Step inside Romeo and Juliet

The film without the cuts. And the book itself.

A chorus tells us how this ends before it begins — so why keep watching?

9:41

The Cast

Romeo

Main · Montague household

A young man in a mask crosses into his enemy’s feast and sees his whole world change.

Locations

Verona

city

A bright Italian city where an old family name can turn a street into a battlefield.

Passage

Can love born under hatred escape fate, or only end the feud?

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The Author’s Pen

The Fearful Passage

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love, And the continuance of their parents’ rage, Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove, Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage; The which, if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

Reading

Telling you the ending before the play begins should drain all suspense, yet the prologue bets everything on the opposite: knowing the lovers die is meant to make you watch harder. It names the outcome as the one thing that could ever end the feud, "which, but their children's end, nought could remove," so the deaths are presented as a grim solution before they are a tragedy. The phrase "star-cross'd" quietly hands the blame to fate rather than to any choice the lovers make. Then the whole thing shrinks the affair to "the two hours' traffic of our stage" and turns to ask the audience for patience, as if a doomed love were simply a job of work to be got through.

World Index

The Plot

Two Households, One FeudA Melancholy Man Finds an InvitationA Look Across the HallA Vow Made in the DarkMarried in SecretBlood in the StreetOne Night, Then ExileA Desperate PlanA Wedding Becomes a FuneralThe Wrong News Arrives FirstThe Tomb and the Reckoning

The Cast

RomeoJulietFriar LawrenceNurseMercutioTybaltBenvolioCapuletLady CapuletMontagueLady MontaguePrince EscalusParisBalthasarFriar JohnApothecarySampsonGregoryAbramPeterCapulet's ServantCapulet's CousinPage to ParisPetruchioCitizens of VeronaWatchmenMusiciansServantsChorusOfficerRosaline

Locations

Capulet MonumentCapulet's GardenCapulet's HallCapulet's HouseChurchyardFriar Lawrence's CellGallery to Juliet's ChamberJuliet's ChamberMantuaOld Free-townSycamore GroveVeronaVerona Public Streets

Objects of Note

Apothecary's vialCapulet invitation listCordsFriar Lawrence's herbsFriar Lawrence's letter to RomeoJuliet's bridal clothesJuliet's ringMasksParis's flowersSleeping potionSwords and rapiersTomb toolsTorch

Core Concepts

Fate versus human choiceLanguage versus realityLove versus inherited identityMarriage versus deathPrivate tenderness versus public violenceSpeed versus wisdomYouthful judgment versus adult authority

The Author's Pen

Biting My ThumbTybalt Hates PeaceThe Prince's SentenceBrawling Love Loving HateCapulet Defers Juliet's MarriageRomeo Reads the LetterLooking to LikeQueen Mab and DreamsSome Consequence in the StarsTrue Beauty Till This NightTybalt Names RomeoPilgrims and SaintsMy Only Love and HateJuliet Is the SunDoff Thy NameJuliet Names the WeddingLoving Jealous of His LibertyVirtue and Vice in NatureTo Turn Rancour To LoveThe Nurse Seeks RomeoLove ModeratelyBenvolio Urges RetreatRomeo Refuses Tybalt’s ChallengeMercutio’s Death ConfirmedRomeo Slays TybaltRomeo Must Not LiveCome Gentle NightDeceit In A Gorgeous PalaceRomeo Is BanishedBanishment Is DeathThe Lark Divideth UsCapulet Turns On JulietThe Nurse Turns Against RomeoRemedy Or This Bloody KnifeFriar Lawrence Explains AllJuliet Drinks to RomeoJuliet Found DeadRomeo Defies the StarsThe Apothecary’s PoisonThe Undelivered LetterThus With a KissJuliet Will Not AwayA Glooming Peace

Plot point 01

Two Households, One Feud

A chorus tells us how this ends before it begins — so why keep watching?

Objects of Note

Swords and rapiers

Whenever Verona's old hatred needs a body, a blade comes out to find one.

The Cast

Juliet

Main · Capulet household

A girl at a window discovers that a name can endanger a body she loves.

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Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 127 classics in the Literah library

The Romeo and Juliet World, as it plays on your phone

Meet the people. 31 characters, each with a portrait, who they are and what they want.
Walk the places. 13 places, each pictured, and what happens there.
Follow the plot. The turns of the story, in order, so you always know where you are.
Taste the original. 44 key passages in William Shakespeare’s own words, each with a short reading of what it is doing.
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