A short summary of the entire play
What Happens in Romeo and Juliet – A short summary
What happens in Act 1
The Chorus sets the scene in the Prologue: “Two households…”
The play starts with a fight between the Capulet and Montague families. Prince Escalus, sick of the constant fighting, warns the two feuding families that if they should fight again in the streets of Verona they will pay for their crimes with their lives.
Meanwhile…the love sick Romeo is pining (longing) for a girl called Rosaline. He loves her but his love is unrequited (she doesn’t love him back). So when Romeo and his friend Benvolio discover by chance that Rosaline will be at Lord Capulet's Annual Festive Party later that night, they both decide to go so that Romeo can see Rosaline, and so Benvolio can try to persuade his friend that there are more beautiful women to chase than Rosaline. At the party Romeo meets Juliet and falls instantly in love with her. But they soon find out that Romeo is a Montague and Juliet is a Capulet - the children of two long standing enemies. It seems their love is doomed before it can start.
What happens in Act 2
Romeo stays behind after the party has finished and finds himself in the orchard beneath Juliet's bedroom window. In the famous balcony scene that follows, Romeo and Juliet exchange their love vows and are determined to be married. The next morning, Romeo visits his friend Friar Lawrence and persuades him to perform the secret marriage ceremony.
What happens in Act 3
Tybalt, Lord Capulet's ill-tempered nephew, is angry that Romeo and his friends gate crashed the Capulet party. He searches out Romeo and tries to start a fight in the streets of Verona. Romeo - who has been married to Juliet for just an hour - tries to be friends with Tybalt and avoid fighting. Mercutio - another friend of Romeo and a relation of Prince Escalus - reacts furiously, thinking that Tybalt is being disrespectful and Romeo a coward, and fights with Tybalt. Romeo tries to act as peacemaker but Mercutio is fatally stabbed by Tybalt. After Mercutio’s death Romeo flies into an emotional rage and instantly avenges Mercutio's death by killing Tybalt and fleeing from the scene. As punishment, Romeo is banished from Verona. He has just one night to secretly meet up with his new wife.
Juliet's parents mistake Juliet's sorrow for grief for her dead cousin, Tybalt. They believe her mood will improve by marrying Count Paris, her suitor, on the forthcoming Thursday. But Juliet refuses and her father is enraged by her disobedience.
What happens in Act 4
Juliet seeks the advice of Friar Lawrence. He proposes a plan that involves taking a magical sleeping potion to make her appear dead. She would then be placed in the family vault where he and Romeo could rescue her while they work out what to do next. Juliet agrees to the plan. Lord Capulet is overjoyed and brings forward the wedding to Wednesday. Juliet takes the potion, while the Friar writes to Romeo in Mantua.
What happens in Act 5
But fate intervenes again. The letter to Romeo in Mantua doesn't get delivered. Instead Romeo's servant, Balthasar, tells him that Juliet is dead. Grief stricken, Romeo returns to the Capulet tomb with poison he has bought from an Apothecary. Romeo drinks the poison and dies next to his wife. When Juliet awakes in the vault, she is overcome with grief and stabs herself. The deaths of the two young lovers finally ends years of fighting between the Montagues and the Capulets.
