The drama begins as the servants of two noble families, Capulet and Montague are having a fight in the

streets of Verona.

One of the Montagues – Benvolio, tries to put a stop to the fight, but instead of stopping it, he involves
himself in it as Tybalt, from the Capulet clan arrives.

The citizens are not happy with the constant turbulencies, so the ruler of Verona decides to put a stop to
the uproar by bringing a death sentence to the picture for anyone who starts a fight in the future.
Romeo is a son of Montague, is in love with a girl that does not love him back, named Rosaline.

At the same time, Paris is in love with Juliet, and asks her to marry him. She is a Capulet, and her father
asks Paris to wait for two years, until Juliet at least turns fourteen.

Otherwise, he is more than happy with the match, so he invites Paris to the masquerade ball he
traditionally holds every year, along with many other guests, hoping he could show his affections
towards Juliet on the ball.

Meanwhile, when Capulet’s servant is taking around the list of invitations, Romeo and Benvolio
encounter him, and Benvolio suggests to Romeo that they attend the ball, so he could get a chance to
look at other beautiful women with which Verona is filled with.

Romeo decides to go, but not because of the wish to meet other women, but because his love Rosaline
will be there as well.

However, on the feast, something Romeo could not imagine happens – he falls in love with another
woman (Juliet) at first sight and forgets about Rosaline completely.

He succeeds to talk with her and he can see that she also feels the same attraction. So, they kiss,
without knowing who they are.

The truth about their identities upsets them later on – but it is too late, they are already in love.

Romeo, not knowing what to do, goes to seek advice from Friar Lawrence, who when Romeo tells him
his story agrees to marry him with Juliet in secret.

He does it most of all because he believes that such a marriage could put an end to the fight between
their families.

The next day, Romeo and Juliet are married.

However, tragedy is just around the corner.

Just a day after their secret wedding, two men from the Montague family encounter Juliet’s cousin
Tybalt, who has noticed and recognized Romeo on the feast and therefore is challenging him to a duel.

Romeo begs to stop the duel, but one of the men from his family is disgusted by such a plea and starts
the duel.

Romeo, trying to stop the fight, finds himself in between, and kills Tybalt. As a result, he is banished
from Verona for his crime, as the ruler has promised.

He spends his last night in the city with his love, Juliet.
She is worried and does not know what to do, since her father wants to marry her off, not knowing she
is already married.

She first tries to talk to her nurse, but she is not satisfied with her advice – to marry Paris since he is a
better match, and decides to ask for help from Friar Lawrence.

He has a plan that is supposed to reunite the lovers. The night before she is to be wed to Paris, Juliet
must drink a poison (phial) that will only make her look dead for some time.

After they put her to rest in her family’s crypt, Friar Lawrence will bring Romeo along to revive her, and
they will be reunited, with no more limits to their love.

However, the plan goes wrong: Juliet drinks the poison, but Father Lawrence’s message that is supposed
to explain the plan to Romeo, never reaches him.

The only thing he hears is that his love is dead.

He cannot imagine living without her, so he decides to end his life as well. He buys a poison and goes to
Juliet’s tomb to drink it, so they rest together. There, he meets Paris, whom he kills in a fight.

He then sits next to Juliet’s body and drinks the poison, dying by her side. Just a moment too late, Juliet
awakes.

She realizes the tragedy that has occurred and does not see a point in living anymore.

She kisses Romeo’s lips hoping the poison leftover will kill her, but when it does not, she stabs herself in
her heart and falls dead beside Romeo.

The two families arrive at the tomb and are torn apart by the sight. Realizing that their rage made their
children unhappy, they decide to bury the hatchet and build a new, peaceful Verona.

Romeo and Juliet Epilogue

Although this is a tragic drama, all is well in the end – if you take the general wellbeing of the people in
Verona as your focal point.

The premise that love leads to suicide and finally to peace is proven, and although you are sad for the
characters’ destinies, you are happy about the future that looks brighter.

Apothecary, Friar John, Lawrence.

Benvolio, Romeo, Tybalt, Mercutio, Juliet, Paris, montague, capulet,
Rosaline,
Verona, Italy
Mantua, letter, dagger