthia.

Antony and Octavia depart for Athens. Once they are gone, Caesar breaks his
truce, wages war against Pompey, and defeats him. After using Lepidus’s army to secure
a victory, he accuses Lepidus of treason, imprisons him, and confiscates his land and
possessions. This news angers Antony, as do the rumors that Caesar has been speaking
out against him in public. Octavia pleads with Antony to maintain a peaceful relationship
with her brother. Should Antony and Caesar fight, she says, her affections would be
painfully divided. Antony dispatches her to Rome on a peace mission, and quickly
returns to Egypt and Cleopatra. There, he raises a large army to fight Caesar, and Caesar,
incensed over Antony’s treatment of his sister, responds in kind. Caesar commands his
army and navy to Egypt. Ignoring all advice to the contrary, Antony elects to fight him at
sea, allowing Cleopatra to command a ship despite Enobarbus’s strong objections.
Antony’s forces lose the battle when Cleopatra’s ship flees and Antony’s follows, leaving
the rest of the fleet vulnerable.

Antony despairs, condemning Cleopatra for leading him into infamy but quickly
forgiving her. He and Cleopatra send requests to their conqueror: Antony asks to be
allowed to live in Egypt, while Cleopatra asks that her kingdom be passed down to her
rightful heirs. Caesar dismisses Antony’s request, but he promises Cleopatra a fair
hearing if she betrays her lover. Cleopatra seems to be giving thought to Caesar’s
message when Antony barges in, curses her for her treachery, and orders the innocent
messenger whipped. When, moments later, Antony forgives Cleopatra, Enobarbus
decides that his master is finished and defects to Caesar’s camp.

Antony meets Caesar’s troops in battle and scores an unexpected victory. When
he learns of Enobarbus’s desertion, Antony laments his own bad fortune, which he
believes has corrupted an honorable man. He sends his friend’s possessions to Caesar’s
camp and returns to Cleopatra to celebrate his victory. Enobarbus, undone by shame at
his own disloyalty, bows under the weight of his guilt and dies. Another day brings
another battle, and once again Antony meets Caesar at sea. As before, the Egyptian fleet
proves treacherous; it abandons the fight and leaves Antony to suffer defeat. Convinced
that his lover has betrayed him, Antony vows to kill Cleopatra. In order to protect
herself, she quarters herself in her monument and sends word that she has committed
suicide. Antony, racked with grief, determines to join his queen in the afterlife. He
commands one of his attendants to fulfill his promise of unquestioned service and kill
him. The attendant kills himself instead. Antony then falls on his own sword, but the
wound is not immediately fatal. He is carried to Cleopatra’s monument, where the
lovers are reunited briefly before Antony’s death. Caesar takes the queen prisoner,
planning to display her in Rome as a testament to the might of his empire, but she
learns of his plan and kills herself with the help of several poisonous snakes. Caesar has
her buried beside Antony.
 MERCHANT OF VENICE: A SUMMARY
Antonio, a Venetian merchant, complains to his friends of a melancholy that he
cannot explain. His friend Bassanio is desperately in need of money to court Portia, a
wealthy heiress who lives in the city of Belmont. Bassanio asks Antonio for a loan in
order to travel in style to Portia’s estate. Antonio agrees, but is unable to make the loan
himself because his own money is all invested in a number of trade ships that are still at
sea. Antonio suggests that Bassanio secure the loan from one of the city’s moneylenders
and name Antonio as the loan’s guarantor. In Belmont, Portia expresses sadness over
the terms of her father’s will, which stipulates that she must marry the man who
correctly chooses one of three caskets. None of Portia’s current suitors are to her liking,
and she and her lady-in-waiting, Nerissa, fondly remember a visit paid some time before
by Bassanio.

