Romeo and Juliet By: William Shakespeare

Structure of the Play  Divided into Acts  Written in Middle English Language  Often features sonnets or poetical verse  Originally had no stage directions  Were added later by scholars to clarify the play for the reader  Written to perform not to read  Often what was written would be different than what was performed

The Prologue  What is it?  Why is this included?  What is the structure?

Act I: The Setup  Receive Background Information on both Families  Prince declares fighting = death  Romeo lovesick over Rosaline  Paris tries to set up a marriage to Juliet through her parents (She is 13)  Romeo crashes a Capulet party and meets Juliet

Act II: The Problem  Mercutio and Benvolio lose Romeo at the party  Romeo declares his love for Juliet  Completely moves on from Rosaline  Romeo and Juliet try to figure out how to overcome their families feud  Friar Laurence and Nurse agree to help Romeo and Juliet get secretly married

Act III: The Deception  Mercuito is stabbed by Tybalt  Romeo stabs Tybalt  Prince Escalus exiles Romeo  A fate worse than death  Nurse talks to Romeo, Friar Laurence talks to Juliet  Juliet is told she will marry Paris  Nurse encourages this  Romeo sneaks in to see Juliet

Act IV: The Downfall  Paris is excited to marry Juliet  Thinks it will end her suffering over Tybalt’s death  Friar Laurence and Juliet develop a “Death Plan”  Juliet’s “Death” stalls the wedding to Paris

Act V: The Tragic Ending  Romeo think Juliet is really dead  Romeo buys poison from the apothecary  Friar is told of Romeos “Death Plan” and rushes to stop him, but is too late  Paris sees Romeo at Juliet’s tomb, fights him, and ends up stabbed  Juliet wakes up, sees Romeo dead and stabs herself  Lady Montague dies of grief  Capulet and Montague “Make Up”  Deaths = feud end