The Friar writes to Romeo, telling him about the plan. However, as everything in Verona goes to plan, a message saying Juliet is dead get to Romeo before the message of the plan.
On hearing the bad news, Romeo goes back to Verona. He goes to the vault and poisons himself. When Juliet wakes up a dead Romeo is lying next to her. The couple are found and the two families resolve their disagreements, and agree to be civil.
The story is set in Verona, Italy, it was written in Elizabethan times. Verona is ruled by Prince Escalus. The prince can be seen at the beginning of the play, telling the two feuding families that if they disturb the streets again their lives will pay the forfeit of the peace.
The role of women in these times was to get married at an early age and have as many children as they could have. As children died at early ages. They were treated like property between important families and not as human beings.
Shakespeare believed that men and women should be equal. He shows this through Juliet, even though she is in the beginning a quiet obedient girl, she is very intelligent. Juliet is more intelligent than Romeo in the play, which shows us of Shakespeare’s attitude towards women.
At the beginning of the play we see Juliet as a very obedient girl towards her parents. We see this first in Act 1 scene 3:
“Madam, I am here. What is your will?”
The way in which she addresses her mother in this quote shows her obedience.
She is also a very intelligent girl that has lived a sheltered life, all her life she had obeyed her parents.
When we first meet Juliet, she is a very modest, subdued, quiet girl without knowledge of the nature and power of love. When her mother suggests that Paris might make a good husband Juliet imply replies,
“I’ll look like, if looking liking move.
But no more deep will I endart mine eye.
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.”
This shows her intelligence as she is saying she will look at him for his attraction, but not any deeper to form into a long-term relationship.
However as the play develops, so does Juliet, through her love for Romeo.
Her feelings toward Romeo are very strong as is his love for her. When Romeo and Juliet first meet all of their attention is centred around them. This is at the Capulet party when Romeo goes into kiss Juliet she say:
“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.”
This shows she is modest and true to herself, she won’t give her body away to anyone and is waiting for the right person.
There is a sonnet when they first meet, the language used is simple yet meaningful. It has great depth and we see Juliet’s intelligence once again when she is detached from the party to Romeo.
In the orchard scene we see Juliet developing from a girl into a modest young woman.
In the balcony scene Juliet develops into a young woman, she has much stronger sexual feelings for Romeo, as she say “take all myself” this shows Juliet is ready for a sexual relationship unlike before.
She realise she is in love with Romeo. When Romeo is leaving, she knows he has to go but cannot bear the thought of parting with him.
“Tis almost morning I would have thee gone.
And yet no farther than a wantons bird.”
This is what she says as she knows he needs to leave, she expresses her feelings bye saying she doesn’t want him to go. In this scene we see a young Juliet blossoming to a woman.
There are many love scenes in the play Romeo and Juliet. These scenes between the two are very romantic and passionate. We can see this through the sonnets, in which they speak. When Romeo and Juliet first meet their conversation is in the form of Shakespearean sonnets.
Even thought they both come from feuding families, Romeo and Juliet don’t care; their love for each other is too strong, because they were true to each other they ignored the feuding families.
The love scenes bring out and show how much Romeo and Juliet love each other.