In Venice, Antonio and Bassanio approach Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, for a

loan. Shylock nurses a long-standing grudge against Antonio, who has made a habit of
berating Shylock and other Jews for their usury, the practice of loaning money at
exorbitant rates of interest, and who undermines their business by offering interest-free
loans. Although Antonio refuses to apologize for his behavior, Shylock acts agreeably
and offers to lend Bassanio three thousand ducats with no interest. Shylock adds,
however, that should the loan go unpaid, Shylock will be entitled to a pound of
Antonio’s own flesh. Despite Bassanio’s warnings, Antonio agrees. In Shylock’s own
household, his servant Launcelot decides to leave Shylock’s service to work for Bassanio,
and Shylock’s daughter Jessica schemes to elope with Antonio’s friend Lorenzo. That
night, the streets of Venice fill up with revelers, and Jessica escapes with Lorenzo by
dressing as his page. After a night of celebration, Bassanio and his friend Gratiano leave
for Belmont, where Bassanio intends to win Portia’s hand.

In Belmont, Portia welcomes the prince of Morocco, who has come in an attempt
to choose the right casket to marry her. The prince studies the inscriptions on the three
caskets and chooses the gold one, which proves to be an incorrect choice. In Venice,
Shylock is furious to find that his daughter has run away, but rejoices in the fact that
Antonio’s ships are rumored to have been wrecked and that he will soon be able to
claim his debt. In Belmont, the prince of Arragon also visits Portia. He, too, studies the
caskets carefully, but he picks the silver one, which is also incorrect. Bassanio arrives at
Portia’s estate, and they declare their love for one another. Despite Portia’s request that
he waits before choosing, Bassanio immediately picks the correct casket, which is made
of lead. He and Portia rejoice, and Gratiano confesses that he has fallen in love with
Nerissa. The couples decide on a double wedding. Portia gives Bassanio a ring as a token
of love, and makes him swear that under no circumstances will he part with it. They are
joined, unexpectedly, by Lorenzo and Jessica. The celebration, however, is cut short by
the news that Antonio has indeed lost his ships, and that he has forfeited his bond to
Shylock. Bassanio and Gratiano immediately travel to Venice to try and save Antonio’s
life. After they leave, Portia tells Nerissa that they will go to Venice disguised as men.

Shylock ignores the many pleas to spare Antonio’s life, and a trial is called to
decide the matter. The duke of Venice, who presides over the trial, announces that he
has sent for a legal expert, who turns out to be Portia disguised as a young man of law.
Portia asks Shylock to show mercy, but he remains inflexible and insists the pound of
flesh is rightfully his. Bassanio offers Shylock twice the money due him, but Shylock
insists on collecting the bond as it is written. Portia examines the contract and, finding it
legally binding, declares that Shylock is entitled to the merchant’s flesh. Shylock
ecstatically praises her wisdom, but as he is on the verge of collecting his due, Portia
reminds him that he must do so without causing Antonio to bleed, as the contract does
not entitle him to any blood. Trapped by this logic, Shylock hastily agrees to take
Bassanio’s money instead, but Portia insists that Shylock take his bond as written, or
nothing at all. Portia informs Shylock that he is guilty of conspiring against the life of a
Venetian citizen, which means he must turn over half of his property to the state and
the other half to Antonio. The duke spares Shylock’s life and takes a fine instead of
Shylock’s property. Antonio also forgoes his half of Shylock’s wealth on two conditions:
first, Shylock must convert to Christianity, and second, he must will the entirety of his
estate to Lorenzo and Jessica upon his death. Shylock agrees and takes his leave.

Bassanio, who does not see through Portia’s disguise, showers the young law clerk with
thanks, and is eventually pressured into giving Portia the ring with which he promised never to
part. Gratiano gives Nerissa, who is disguised as Portia’s clerk, his ring. The two women return
to Belmont, where they find Lorenzo and Jessica declaring their love to each other under the
moonlight. When Bassanio and Gratiano arrive the next day, their wives accuse them of
faithlessly giving their rings to other women. Before the deception goes too far, however, Portia
reveals that she was, in fact, the law clerk, and both she and Nerissa reconcile with their
husbands. Lorenzo and Jessica are pleased to learn of their inheritance from Shylock, and the
joyful news arrives that Antonio’s ships have in fact made it back safely. The group celebrates
its good fortune.