Romeo and Juliet is a romantic tragedy written by William Shakespeare. First printed in 1597, it remains one of the most famous works of Western literature and – alongside Hamlet – is one of Shakespeare's most oft-performed plays. The play deals with themes of young love, family, intergenerational conflict, and fate and follows the doomed romance of two star-crossed lovers.
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As writer Marchette Chute eloquently puts it, "Romeo and Juliet is the first of Shakespeare's great tragedies and the loveliest. It is golden with the light of morning and heavy with the death of all bright things, and the names Romeo and Juliet have passed into the language as a symbol of youth and love" (133). The play, probably written sometime between 1591 and 1595, was first published in a quarto in 1597, though the elements within the story are much older. Some of the earliest inspirations for the plot come from antiquity: the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, as depicted in Ovid's Metamorphoses, deals with two young lovers who begin a forbidden romance and tragically end their own lives after a series of misunderstandings (this story is explicitly referenced by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream). The Greek novel Ephesiaca, written by Xenophon of Ephesus around the 2nd century CE, also parallels Romeo and Juliet in that it includes a potion that causes a deathlike slumber.
The first true iteration of the story, does not appear until the 1530s, when a novella by Italian writer Luigi da Porto was posthumously published as Giulietta e Romeo. This was not only the first reference to the characters of Romeo and Juliet (or Giulietta), but also to their rival families, who are introduced as the 'Montecchi' and the 'Cappelletti' (interestingly, a reference to the Montecchi and Cappelletti as two feuding Italian families can be found in the sixth canto of Dante Alighieri's Purgatorio, c. 1321). Da Porto's work was used by Matteo Bandello as the source for his own 1554 Novelle, in which the story was lengthened, and the character of Benvolio was introduced. Bandello's work was translated into French, and it was this translation that inspired Arthur Brooke to write his dramatic poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562).
This brings us to Shakespeare, who probably used Brooke's poem as his main source. Shakespeare expanded on the source material by fleshing out characters like Mercutio and Juliet's Nurse, diminishing the immorality of Friar Laurence and minimizing the poem's antipapal tone, and shortening the time span of the story from nine months to a mere five days. It is unknown when the play was first performed, although it was certainly by the Lord Chamberlain's Men, the acting company with whom Shakespeare wrote. The first actor to play Romeo was Richard Burbage, the company's leading tragedian, while the part of Juliet was first played by Robert Goffe, a boy (women were not permitted to perform publicly in Elizabethan theatre). The play was immensely popular in Shakespeare's own lifetime, as indicated by the First Quarto in which it was printed, which states: "it hath been often (and with great applause) played publicly".
The first half of Romeo and Juliet is stylistically more in line with a romantic comedy than a tragedy. Samson and Gregory, the servant characters who appear in the first scene, are depicted as "slapstick cowards"; the Nurse and Mercutio provide humorous, witty, and often bawdy pieces of dialogue; and the lovers, too, are "well suited to Shakespearean comedy", with Romeo introduced as a melancholic teenager pining for Rosaline's affections, only to be taught the true nature of love by the younger Juliet (Bevington, 445). Yet, abruptly, the tone of the play shifts in the first scene of Act III, when Mercutio is slain by Tybalt, who, in turn, is killed by Romeo. Romeo faces banishment, Juliet faces the prospect of an unwanted marriage, and both young lovers end up committing suicide after believing the other to be dead. It is a series of accidents and misunderstandings, underscored by the hatred between the Montagues and Capulets, that brings about the tragedy in this play, which otherwise celebrates "the exquisite, brief joy of youthful passion" (Bevington, 444). Only with the deaths of their children can Montague and Capulet set aside their differences and clasp hands.
Act I
The play opens with a prologue, in which a Chorus lays out the setting with a sonnet. The story takes place in Verona, Italy, and revolves around the blood feud between two rival noble families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Indeed, Act I opens with a fight between servants of the feuding families that escalates into a full-blown street brawl. Here, we meet Benvolio, a cousin of the Montagues, who tries to stop the fighting – "Part fools! / Put up your swords" (1.1.65-66) – as well as Tybalt, a fiery Capulet kinsman who relishes in the prospect of shedding Montague blood – "what, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word / as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee!" (1.171-72). The brawl is abruptly halted when Escalus, Prince of Verona, arrives and forbids any more street fighting. This is the fourth time he has had to break up a fight between the families, and he threatens death to the next person to break the peace.
As the combatants disperse, Benvolio meets with Lord and Lady Montague, who express concern about the well-being of their son Romeo. As Montague tells it, Romeo has been acting strange and despondent lately, shutting himself up in his room and making "an artificial night" (1.1.143). Benvolio promises to find out what is wrong and approaches the melancholic Romeo, who reveals that he is deeply heartsick: he has fallen in love with Rosaline, a fair maiden who has refused to return his affection. Hoping to cheer his cousin up, Benvolio urges Romeo to forget about Rosaline by looking upon other young women – "by giving liberty unto thine eyes/ Examine other beauties" (1.1 235-236). The boys soon learn that Capulet will be hosting a feast later that evening, to which Rosaline has been invited. Benvolio suggests that they crash the party so that Romeo can compare her directly with other beautiful women and realize that there are other fish in the sea.
