The Story of Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
In Verona, Italy, there are two wealthy families, the Capulets and the
Montagues. These families are bitter enemies and are always fighting.
Even the servants of these two families hate one another. The prince of
Verona and the townspeople are fed-up with their constant fighting. One
day, they have another brawl. This time, the prince declares that the
next person to break the peace will be killed.
The Montagues have a son, Romeo and the Capulets have a daughter,
Juliet. One evening, Romeo and his cousin, Benvolio, gatecrash a masked
party held by Lord Capulet. There, he meets Juliet and they fall in love
instantly. But their families are rivals and no one must know about their
love and their secret plan to marry.
Romeo visits Friar Laurence and asks the Friar to marry him and Juliet.
At first, the Friar refuses but later agrees, believing the marriage might
help end the quarrel between the two families. He marries them secretly.
Meanwhile, Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, discovers that Romeo, a Montague, has
gate-crashed his family’s party and he is angry. Tybalt challenges Romeo
to a fight but Romeo refuses because Tybalt is now family. However,
Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend, steps in and accepts the challenge. Tybalt
kills Mercutio. Romeo is upset. He fights Tybalt and kills him. The Prince
of Verona is very angry and sends Romeo far away from Verona.
Juliet goes to Friar Lawrence for help. The Friar comes up with a plan and
gives her a sleeping potion that will make her appear dead for 42 hours.
At the same time, he sends a message to Romeo to return to Verona to
meet Juliet and take her away when she wakes up.
Early the next morning, Juliet’s lifeless body is discovered and she is
placed into the Capulet family tomb. The message however, fails to reach
Romeo. He hears about Juliet’s death from his servant, Balthazar. Romeo
is convinced that his one and true love is dead, so he buys some poison
and rushes back to Verona.
Romeo goes to Juliet’s tomb. He sits beside her dead body and drinks the
poison. In a few seconds, he draws his last breath just as Juliet awakes.
She opens her eyes to find Romeo dead beside her. She kisses him
hoping that there is enough poison on his lips to kill her too, but seeing
that she is unable to poison herself with a last kiss, Juliet stabs herself
with Romeo’s dagger.
Friar Lawrence tells the Capulets and Montagues the whole story. They
decide to end their long-standing hatred for one another and make peace.
An ancient grudge
A brawl
Lord Capulet’s masked party
Romeo meets Juliet.
Friar Laurence agrees to help.
Romeo and Juliet marry.
Tybalt challenges Romeo.
Tybalt kills Mercutio.
Romeo kills Tybalt.
Romeo leaves Verona.
Friar Laurence creates a plan.
Juliet fakes her death.
Romeo buys poison.
Romeo dies.
Juliet stabs herself.
Juliet dies.
The quarrel ends.