Romeo & Juliet at daggers drawn - Book Report/Review Example

Romeo & Juliet Romeo & Juliet is perhaps one of Shakespeares most famous tragedies. The play presents a love story that has anything but a happy ending but in its tragic consequence, the play signifies the very essence of romance as it has always existed and exists in the present time. The story starts off with the depiction of a fight in the streets of Verona. The audience finds that two characters are at daggers drawn against each other; they belong to the Montague’s and the Capulet’s. The two families are shown to have been sworn enemies for a long time. The fight is brought to a stop by the prince of Verona (Shakespeare). The Prince of Verona, tired of the continuous fighting between the two families, declares that if any member of the two families violates the peace of the city, he/she will be punishable by death. In the mean time, we see Lord Capulet being approached by Count Paris with the proposal to marry his daughter. However, Juliet, at that time, is only thirteen years old and Lord Capulet is hesitant. As a result, Lord Capulet requests Count Paris to wait for two more years with his proposal but wishes Count Paris to court Juliet at the same time as well. In order to set things into motion, Lord Capulet invited Count Paris to a Capulet Ball so that Count Paris may attempt to court Juliet. On the other end, the audience sees the house of Montague with the son of Lord Montague; Romeo, in conversation with his cousin Benvolio. Romeo suffers from the affection of a girl who is Lord Capulets niece. Romeo is deep in affection for her (Shakespeare). The plot progresses and the audience sees Cousin Benvolio and Mercutio convince Romeo to attend the formerly announced Capulet Ball in an attempt to see Rosaline. Romeo goes with high hopes to see Rosaline but comes face to face with Juliet. He falls uncontrollably in love with Juliet and waits patiently for the ball to end. Once the ball comes to an end, Romeo quietly climbs the wall into Lord Capulets courtyard out of the desire to meet and see his darling Juliet. He climbs the vines to Juliets balcony and calls her to come outside to the balcony so that he can talk to her. Once she comes to him, he confesses his love to her and vows to win her despite of the raging and fierce enmity that exists between the House of Capulet and the House of Montague (Shakespeare). Juliet falls equally in love with him and agrees to marry him. Their love is so strong that they wait no more and choose to get married the very next day. Friar Laurence plays a very important role in the play and marries the two children. The man desires the two families to reconcile and hopes that the marriage of Romeo and Juliet will serve to bring the two families closer (Shakespeare). In the mean time, Tybalt; cousin of Juliet, finds out that Romeo had disguised himself to gain access to the Capulet ball. He is infuriated and immediately challenges Romeo to a duel. However, Tybalt has no knowledge of the marriage of Romeo and Juliet; while Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt on account of Tybalts relationship to Juliet as a cousin. But things take a turn for the worse when Romeos friend Mercutio thinks that Romeo refused to fight Tybalt on account of his fear of Tybalts swordsmanship. Not wanting his friend to appear a coward, Mercutio agrees to fight instead of Romeo. He underestimates Tybalt and his fury; and is badly wounded as a result of his duel with Mercutio (Shakespeare). Romeo learns of Mercutios acceptance of Tybalts invitation to duel and runs to the duel, only to find that Mercutio has been mortally wounded. Mercutio is Romeos closest friend and comrade; and his grief gets the better of him. As a result, Romeo loses control and slays Tybalt. Lord Montague finds Romeos execution of Tybalt to be justice given out in reply to Mercutios murder in the duel. However, the Prince of Verona exercises his previous testament and exiles Romeo from the city of Verona, declaring that if he ever dares to return to the city, he will be immediately executed. Romeo, instead of leaving the city, chooses to stay the night with Juliet where they celebrate their love. Juliet is also grief stricken with the fact that Romeo can no longer remain in the city and her grief is obvious on her face (Shakespeare). Her father is worried for his daughter and perceives Juliets distressed expression to be anything than what it truly was. As a result, he attempts to fix things by asking Juliet to marry him. Juliet refuses to marry Count Paris but is forced to pretend that she is happy to marry Count Paris by her father. She attempts to stall the wedding by asking her mother to help her but her mother also refuses to take any part in Juliets affair. As a last resort, Juliet goes to Friar Laurence to ask him what she should do. The good friar, in his attempt to help Juliet preserve her love for Romeo, agrees to give her a drug that will induce a sleep which can be trusted to make it appear as if she has died (Shakespeare). Juliet agrees on the condition that the Friar sends a messenger to Romeo to tell her of the plan so that Romeo can later join Juliet when she awakens from her deep sleep. Juliet consumes the drug and enters the long sleep that resembles her death. Her family finds her but mistakes her comma-like-sleep for death. This leads them to place her in the family crypt to be buried at a later date. At the same time, Romeo learns from his servant that Juliet has died. This news greatly upsets Romeo since Friar Laurences messenger has still not reached him. Romeo is broken and picks up a strong poison. In order to mourn Juliet’s death, Romeo goes to the Capulet Crypt but finds Count Paris there mourning for her. Count Paris fails to recognize Romeo and attacks him but is killed in the ensuing swordfight. Once Count Paris is killed, Romeo still believes that Juliet has died and consumes the poison and instantly succumbs to his death. Shortly afterwards, Juliet awakens from her deep drug-induced sleep, only to find Romeo lying dead beside her. She refuses to live on without her love in the world and stabs herself in the heart with a dagger (Shakespeare). She is instantly killed and the dead bodies of Romeo, Juliet, and Count Paris are not found until the Montague’s and Capulet’s meet at the tomb to mourn. Friar Laurence steps in and informs the families of the events of which they were unaware. The families are shocked to find how they contributed to their childrens death and they reconcile their differences immediately; and so, the greatest love story of all time comes to an end. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. New York: BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008. Read More