Romeo & juliet

ROMEO & JULIET

I'm going to talk about 'Romeo and Juliet', a play written in 1595 - 1596 by William Shakespeare.

The play takes place in Verona, in 'fair Verona', to use Shakespeare's words.

Well, in Verona there are two noble families, which have long been enemies, the Capulets and the Montagues.

A day, some Montagues and Capulets are fighting in a street of Verona, and they go on until prince Escalus arrives and stops them.

Lord and Lady Montague, worried about the strange behaviour of their son, Romeo, ask his cousin Benvolio to discover the reason for it. Romeo tells Benvolio that he is sad because his love for Rosaline is not returned. They discover that Rosaline will be at the Capulet's feast that evening, and so they decide to go. Romeo, forgetting his love for Rosaline, is captivated by Juliet's beauty and confesses his love to her. But later he knows that she is a Capulet. Juliet falls in love with Romeo, and she is similarly upset to discover that he is a Montague. Later, that night, Romeo climbs the wall of Juliet's garden and hears her talking to herself and revealing her love for him. He promises to marry her, and at the sunrise visits Friar Lawrence, who is persuaded to agree to marry them that afternoon, in the hope that this link between the two families will stop their quarrel.

Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, has recognised Romeo at the feast, also if he was in disguise. He considers Romeo's presence there uninvited and so he decides to revenge it.

Tybalt meets Romeo just after his secret marriage, but Romeo, who wants to be on friendly terms with the Capulets, doesn't want to fight with him.

Romeo's friend, Mercutio, thinks that Romeo is a coward, and so he fights Tybalt himself and is killed. His death angers Romeo, who fights and kills Tybalt. Romeo is banished from Verona and must go to Mantua.

Lord Capulet tries to force Juliet to marry Count Paris, but she refuses and asks for advice Friar Lawrence, who gives her a drug, which will make her unconscious for forty-two hours.

On the morning fixed for the marriage with Count Paris she is found apparently dead, and her body is laid in the family tomb.

Friar Lawrence sends a message to Romeo, in which he tells him to come and assist Juliet's escape, but because of a plague in Verona the message never reaches him.

Meanwhile, Romeo's servant Balthasar, believing Juliet to be dead, hurries to Mantua to inform Romeo, who buys some poison and goes back to Verona. At the tomb, Paris tries to stop Romeo from entering, so Romeo kills him, and enters the tomb. He drinks the poison bought in Mantua, and dies beside Juliet. Friar Lawrence now arrives and finds Juliet waking up, but he is frightened by the sound of approaching voices and runs away.

When Juliet discovers Romeo died by her side, she kills herself with a dagger. A crowd from the city reaches the tomb, and Friars Lawrence tells them the whole tragic story of the two lovers. The two families are, in the end, reconciled.

The main characters in the play

	MONTAGUES Montague head of a Veronese family Lady Montague Romeo: son of Montague Benvolio: nephew of Montague and friend of Romeo and Mercutio Abram: servant of Montague Balthasar: servant of Montague, looks after Romeo				CAPULETS Capulet: head of a Veronese family Lady Capulet Juliet: daughter of Capulet Tybalt: nephew of Lady Capulet
			And also.
		Friar Lawrence: a Franciscan Escalus: prince of Verona Mercutio: relative of the Prince and friend of Romeo Paris: a young count, relative of the Prince and Mercutio (Paris loves Juliet)