Romeo and Juliet

Characters:

• Romeo
• son and heir of Montague and Lady Montague
• Juliet
• daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet
• Friar Lawrence
• friend to both Romeo and Juliet
• Mercutio
• kinsman to the Prince and Romeo's close friend
• The Nurse
• Juliet's nurse who has cared for her her entire life
• Tybalt
• Capulet
• Juliet's cousin on her mother's side
• Capulet
• patriarch of the Capulet family
• Juliet's father
• enemy of Montague
• Lady Capulet
• Juliet's mother
• eager to see her daughter marry Paris
• Montague
• patriarch of Montague clan
• Romeo's father
• enemy of Capulet
• Lady Montague
• Romeo's mother
• dies of grief after Romeo is exiled from Verona
• Paris
• kinsman of the Prince
• suitor of Juliet most preferred by Capulet
• Benvolio
• Montague's nephew
• Romeo's cousin and friend
• Prince Escalus
• Prince of Verona, kinsman of Mercutio and Paris
• Friar John
• Franciscan Friar charged by Friar Lawrence with taking the news of Juliet's false death to Romeo in Mantua
• Balthasar
• Romeo's dedicated servant, who brings Romeo the news of Juliet's death, unaware that its a ruse
• Sampson & Gregory
• Two Capulet servants
• Abram
• Montague's servant, who fights with Sampson and Gregory at the beginning of the play
• The Apothecary
• apothecary in Mantua
• sells poison to Romeo
• Peter
• Capulet servant who invites guests to Capulet's feast 
• escorts the Nurse to meet Romeo
• Rosaline
• woman with whom Romeo is infatuated at the beginning of the play

Plot summary:

• In the streets of Verona another brawl breaks out between the servants of Capulet and Montague.
• Benvolio, a Montague, tries to stop the fighting, but becomes embroiled when Tybalt arrives on the scene. Prince Escalus attempts to prevent future conflicts by decreeing death for anyone who disturbs the peace.
• Romeo runs into Benvolio who had seen him moping about earlier in a grove of sycamores. Romeo confides that he is in love with Rosaline, who does not return his affections. Benvolio counsels him to forget this woman and find another.
• Meanwhile, Paris, a kinsman of the Prince, seeks Juliet's hand in marriage. 
• Capulet dispatches a servant with a list of people to invite to a masquerade and feast. Romeo and Benvolio encounter the servant and Benvolio suggests that they attend so that Romeo can see the other women of Verona. Romeo agrees but only because Rosaline will be there.
• In the Capulet household, Juliet talks with her mother and nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris.
• During the feast, Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and instantly falls in love with her. Tybalt recognizes Romeo and is prepared to attack but Capulet holds him back. Romeo kisses Juliet even though they don't know each other's names. They both become distraught when they both find out they are both from feuding families.
• Romeo leaps over the orchard wall into the garden when Mercutio and Benvolio leave the party. He sees Juliet in a window and they exchange vows of love.
• Romeo hurries to Friar Lawrence who agrees to marry the lovers in secret since he sees their love as a possibility of ending the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues. Romeo and Juliet are married the following day at Friar Lawrence's cell, and the Nurse procures a ladder for Romeo to climb into Juliet's window for their wedding night.
• The next day, Benvolio and Mercutio encounter Tybalt who has challenged Romeo to a duel for daring to show up at the Capulet feast. Romeo doesn't want to fight Tybalt, who is now his kinsman, but Mercutio volunteers to fight Tybalt instead. Tybalt stabs Mercutio and he dies. Romeo, in a rage, kills Tybalt and then flees from the scene. 
• The Prince subsequently declares him forever banished from Verona for his crime, but Friar Lawrence arranges for Romeo to spend his wedding night with Juliet before he has to leave for Mantua.
• Juliet awaits the arrival of her new husband but the Nurse tells her that Romeo has killed Tybalt. However she realizes that her duty belongs now to Romeo. 
• Romeo manages to sneak into Juliet's room that night and consummate their marriage. They bid farewell in the morning. 
• Juliet learns that her father wants her to marry Paris in three days. She asks Nurse for advice, who counsels her to proceed as if Romeo were dead and to marry Paris. 
• Juliet disregards her advice and hurries to Friar Lawrence, who concocts a plan to reunite the lovers. The night before her wedding, 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 the lovers will be free to be together.
•  Juliet discovers that the wedding has been moved a day ahead. She drinks the potion and the Nurse discovers her, apparently dead, the next morning. Juliet is entombed according to plan but Friar Lawrence's message explaining the plan to Romeo never reaches him because Friar John, its bearer, gets confined to a quarantined house. Romeo only receives news that Juliet is dead.
• Romeo decides to kill himself than live without Juliet. He buys poison from an apothecary and goes back to Verona to kill himself at Juliet's tomb. He runs into Paris at her tomb and kills him there. He enters the tomb, drinks the poison and dies by Juliet's side. 
• Friar Lawrence enters and realizes that Romeo has killed himself and Paris. Juliet awakes but refuses to flee from the watch with Friar Lawrence. She sees Romeo and kills herself with his dagger.
• The watch arrives followed by the Prince, the Capulets and Montague. Montague declares that Lady Montague has died of grief because of Romeo's exile. Capulet and Montague agree to end their feud and to raise gold statues of their children side-by-side.
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