Classical Comics Teaching Resource: UnderstandingthePlay ...

1 13 Cla ssicalComics TeachingResource:Ro me o&Jul ietUndersta nd ing the PlayROMEO& juliet - ACT SUMMARIESAC T ONESce ne 1It is Sunday, and the streetsof Verona arebu sy. Tw o Ca pule t se rv ant s, Samp so n an dGre gor y, are tea sing each ot he r qu ite ru delyand as ea rly as the seve nt h lin e men tio n howmuc h th ey hate a ri va l family , the Mo ntag ham and Ba ltha sa r of th e Mon tag uesent er, an d a fightbrea ks out . Benvo li o tri esto stop it, but Ty ba lt re fu se s to help , and th efig ht turnsin to a riot th at is eve ntu ally bro kenup by the to wn gua rds . The Princ e th reatensde at h to anyon e wh o dis turbsth e peaceag ai n. Ro meo entersafterthe sce ne and tel ls hisfrie nd Benv olio th at he wa nt s nothi ng to do wi th vio lence . He also admitsto bei ng lov esickbe caus e the woman he loves(Ro sali ne) do esn t wan t to kno w ne 2 Parisvisi ts Lo rd Ca pulet,as ki ng to marryhi s daug hter, Juli et.

2 We learnshe is no t quite14ye ar s old, an d Ca pule t tells Pa ris to wai t two mo re erth el ess, Capul et inv ite s Pari sto a ma ske d ba ll, or part y, at the ir house . Ben volio an d romeo find out aboutth e party, andBe nv olio en cou ragesRome o to go so th at he can forg et ab ou t Ro sal ne 3La dy Cap ule t te lls Juli et that Pari s wantsto marr y her . Jul iet s Nu rse is very exc ited, butJulie t ha sn t th oughtabo ut mar ne 4It s no w Su nda y evening, and severalpartygoer s, amo ng th em romeo ,BenvolioandMe rcut io , are out side Cap ule t s hou se. Mercu tio s lig ht-h ea rted an d clev er ba nte r contrastswit h Rom eo s da rk mood,th oughit s obvi ous Mercu tio has his own dark side too .Sce ne 5 Prepa rationsare bein g madefor Cap ul et s party, and the gu ests arrive,followed by lots ofda nc ing and musi c.

3 Rome o see s Ju li et fo r th e first ti me, fro m a distan ce , and is ove rwhelmedby he r be au ty. Des pit e his mas k, Ro meo (M ontag ue) is sp ottedby Tyb alt (Capu let) , whowa nt s to kil l Romeofo r sn ea king in un in vited bu t Cap ul et fo rc efu lly st op s lt isange red by th is and vowsreve nge ag ain st Ro meo . Romeoap pro ach es Jul ie t. Theytal k andthe n kis s. Nurs e inte rru pts and tel ls Romeoth at Ju liet is a Cap ulet, muchto hi s disma er, Julie t find s out that Rome o is a Mo ntag ue, and sh e reactsin mu ch the sa me wa US Teachers Notes:R&J US Teachers Notes 16/10/09 11:04 Page 1314 Clas sical Comics TeachingResource:Rom eo&Ju lietUnd ersta nd ing th e PlayROMEO& juliet - AC T SUMMARIESAC T TWOSce ne 1 romeo ma nag es to hide fro m hi s frien ds ou tsi de Capulet sorchardand refusesto jo in them,des pit e Me rcut io s tea ne 2 This is per haps the mos t famousscenein the hi story of Engli sh drama, knownas T he BalconyScene.

4 Ro meo is in the or ch ard an d seesJuliet high on her knowi ng Rom eo isth er e, Ju lie t sp eak s abo ut him lo vi ngly but lamentsthe fact that he s a Mont she r kn ow th at he is ther e. Ju li et is shocked, but the two of themenga ge in lov ing conv er sati in in terr upt ed by the Nu rse, th ey has tily arrangeto ne 3It is now ear ly on Mon day mor ni ng, an d Romeogoes to see his frie nd, FriarLau renc e la st saw romeo he was loves ick ab ou t Ro sal in e, and Lau renc e is ple ase d to seeth e cha nge in him unt il he re al izes th at Ro meo wantsto mar ry so me new gi rl. Fri arLau renc e agre es to ma rr y romeo to Ju li et in the ho pe that the unio n will bringpea ce to thewa rringfa mili es .Sce ne 4 This is a ve ry hap py sc en e an d the only on e in the pl ay in whi ch we see Romeoenjoyingtimewit h his frie nds.

5 Me rcu tio te ase s Benvol io and Ro e Nur se arrives, and Mercu tiote ase s her me rc ile ss ly, provoking her an ger . Ro meo tel ls the Nurseto inf orm Jul iet tha t shesho uld go to Fria r La ure nc e s ce ll th at after noo n to be ne 5Ju lie t anx iou sl y awa its th e Nu rse sretu rn . When sh e does comeback,she takesa lo ng timeto rev eal th e mess ag e, muchto the ann oyan ce of Jul ne 6 romeo wai ts for Jul iet wi th Fri ar Lau rence. She ar riv es, and the couplekiss. Romeoand Julietare ma rrie d thou gh, inte re st ingl y, th e ceremonyis not perfo rmedon st age .R&J US Teachers Notes:R&J US Teachers Notes 16/10/09 11:04 Page 1415 Cla ssicalComics TeachingResource:Ro me o&Jul ietUndersta nd ing the PlayROMEO& juliet - ACT SUMMARIESAC T THREESce ne 1 Thi s is the pl ay s pi e aud ien ce (andRo meo,of course!)

