Romeo & Juliet William Shakespeare Paperback (156 pages) 17.8cm x 10.8cm

£16.95

In the face of a brutal feud, love grows. Star as Romeo and Juliet, those famous star-crossed lovers in this timeless classic. The most famous love story of all time, this play tells the tale of a boy and a girl from warring families who meet and fall in love. Fate is not on their side, however, and the pair look for a way, against all odds to stay together.

Synopsis

Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are two Verona teenagers, but the noble Montague and Capulet families are locked in a bitter feud.

They first glimpse each other at a Capulet feast that is being held by Juliet’s father in the hope that Paris, who he has deemed to be a suitable suitor for her, will begin to win Juliet’s heart.

Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and instantly falls in love with her. As Romeo watches Juliet, entranced, a young Capulet, Tybalt, recognises him. Soon, Romeo speaks to Juliet, and the two experience a profound attraction. They kiss, and fall passionately in love without knowing each other’s true identities.

To their horror, they soon discover each other’s parentage. Defying their families, they enter into a whirlwind romance, which culminates in a secret marriage being performed, by Romeo’s friend and confessor, Friar Lawrence, who agrees to marry the young lovers in secret since he sees in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud between Capulet and Montague.

Tybalt – Juliet’s cousin is still enraged that Romeo attended the Capulet’s feast and a scuffle ensues. Tybalt stabs Mercutio, Romeo’s friend and he dies. In a rage, Romeo kills Tybalt and flees the scene. Soon after, Romeo is banished forever from Verona for his role in the crime.

Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room at night, and at last they consummate their marriage and their love. Morning comes, and the lovers bid farewell, unsure when they will see each other again. Juliet learns that her father, affected by the recent events, now intends for her to marry Paris in just three days. Unsure of how to proceed, Juliet asks her nurse for advice.

Disgusted with the Nurse’s disloyalty advising her to marry Paris, Juliet disregards her advice and hurries to Friar Lawrence. He concocts a plan to reunite Juliet with Romeo in Mantua. The night before her wedding to Paris, Juliet must drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest in the family’s crypt, the Friar and Romeo will secretly retrieve her, and she will be free to live with Romeo, away from their parents’ feuding.

But the Friar’s plan to reveal the marriage and unite the two families cannot hinder the coming tragedy.

Characters to Personalise

The main male character in the story, Romeo is the son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague. A young man of about sixteen, Romeo is handsome, intelligent, and sensitive. He lives in the middle of a violent feud between his family and the Capulets, but he is not at all interested in violence. His only interest is love and he goes to extremes to prove the seriousness of his feelings. He falls in love with Juliet Capulet and secretly marries her in the story, but he would rather die that be without his beloved, and at the end kills himself with poison believing Juliet to be dead.

Juliet is the lead female character, and is the daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. A beautiful thirteen-year-old girl, Juliet begins the play as a naïve child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. She is sensitive, courageous and resourceful. Like Romeo, Juliet features regularly throughout the play. Juliet’s closest friend and confidant is her Nurse, though she’s willing to shut the Nurse out of her life the moment the Nurse turns against Romeo. At the end of the play, she awakens from a drug-induced sleep to find Romeo dead so she kills herself with his dagger.

Mercutio is a kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo’s close friend. He overflows with imagination and wit, but is also bold and loyal. He can be quite hotheaded, and brings a sense of fun to the tale. He finds Romeo’s ideas about love tiresome, and tries to convince Romeo to view love as a simple matter of sexual appetite. He appears frequently in the first half of the story, but is later involved in a swordfight with Tybalt and dies.

Juliet’s closest friend at the outset and former nursemaid, the Nurse has cared for Juliet her entire life. She is talkative and fun-loving and often provides comic relief with her frequently inappropriate remarks and speeches. She also enjoys a few moments of power – she is Juliet’s messenger to Romeo though she later betrays her. She appears regularly in the play.

Tybalt is a Capulet, Juliet’s cousin on her mother’s side and Romeo’s rival. He is aggressive and dangerous and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured. He appears at the beginning of the play when he talks of his dislike for the Montagues. He makes several crucial appearances throughout the story and is killed by Romeo as revenge for Mercutio’s death.

A kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most preferred by Capulet. He is handsome, wealthy and overconfident. Once Capulet has promised him he can marry Juliet, he behaves very presumptuous toward, acting as if they are already married. He first appears early on and then again in the second half of the story. He is killed by Romeo at the end.

About The Author

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) was born at Stratford-upon-Avon. His mother, Mary Arden, was one of the daughters of Robert Arden, a yeoman farmer of Wilmcote: his father, John Shakespeare, was a glover and wool dealer of good standing who held the office of Bailiff of the Borough in 1568.

From the age of seven to about 14, he attended Stratford Grammar School receiving an excellent well rounded education. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who was seven years his senior and three months pregnant. She was of 'yeoman' stock - her family owned a farm one mile west of Stratford in Shottery. He endured her until he could stand it no longer and fled to London to become an actor. He then became actor-manager and part-owner in the Blackfriars and afterwards the Globe Theatres. He was a first-rate actor, but it is as a writer of plays that he has achieved lasting world-wide fame.

Some of Shakespeare's plays, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, are among the most famous literary works of the world. He returned to Stratford for his latter years where he died at the age of 52 and now lies at rest in his special grave at Holy Trinity Church.

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