Meanwhile, Capulet meets with Count Paris, a kinsman of the prince and a suitor for the hand of Capulet's daughter Juliet. Capulet is reluctant to marry her off so quickly – she is just about to turn 14 – asking Paris to "let two more summers wither in their pride/ere we may think her ripe to be a bride" (1.2.10-11). Still, he encourages the count to 'woo' her and win her heart at that evening's feast. Later that afternoon, Lady Capulet wishes to discuss the marriage with Juliet and asks the Nurse to fetch her. The Nurse, described by Chute as a "well-meaning peasant woman" and "a great talker" (135), launches into an amusing, long-winded story about the day Juliet stopped nursing at her breast. Eventually, she summons Juliet to Lady Capulet, who asks her to consider the possibility of marriage: "Younger than you/are made already mothers" (1.3.75-77). Though she does not look forward to the prospect, Juliet nevertheless promises to look upon Paris at the feast.
That evening, Romeo, Benvolio, and their friend Mercutio – another kinsman of the prince – are making their way to Capulet's feast when Romeo, still moping about Rosaline, gets cold feet and tells his friends that he is too weighed down with sadness to dance. Mercutio, amused by Romeo's melancholy, begins to playfully tease him. This does not help – indeed, Romeo admits that he has had a foreboding dream warning him against going to the feast, to which Mercutio answers with a long and lyrical speech about Queen Mab, a fairy who rides her chariot across people's faces as they sleep, causing them to dream about their deepest desires: "And in this state she gallops night by night/through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love" (1.4.70-71). While the speech begins in good fun, Mercutio gets swept up in his own words, speaking more and more intensely until Romeo begs him to stop. Then, despite Romeo's ill feelings, the friends continue to the feast.
It is at the feast where Romeo first catches sight of Juliet from across the room. He is instantly lovestruck by her beauty, which makes him forget all about Rosaline as he asks himself: "did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! / For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night" (1.5.53-54). His words are overheard by Tybalt, who recognizes his voice and flies into a rage that a Montague is present. He orders a servant to fetch his rapier but is stopped by Capulet, who reprimands him and says that Romeo is known to be a "virtuous and well-governed youth" and, therefore, must not be harmed (1.5.68). At that moment, Romeo approaches Juliet and takes her hand. The pair engage in a playful dialogue in which Romeo presents himself as a palmer – or pilgrim – and Juliet as a holy saint, at whose shrine he has come to pray. They kiss before the Nurse comes by and whisks Juliet away. From the Nurse, Romeo learns that Juliet is a Capulet, and Juliet learns that Romeo is a Montague.
Acts II & III
After the feast, Romeo is not yet ready to leave – "can I go forward when my heart is here?" (2.1.1) – and hides in Capulet's orchard from Benvolio and Mercutio. Romeo is still hiding when Juliet, who has been unable to sleep, appears at her open window (or, as is famously depicted in most performances, on her balcony) and begins lamenting why Romeo must be called Romeo; since the only thing keeping them apart are their names, he need only renounce his name, or she hers, and then she would give herself to him. Overhearing this, Romeo leaps out of hiding to proclaim his love. Although she is initially embarrassed that he has heard her and fears that he may think her "too quickly won", she reaffirms that she loves him:
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have for both are infinite.
(2.2.133-135)
At the end of the balcony scene – one of the most iconic romance scenes in Western literature – Romeo promises to find someone to marry them, and Juliet agrees to send a messenger the next morning to find out what plans have been made. Romeo then goes to the cell of Friar Laurence, his trusted confessor, explains the situation, and asks the friar to marry them; though Friar Laurence is skeptical, he sees this marriage as a way to end the blood feud between the two families and agrees. After leaving the cell, Romeo runs into Benvolio and Mercutio, who notice that his mood has improved, with Mercutio saying, "is not this better now than groaning for love? / Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo" (2.4.87-88). Presently, Juliet's Nurse enters and, after being mocked by Mercutio, she approaches Romeo, who tells her to bring Juliet to Friar Laurence's cell under the pretext of confession, where they shall be married. That afternoon, Juliet is brought to the cell, and Friar Laurence marries the young lovers in secret.
