ROMEO AND JULIET
Characters:
1. Romeo Montague – A young
man in love
2. Juliet Capulet – A noblewoman
bound by family duty
3. Mercutio – Romeo’s witty and
impulsive best friend
4. Tybalt Capulet – Juliet’s hot-
tempered cousin
5. Friar Laurence – A well-meaning
priest who aids the lovers
6. Nurse – Juliet’s caring but
talkative servant
7. Benvolio – Romeo’s cousin, a
peacemaker
8. Prince Escalus – Ruler of
Verona
9. Lord and Lady Capulet –
Juliet’s parents
10. Lord and Lady Montague –
Romeo’s parents
11. Paris – A nobleman arranged to
marry Juliet
12. Balthasar – Romeo’s loyal
servant
13. Apothecary – A desperate man
who sells poison
__________________
ACT 1: The Feud and
the Meeting
Scene 1: A Brawl in
Verona (A public
square)
(Montague and Capulet servants
brawl. Benvolio intervenes, but
Tybalt arrives, sword drawn.)
Tybalt: What, art thou drawn
among these
heartless hinds? Turn thee,
Benvolio, and 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: Peace? I hate the word,
as I hate hell, all Montagues, and
thee! Have at thee, coward!
(They fight. The Prince arrives,
furious.)
Prince: Rebellious subjects,
enemies to peace, profaners of
this neighbor-stainèd steel—hear
me! Three civil brawls, bred of an
airy word, by thee, old Capulet,
and Montague, have thrice
disturbed the quiet of our streets!
If ever you disturb our streets
again, your lives shall pay the
forfeit!
(The families separate. Romeo
enters, melancholy.)
Benvolio: What sadness
lengthens Romeo’s hours?
Romeo: Not having that which,
having, makes them short.
Benvolio: In love?
Romeo: Out—
Benvolio: Of love?
Romeo: Out of her favor where I
am in love.
(Romeo laments his unrequited
love for Rosaline. Benvolio
encourages him to look at other
women.)
Scene 2: Capulet’s
Party is
Announced (Capulet’s
house)
(Paris asks for Juliet’s hand in
marriage.)
Capulet: Let two more summers
wither in their pride ere we may
think her ripe to be a bride. But
woo her, gentle Paris, get her
heart: my will to her consent is
but a part.
(Meanwhile, Benvolio urges
Romeo to attend the Capulet
ball.)
Benvolio: At this same ancient
feast of Capulet’s sups the fair
Rosaline whom thou so lov’st.
Go thither, and with unattainted
eye compare her face with some
that I shall show, and I will make
thee think thy swan a crow!
Scene 3: Romeo and
Juliet Meet (Capulet’s
Ball)
(Romeo sees Juliet and is
instantly enchanted.)
Romeo: O, she doth teach the
torches to burn bright! It seems
she hangs upon the cheek of
night as a rich jewel in an
Ethiop’s ear—beauty too rich for
use, for earth too dear!
(Juliet notices him. They speak.)
Romeo: If I profane with my
unworthiest hand this holy
shrine, the gentle fine is this: my
lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready
stand to smooth that rough touch
with a tender kiss.
Juliet: Good pilgrim, you do
wrong your hand too much,
which mannerly devotion shows
in this; for saints have hands that
pilgrims’ hands do touch, and
palm to
palm is holy palmers’ kiss.
(They kiss. The Nurse
interrupts.)
Nurse: His name is Romeo, and
a Montague, the only son of your
great enemy!
Juliet: My only love sprung from
my only hate! Too early seen
unknown, and known too late!
ACT 2: The Secret
Love
Scene 4: The Balcony
Scene (Juliet’s Garden,
Later That Night)
(Juliet stands on her balcony,
unaware Romeo is below.)
Juliet: O Romeo, Romeo!
Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy
name; or, if thou wilt not, be but
sworn my love, and I’ll no longer
be a Capulet.
