Romeo and Juliet

As day breaks, Romeo, son of Montague, is found declaring his love to the fair Rosaline. With the sunrise the marketplace fills with townspeople, among whom are members of the two rival families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Tempers flare and a quarrel develops. The Duke of Verona appears and warns the two factions that death will be the ultimate punishment if the feud does not stop. Romeo and his friends, Benvolio and Mercutio, make reluctant peace with Tybalt, a kinsman of the Capulets.

Juliet receives her first ball dress from her mother, Lady Capulet, and learns that she is to meet the noble Paris, to whom she will be betrothed on the following day. Now she must bid farewell to her childhood.

Guests appear for the Capulets’ ball, among them Rosaline. Romeo and his friends, masked, follow her to the ball.

Juliet dances with Paris but suddenly she and Romeo behold each other, and it is love at first sight. Tybalt, suspecting Romeo's identity, tries to start an argument, but is prevented by Juliet's father, who abides by the law of hospitality.

On the balcony outside her bedroom Juliet dreams of Romeo. He appears below in the garden. They declare their eternal love.

A carnival is in progress in the main square. Romeo, indifferent to the gaiety around him, is discovered by Juliet's nurse, who brings him a letter from Juliet, asking him to meet her in Friar Laurence's garden.

Friar Laurence joins the young lovers in marriage.

At the height of the carnival, Romeo returns to the square. Tybalt accosts him but Romeo declines to fight. Mercutio, angered, engages in a duel with Tybalt, and dies at his hands. Romeo, distraught, turns on Tybalt and kills him.

The lovers are awakened by the sunrise, and Romeo, under sentence of exile, must leave Juliet and Verona. Lord and Lady Capulet enter with Paris, but Juliet rejects him.

Juliet, appealing for help to Friar Laurence, receives a potion from him that will place her in a death-like sleep. He explains that he will send a message to Romeo to find her in the family tomb and from there they can escape together.

Juliet agrees to her marriage with Paris. After he leaves with her parents, she takes the sleeping draught and is thought to be dead when her family and friends discover her.

Romeo, who has never received Friar Laurence's message revealing the plan, believes Juliet to be dead and rushes to her tomb. There he finds the mourning Paris and kills him. Embracing Juliet for the last time, he plunges his dagger into his heart. Juliet awakens to find Romeo dead. Grief-stricken, she kills herself.