That same afternoon, Mercutio and Benvolio wander the streets of Verona when they run into Tybalt and a gang of Capulets. Tybalt is still fuming about Romeo's unwelcome appearance at the feast, he wishes to challenge him to a duel. Romeo then enters, and Tybalt calls him a villain and tells him to draw his sword. But Romeo, who is now secretly related to Tybalt through marriage, refuses, begging him, "Good Capulet – which name I tender / as dearly as mine own – be satisfied" (3.1.70-71). Mercutio misinterprets this as cowardice and offers to fight Tybalt in Romeo's stead. They duel, and Romeo tries to break up the fight. But when he gets in between them, Tybalt's sword slips beneath Romeo's arm and fatally wounds Mercutio. As the Capulets run off, the dying Mercutio tries to keep the mood light with witty puns – "ask for me / tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man" (3.1.96-97) – before the reality of the situation sets in, and he lashes out, "A plague o' both your houses! They have made worm's meat of me!" (3.1.105-106). Romeo is horrified, and when Tybalt returns, he flies into a rage and kills him. For a moment, Romeo stands motionless, in shock over what he has done, before running off as a crowd begins to gather.
As Prince Escalus arrives on the scene, Benvolio explains what has happened and asks him to excuse Romeo – by slaying Tybalt, who has earlier killed Mercutio, Romeo has simply carried out what the prince's own law would have demanded anyway. The Capulets, on the other hand, do not want Romeo to get off so easy and demand his death. The prince offers a compromise: Romeo will not be executed but must be banished from Verona. A short while later, the Nurse goes to Juliet with this news. Juliet laments Tybalt's loss and curses nature for imbuing the "spirit of a fiend" in Romeo's "sweet flesh" (3.2.81-82). Still, she wishes to see Romeo and gives the Nurse a ring to bring to him. The Nurse finds him in Friar Laurence's cell, weeping over the fact that he has been banished and must be separated from his bride. The Nurse revives Romeo's spirits by giving him the ring, while the friar tells him that, after a period of exile in Mantua, the prince might forgive him and allow him to come home. Romeo spends the night with Juliet, and the lovers consummate their marriage before Romeo is forced to leave for exile. No sooner has he left than Lord and Lady Capulet enter Juliet's chamber, telling her that she must marry Paris in three days' time. When she refuses, Capulet becomes furious and threatens to disown her. Even the Nurse, seeing no other option, recommends that Juliet marry Paris. With nowhere else to turn, Juliet decides to seek the friar's help.
Acts IV & V
Juliet goes to Friar Laurence and asks him to rescue her from her unwanted marriage to Paris, threatening to commit suicide if he does not help her. The friar concocts a plan: Juliet will ease her parents' wrath by consenting to marry Paris. Then, she will take a sleeping potion that will give her the appearance of being dead; after she is laid to rest in the Capulets' tomb, the friar will send word to Romeo, who will retrieve her and whisk her off to Mantua, where he is living in exile. Juliet agrees to the plan and goes home, delighting her parents with promises of marriage to Paris. Then she retires to her chamber, telling the Nurse she wants to spend the night alone. Before drinking the potion, Juliet expresses her fears: perhaps the friar, hoping to hide his involvement in her secret marriage, has given her real poison, or perhaps Romeo will not arrive before she wakes, leaving her to go mad with fear shut up in her family tomb. Finally, she offers a toast to Romeo and drinks the potion. She is discovered the next morning by the Nurse, the Capulets, and Paris who sorrowfully believe her to be dead.
Friar Laurence then sends a letter to Romeo in Mantua, informing him of the plan. However, the friar's messenger is unable to deliver the letter, as he is quarantined in a house due to an outbreak of plague. So, when Romeo learns from his servant Balthasar that Juliet is dead, he believes it to be true. Resolving to die with her, he buys a vial of poison from an apothecary before making his way to the Capulets' tomb. Here, he runs into Paris, who has also come to mourn Juliet. Paris recognizes Romeo as the man who killed Tybalt and, therefore, blames him for Juliet's death. The two men duel, and Paris is killed; as he is dying, Paris asks to be laid next to Juliet's corpse, and Romeo agrees. Entering the tomb carrying Paris' body, Romeo is struck by how beautiful and lifelike Juliet looks, even in death. After stating his intention to join Juliet in death – to shake "the yoke of inauspicious stars / from this world-weary flesh" (5.3.111-112) – he kisses her, drinks the poison, and dies.
Friar Laurence enters the tomb just as Juliet wakes. Panicked and believing that the city watch is on its way, the friar quickly explains that Romeo and Paris are dead and begs Juliet to come with him. She refuses, and after the friar runs off, she stabs herself with Romeo's dagger – "O happy dagger / this is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die" (5.3.174-175) – and falls dead over his body. At that moment, two city watchmen enter, having apprehended Friar Laurence and Balthasar. They are followed by the prince, the Capulets, and Montague, who are horrified by the bloody scene before them. The prince demands an explanation, and, after listening to Balthasar and the friar tell their stories, he turns on Capulet and Montague, telling them that all this has happened because of their rivalry. The two patriarchs then agree to put an end to their feud, tearfully clasping hands over the corpses of their children. The play then ends with a final word from the prince: "For never was a story of more woe / than this of Juliet and her Romeo" (5.3.267-268).
