In Verona, two families of equal nobility, the Montagues and the Capulets, keep an old enmity that once again stains the hands of the citizens with blood. From these houses are born two young people who love each other, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, and a Chorus announces right in the prologue how it will all end: with the death of the two and the peace between their parents. In five acts the play tells how this love, lived in secret and too quickly, reaches that end.
Act I
The Chorus's Prologue announces the death of the lovers. Servants of the two houses fight in a square, Benvolio tries to separate them, Tybalt challenges him, and Prince Escalus threatens with death anyone who again disturbs the peace (scene 1). Romeo, son of Montague, suffers for Rosaline, who has sworn chastity. Capulet tells Paris that Juliet, not yet fourteen, is too young and that he must first win her heart, and invites him to the ball that night; the servant who carries the invitations cannot read and asks Romeo for help, and Romeo, reading the list, learns that Rosaline will be at the party (scene 2). Lady Capulet speaks to Juliet about marriage and introduces Paris to her as a suitor (scene 3). Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio go to the ball in masks, and Mercutio mocks love with Queen Mab's speech, while Romeo senses something ominous (scene 4). At the party, Romeo sees Juliet and forgets Rosaline; Tybalt recognizes the voice of a Montague and wants to kill him, but Capulet holds him back. The two talk, kiss, and the Nurse interrupts them: each discovers that the other belongs to the enemy house (scene 5).
Act II
The Prologue warns that Romeo's old desire has died and that the new affection faces the feud of the families. Romeo jumps the wall of the Capulets' orchard, and Benvolio and Mercutio look for him in the street and give up (scene 1). In the garden, he sees Juliet at the window, the two exchange vows, and she arranges that, if he is thinking of marriage, he reply the next day, by the messenger she will send at nine, with the place and the hour (scene 2). At dawn, Romeo asks Friar Laurence to marry them that same day; the friar is surprised at the haste after Rosaline, but agrees, in the hope of reconciling the two houses (scene 3). In the street, Mercutio and Benvolio learn that Tybalt has sent a challenge to Romeo's house, and the Nurse, humiliated by Mercutio, receives from Romeo the message that Juliet must be at the friar's cell that afternoon (scene 4). Juliet waits three hours for the Nurse's return and, when at last she hears the message, goes to the cell (scene 5), where Friar Laurence takes them to the church to marry them (scene 6).
Act III
On a hot day, Mercutio provokes Tybalt, who is looking for Romeo. Romeo, already secretly kin to the Capulets, refuses the duel and tries to separate the two; Mercutio is wounded under his arm and dies. Romeo kills Tybalt and flees, and the Prince banishes him instead of condemning him to death (scene 1). Juliet, who waits for night, hears the news from the Nurse, at first confused, and concludes that the word banished weighs more than the death of her cousin (scene 2). In the cell, Friar Laurence hears from Romeo that exile is worse than death, sees him draw his sword against himself, and sets out the plan: to spend the night with Juliet, leave for Mantua before dawn, and wait for a pardon (scene 3). Capulet, without having spoken to his daughter, fixes the marriage to Paris for Thursday (scene 4). At dawn, the lovers part; Lady Capulet announces the marriage, Juliet refuses, Capulet threatens to disinherit her, her mother abandons her, and the Nurse advises her to marry Paris. Juliet, inwardly disowning the Nurse, goes to the friar, resolved to die if nothing else remains (scene 5).
Act IV
In the cell, Paris speaks of the Thursday wedding, and Juliet answers with double-meaning phrases. Alone with the friar, she threatens to kill herself, and he proposes a potion that will make her seem dead for forty-two hours, while a letter warns Romeo (scene 1). Juliet returns home and feigns obedience to her father, who wants to bring the wedding forward to the next morning, although her mother reminds him that it is set for Thursday (scene 2). Alone in her room, she lists what could go wrong, sees the ghost of Tybalt, and drinks, toasting Romeo (scene 3). Before dawn the house bustles with preparations (scene 4), until the Nurse finds Juliet motionless and Capulet finds her cold. The parents dissolve in lament, Capulet says that Death is his son-in-law, and the friar, who knows the plan, tells them to dry their tears and organizes the procession (scene 5).
Act V
In Mantua, Romeo receives from Balthasar the news that Juliet has died, decides to return to Verona that night, and convinces a wretched apothecary to sell him poison, despite the law that punishes such a sale with death (scene 1). Friar John returns to Friar Laurence's cell with the letter undelivered: he was locked in a house suspected of plague and could not reach Mantua. Laurence goes alone to the tomb, where Juliet will wake in a few hours (scene 2). In the cemetery, Paris scatters flowers on Juliet's tomb; Romeo arrives to break it open, the two fight, and Paris dies. Romeo lays him in the vault, kisses Juliet, and drinks the poison. Friar Laurence arrives too late; Juliet wakes, refuses to flee, and kills herself with Romeo's dagger. The guard, the Prince, and the families arrive, the friar tells everything, and Capulet and Montague seal the peace, promising a golden statue for each of their children. The Prince closes the play: there will be pardon for some and punishment for others (scene 3).