6 Wi ll be on anemot iona l high after the we ddin g, but it all co mes crashing down in this sce ne. It is on ly on eho ur aft er the marri d Mercuti o talk in Veron a s st is tryingtope rsua de Me rcut io to go indoors as it is very ho t an d he fea rs a brawl if they comeacro ssthe Ca pule ts. Ty pic all y, Me rcu tio rejectsthi s idea and teases Be nvo lio. Tyba lt enters;he an dMe rcu ti o ha ve a he at ed dis cus sion. Romeoen han ds out insultsto romeo ,wh odo es not take the ba it . Ins tea d, Mercutio figh ts Tybalt, an d is kil led ; Tybaltst rikesthe fatalbl ow as Rome o movesbe twee n , feel in g gui lty and seeking revenge,Rome o kil ls Tyb alt. He runs awa y, an d the Pri nce, in Ro meo s ab sen ce, banisheshim fro mVerona .Sce ne 2 Julie t ha s no id ea whathas goneon and si ts at home look ing fo rwardto her wedding nigh twit h Rom eo.

7 The Nurs e ent ers , cryi ng, sh ou ti ng Ro me o s name and that some one ha s di t ass um es it is Rome o but soon discovers it is Tybal t an d th at Romeoki lled hi m. At firstshe crit ic ize s Ro me o; the n, she def en ds hi m to th e Nu rse. Th e Nu rse ag re es to find romeo ,tel ling him to come and bid fa rewell to Jul ne 3We re turn to Fria r La uren ce s ce ll, wh ere Ro meo is understandablydistraught by ev en ure nce trie s to makehim see sense, but Ro meo wo n t hear it. Th e Nur se ente rs and te ll sRomeothat Julie t is cons ta nt ly cryi ng . Ro meo tak es a knife an d offersto stab himself tore mov e his na me. Fria r La ure nc e sto ps hi m, an d becomes ang ry . Lau re nc e tel ls Ro me o tovi sit Jul iet as prev ious ly arra nge d but war ns him to makesure he leavesVeronabe fo re dawnand go to ne arb y Ma nt ua.

8 Sce ne 4It is late on Mo nda y even ing, and Pari s has vi si ted Capuletto repeathis requ est to marryJulie t. Capul et cha nge s his mind,as he th in ks it wi ll ch eer her up fol lowingthe dea th of hercous in, and se ts Th urs day as the wedding ne 5It is now ve ry ear ly on Tuesdaymor nin g, in Ju li et s Jul iet havespen tthe nigh t to get he r, and nei the r wan ts to part,al th oug h they real ize Ro meo mustgo or riskde at h if he is cap tu y Cap ul et entersan d tell s Juliettha t sh e wil l bema rrie d to Pa ris on Thursda y. Ju liet refu Cap ul et beco mes ver y angryan dthre at ens he r. Julie t turnsto the Nu rse, bu t her ad vi ce is to marryParis . Julie t, rea lizi ng sheha s nowhere els e to tu rn, plan s to vi sit Fri ar Laurence for hel US Teachers Notes:R&J US Teachers Notes 16/10/09 11:04 Page 1516 Clas sical Comics TeachingResource:Rom eo&Ju lietUnd ersta nd ing th e PlayROMEO& juliet - AC T SUMMARIESAC T FOURSce ne 1 Parisis with FriarLau rence,tryi ng to arrange his marriageto juliet ,wh en she ves , and Ju lie t th reat en s to kill herselfif Lau ren ce cann ot hel p her.

9 He comesup wi th apla n: she sh ould go ho me and te ll her fath er th at she is sorr y and wil l ma rr y Paris. La uren cepro vide s Julie t with a po tio n that wi ll ma ke her unco nsci ou s, mimi cki ng the si gns of death for42 hou rs . She will then be ta ken to the Cap ulet to mb and lai d to res t. In the me antime, theFriarwill send a mes sage to romeo , tell in g him to retu rn sec retly fro m Ma nt ua and ta ke Jul ie taw ay onc e sh e wak es up .Sce ne 2It is now Tues da y af ter no on an d the Cap ulet household is preparing fo r th e weddin g. Ju lietent ers and apologizes to he r fath er. Cap ulet deci des to mo ve th e wed ding forward by a da yto We dne sday (the ver y next da y).Sce ne 3Ju lie t is in he r be droo m with th e Nu rse an d her mo ther but man agesto get themto le av e, asth is is nec ess ar y for he r pla n to wo rk.

10 Jul iet is very wor ried ab ou t th e po tenti alcon se que nc es of drinking the poti on; but, final ly, she do es ne 4We dne sd ay morning in th e Cap ul et ho use, an d wedding prep arati ons are in full ne 5 The Nur se go es to Ju li et s bed roo m to wak e her up bu t realizesshe is dead. The sceneisone of gre at emo ti on (and al so dra mat ic iro ny, seeing as th e au dien ce knowstha t she is sti llali ve) as th e Nur se , Lordan d La dy Capulet and Paris all griev e ov er the shoc king rLau renc e en te rs and trie s to rea ssu re everyone that sh e wi ll be peaceful and ha pp y says all the pre pa ratio ns for a wed ding wi ll now ch an ge to a fune ra US Teachers Notes:R&J US Teachers Notes 16/10/09 11:04 Page 1617 Cla ssicalComics TeachingResource:Ro me o&Jul ietUndersta nd ing the PlayROMEO& juliet - ACT SUMMARIESAC T FIVESce ne 1 The settingswitchesto Romeoin exil e in Man tua.