Summary on Act 1 of R&J

At the start of the play, Lord Capulet is compassionate towards the compliant and innocent Juliet. When Paris asks Lord

The scene opens with a brawl between the servants from the Montague and Capulet households. Benvolio, Romeo’s cousin, attempts to stop the fight but is drawn into the fray by Tybalt, kinsman of the Capulets. More citizens become involved and the fight escalates rapidly and soon the heads of both household appear on the scene. The riot is stopped when Prince Escalus arrives and forbids anymore outbreaks of violence on pain of death.

In the beginning of the story, the Montagues and Capulets break out fighting in the middle of the street and they are told to stop their fighting or else they will be banished. Juliet is a Capulet, and her father is hosting a party. Romeo longing for his love Rosaline decides to crash the party. When Romeo meets Juliet, he instantly falls in love. But almost instantaneously Tybalt recognizes Romeo’s voice. “This, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier, boy. What! Dares the slave. Come hither, covered with an antic face, To fleer and scorn our solemnity? Now, by the stock and honor of my kin. To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.” (1.5.53-58) From this moment on, Tybalt is out for Romeo.

The play starts with Sampson and Gregory, two of Capulet’s servants, beginning a quarrel with two servants of Montague. This shows that from the working-class to the upper-class in the two families, they still hold a grudge against the opposite family. Tybalt arrives at the scene, speaking of his loathing of the Montagues, “I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee”. A furious riot develops with Lords Capulet and Montague joining in and officers clubbing both sides of the fight, only for it to be stopped by the neutral Prince Escales. The riot further emphasises the vast level of hate between the two families.

Romeo and Juliet, the famous play written by Shakespeare, is one that even many centuries later is still constantly retold and talked about. It conveys the uplifting story of two lovers who unfortunately were not allowed to be together, due to the ongoing feud between their families. Despite all of the risks and even at the cost of their own lives, they still went against everything that they had ever known and got married. However, shortly afterwards, a fight broke out between the Montague and the Capulet when Tybalt comes to confront Romeo about being at the party. Even when refusing to fight, Mercutio draws his sword and battle rages out, ending up with the death of both Mercutio and Tybalt. Due to how well-known and celebrated the play is, many different versions were made out of it, including the 1968 version by Zeffirelli and the 1996 version by Luhrmann. They both have many differences in the way they present the fighting scene. Nevertheless, due to the symbolism, mood, props, and other characteristics of this version, the 1968 version of the fight between the Montagues and Capulets is the better portrayal of the scene.

for example: "thou wilt quarrel with a man that hath a hair more, or a

3. When Montague and Capulet enter and see the disturbance, they want to fight, too. What do

Also when tybalt says “ Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe, A villain that is hither come in spite, To scorn at our solemnity this night. ”(1.5.60-62) Tybalt is saying how he doesn't want any Montagues at the party, but could tell Romeo was a Montague by the sound of his voice, but it wasn't just Romeo. Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio crashed the Capulet's party and disguised themselves with a mask. Tybalt was going to say something to Romeo but Capulet stops him from picking a fight.

In Act 3, Mercutio and Benvolio are out walking in Verona. Benvolio asks Mercutio to go inside before an incident like before happens again with the Capulet. Mercutio tells him to stop criticizing others and that not all Capulet are going to want to start a fight. Tybalt then enters the scene. Tybalt approaches the two Montague men and asks to speak with one of them. Mercutio, not very happy with Tybalt speaking to them, starts to mess with him. Romeo enters next. Tybalt starts talking to Romeo and calls him a villain. Romeo tries to keep peace with Tybalt as he asks Romeo to draw his sword. Mercutio decides to fight Tybalt since Romeo does not want to. The two men fight. Romeo interferes and tries to stop the fight. In doing so, Tybalt was able to get under Romeo’s arm and stab Mercutio, killing him. Before passing, Mercutio curses both families and Tybalt runs off. Romeo wants revenge on Tybalt. When Tybalt comes back, Romeo draws his sword and the two of them fight. Romeo ends up killing Tybalt and Benvolio tells him to leave the scene before many people start to notice. The prince enters the scene. Benvolio explains what happened. He also explains that Romeo was trying to keep peace, but Lady Capulet thinks he is lying. Prince decides to exile Romeo from Verona instead of giving death as a punishment.

6. What do Lord Montague and Lord Capulet o at the end of the play?

Sampson and Gregory, two servants of the Capulet family, were walking down the streets of Verona. Both of the were talking badly of the Montague family. They see two servants of the Montague family coming their way. They both start talking about fighting strategies. Than Sampson bites his thumb at the Montagues. They all start to fight. After that Prince Escalus arrives and commands them to stop fight or the penalty will be death. After this happens Benvolio finds Romeo. He is very depressed because his love Rosaline does not love him back.

Lord and Lady Capulet are the parents of Juliet, Romeo’s forbidden love. Throughout the story, Lord Capulet seems quite proud, carrying himself around like a true king. He cares for his daughter, but perhaps too much. Lady Capulet steps back and seems like a typical wife back then, not one to stop the husband or tell their groom what to do. When holding the ball, and Romeo sneaks in with Mercutio and Benvolio, Lord Capulet is having a wonderful time. He mingles and makes jokes with other high-up friends and family. Tybalt, cousin of Juliet, dislikes having an uninvited Montague in his family’s ball, and tells the Lord, who does nothing about it. This is where things seem to go wrong. If the Lord had shooed Romeo away, he would not have fallen for Juliet, or even seen her. But, Lord Capulet allowed Romeo to stay, which led to him and Juliet falling for one another, and kissing before the night ends. Despite learning they are forbidden to be together, they stay with one another for the sake of

In the play, Romeo and Juliet, the Capulets and Montagues have all the power in their city of Verona. In Act 1 Scene 1, Sampson and Gregory, two servants of the Capulet family are walking through the town’s square when they run into Abraham, a servant of the Montague family. Sampson bites his thumb at Abraham showing him a sign of disgrace. The two sides draw their swords and begin to fight. Eventually enters the

The secondary characters spark major events in the play, most of the time unknowingly. This butterfly effect of sorts is present throughout the entire play, first being evident toward the beginning with Benvolio trying to cheer up a depressed Romeo in the midst of heartbreak. Trying to convince Romeo to overcome the thought of Rosaline opened him up to the idea of crashing the Capulet ball, which he quasi-reluctantly agreed to as explained by the quote “I’ll go along no such sight to be shown, but to rejoice in splendour of mine own” (Shakespeare 1.2 100-101). Although his crashing the ball may have also been the fault of the servant, both Benvolio trying to persuade Romeo as well as the servant asking for reading help led to Romeo going to the masquerade, meeting Juliet, and consequently falling in love with her, a love which would seal their fate. This chain reaction-like concept manifests itself later in the play as well, with a rather significant example following soon after. Tybalt sees Romeo’s presence at the ball as a challenge of sorts to his family name. Thereafter, with the quote “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford / No better term than this: thou art a villain” (Shakespeare 3.1 59-60) he deems Romeo an enemy, and challenges him to a duel. As a result of Romeo and Juliet rushing into their marriage, Romeo refuses to fight him, though he cannot explain why, which in turn lays the ground for many unfortunate events to come. Tybalt’s machismo takes the life of Mercutio, Romeo’s mother, himself, and in essence causes the twin suicides of Romeo and Juliet and the death of Paris with Romeo’s consequent banishment for slaying Tybalt for killing Mercutio. This directly links into the first instance.