Romeo: Shall I hear more, or
shall I speak at this?
Juliet: ‘Tis but thy name that is
my enemy; thou art thyself,
though not a Montague. What’s
Montague? It is nor hand, nor
foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any
other part belonging to a man. O,
be some other name!
Romeo: With love’s light wings
did I o’erperch these walls; for
stony limits cannot hold love out.
Juliet: If thy love be honorable,
thy purpose marriage, send me
word tomorrow.
Romeo: By the hour of nine!
(They part.)
Scene 5: The Secret
Marriage (Friar
Laurence’s Cell)
(Friar Laurence agrees to marry
them.)
Friar: These violent delights
have violent ends, and in their
triumph die, like fire and powder.
Love moderately; long love doth
so.
(Juliet arrives, and the wedding
takes place.)
ACT 3: The Turning
Point
Scene 6: The Duel –
Mercutio and Tybalt’s
Deaths (A Street in
Verona
(Tybalt confronts Romeo.)
Tybalt: Thou art a villain!
Romeo: I do protest, I never
injured thee, but love thee better
than thou canst devise.
Mercutio: O calm, dishonorable,
vile submission! Tybalt, you rat-
catcher, will you walk?
(They fight. Tybalt fatally wounds
Mercutio.)
Mercutio: A plague o’ both your
houses!
(Enraged, Romeo fights and kills
Tybalt.)
Romeo: O, I am fortune’s fool!
(The Prince banishes Romeo.)
Scene 7: The Lovers’
Farewell (Juliet’s
Room, Night)
(Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room
before dawn.)
Juliet: Wilt thou be gone? It is
not yet near day.
Romeo: More light and light—it
grows more dark and dark.
(They part in sorrow.)
ACT 4: The Tragic
Plan
Scene 8: Juliet’s Fake
Death (Capulet’s
House)
(Juliet refuses to marry Paris.
She visits Friar Laurence.)
Juliet: I long to die if what thou
speak’st speak not of remedy.
(Friar gives her a sleeping
potion.)
(Juliet takes it and appears dead.
Her family mourns.)
ACT 5: The Tragic
End
Scene 9: Friar John’s
Dilemma
(Friar John enters, looking
worried. Friar Laurence is
already in his cell.)
Friar Laurence:
Ah, Friar John, did you deliver
my letter?
What news? Why do you look so
troubled?
Friar John:
Father Laurence, I’m afraid I
have failed.
I went to Mantua as you bid me,
But the plague kept me trapped
within the house.
I could not leave, and so the
letter stayed—
Unopened, undelivered.
Friar Laurence:
Oh, this is a disaster! Romeo
must not know
Of Juliet’s true state! You’ve
sealed their fate!
Friar John:
What can we do now? Time is
slipping away.
Friar Laurence:
I must go to Romeo myself, and
quickly,
Or all is lost!
(Friar Laurence exits hastily.
Friar John stands still, full of
regret.)
Scene 10: Romeo Buys
Poison (Mantua)
(Balthasar tells Romeo that Juliet
is dead.)
Romeo: Then I defy you, stars!
(He buys poison from the
Apothecary.)
Romeo: Here is gold—worse
poison to men’s souls than these
poor compounds that thou mayst
not sell.
Scene 10: The Tomb –
The Double Suicide
(Juliet’s Tomb)
(Romeo arrives and sees Paris
mourning Juliet.)
Paris: Condemned villain, I do
apprehend thee!
(They fight, and Paris dies.)
(Romeo enters the tomb, sees
Juliet, and drinks the poison.)
Romeo: Here’s to my love!
(Dies.)
(Juliet wakes, sees Romeo dead,
and takes his dagger.)
Juliet: O happy dagger! (Stabs
herself and dies.)
(The families arrive. Friar
Laurence confesses everything.)
Prince: See what a scourge is
laid upon your hate!
(The Montagues and Capulets
make peace, but too late.)
THE END.
