Post #6: Act V- Tragedy and a Continuation

At the end of Romeo and Juliet, the future of most characters is unclear. Below, there are continuations of Nurse, Friar Lawrence, and Lord Capulet's stories.

Nurse's Story:

This picture is of Juliet's nurse,
who acted like a mother figure
towards her.

I miss Juliet so much. She never deserved to die; she was so young, so cheerful and yet, because of the feud, she still died. I was devastated, but now, everybody has moved on, even Lord and Lady Capulet. I need to as well and I think young Victoria will help me manage that. Yes, she brings back painful memories of Juliet, but she brings hope to me. Juliet's spirit will never fully be gone; it will always be present in others. Just the other day, Victoria fell on her face. She started bawling and just like Juliet, when somebody asked her a question, "...the pretty wretch left crying and said 'Ay'" (Shakespeare 54). Oh, how I miss Juliet! She will always be precious to me and I shall never forget her.

I must now depart. Victoria is waiting for me and I need to attend to her. I can finally now say without sobbing, "Goodbye, dear Juliet, and may you be happy forever with your Romeo in a better place."

Friar Lawrence's Story:

Death. I could have prevented it all if I were only more careful. Why? Why did I ever ask Juliet to carry out this dangerous plan? Why didn't I just simply arrange for her to go to Mantua and meet with Romeo there? Why did I have to risk everything? Well, I did, and now, Romeo, Juliet, Paris, and Lady Montague are all dead. The guilt consumes me every night and I can never sleep knowing that I could have prevented all of this sorrow if I had only been more

Friar Lawrence married
Romeo and Juliet and helped
them through their difficult
marriage, which ultimately didn't work out
work out

I promised Romeo that I would make arrangements for him to "...pass to Mantua,/ Where thou shalt live till we can fin a time/ To blaze your marriage, reconcile your friends,/ Beg pardon of the Prince, and call the back/ With twenty hundred thousand more joy/ Than thou went'st forth in lamentation" (194). My promise, that I was to fulfill, and was never able to. He came back, in two million times more sorrow than when he left. The poor children; they never deserved this poor fate. If anybody did, it was me. I am the one who was in the wrong. I basically told Juliet to kill herself, and by doing that, it killed Romeo too.

I cannot live with this guilt and the constant reminders of Juliet and Romeo everywhere I look. I look at the majestic Capulet mansion, and all I can think about is the day they met. If I glance towards the Capulet tomb, and all I remember is their untimely deaths. Escape of Verona is my best decision. Mantua is out of the question as well; too many painful memories there. I shall go to Brescia. There, I can have a new beginning and hopefully, eventually forgive myself.

Lord Capulet's Story:

Lord Capulet (left), Juliet's father,
was the one who arranged
for Juliet to wed Paris, and
indirectly, the one who caused
both her real and fake death.

Where do I begin? Well, first, I find out that Tybalt, my wife's nephew, has died, and it's all because of that young Montague boy, Romeo. Just wonderful. My wife's sobbing and I'm not quite sure what to do. Then, Prince Escalus decides that Romeo should be banished. Personally, I could not have been happier. Another member of the Montague family as good as gone. I get home and I hear that Juliet is distraught over her cousin's death; so, I make arrangements for Juliet to wed young Paris. Nothing can go wrong, right? Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. When Juliet refused to marry Paris, I was furious. I went out of my way to try and make her happy and she down my generous offer. Eventually, she agreed to marry him, but a few days later, we found her "dead" in the morning when Nurse went to go wake her up. Quickly, I made sure the wedding arrangements were changed to funeral arrangements and we laid my only daughter, only heir to rest.

My wife and I grieved for a day, then got over the shock and death of our daughter. Soon after, we heard that Juliet had died, once again. This confused us immensely until Friar Lawrence explained. He had helped marry Romeo and Juliet in secret, and when I announced that Juliet was to marry Paris, he gave her a poison to put her in a death-like state for 42 hours, leading everybody to believe that she was dead. However, she was actually just asleep, but when she woke up and Romeo was dead, she killed herself.

At that point, I no longer had a heir, and the Capulet family was going to die out since Juliet, as much as she irritated me, was the one who "...we scarce thought us blest / That God had lent us but this only child" (Shakespeare 214). Unless my wife had another child, the Capulet line would not continue. In the end, we decided to adopt a young set of twins, one girl and on boy. The girl we named Julietta and the boy we named Romano, as namesakes for Romeo and Juliet, whom we will never forget. Now, Julietta, Romano, my wife, and myself live happily in our mansion and attempt to live a normal life.

Vocabulary:

apprehend: arrest; take into custody
canopy: covering; protection
contempt: scorn; disdain
disperse: scatter; distribute
inexorable: unmovable; relentless
interred: buried; shut in
penury: poverty; destitution
remnants: remains; leftovers
righteous: virtuous; moral

Post #5: Act IV-Sorrow, Tragedy, and a Plan

Why would Friar Lawrence ask Juliet to carry out a dangerous plan instead of just going to her parents and explaining that she was already married to Romeo? Find examples from the text to support your opinions. Be sure to elaborate and explain your thoughts in detail.

Friar Lawrence knew that Lord and Lady Capulet would not react well if they found out that their only daughter was married to the child of their greatest enemy. Because of this, he knew that for Juliet, her best choice would be to trick her parents rather than to admit to them the true reason why she did not want to marry Count Paris. For example, when Lady Capulet exclaims, "Prince, as thou art true,/ For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague" it shows how much she dislikes Romeo, and the Montague family in general (Shakespeare 170). If Juliet confessed to her parents, they would most likely be furious with her. When he says "Wife, we scarce thought us blest/ That God had lent us but this only child;/ But now I see this one is one too much,/ And that we have a curse in having her. Out on her, hilding!" it shows how he can easily lose control of his temper (214). Friar Lawrence was considering Juliet's safety and the reactions of her parents when he asked her to drink a "deadly" poison.

Vocabulary:

arbitrating: deciding; judging

distraught: upset; distressed

immoderately: wastefully; extravagantly

inundation: flood; outpouring

resolution: solution to a problem

spited: acted maliciously or with ill will

supple: flexible; pliant

Links:

To see the score of Romeo and Juliet, written by Tchaikovsky, click here

To see Shakespeare's play in its entirety through MIT's website, click here.

Romeo and Juliet were so happy. They had no idea how much trouble their marriage would bring.

Post #4: Act III-Happiness No More

Dear Diary,

I cannot believe what has happened in these past few days. First, I was the happiest I have ever been in my life; after a few hours, I was overcome with grief and felt like I was going through the worst day of my life even though I had previously thought that it was the best.

My wonderful marriage with Romeo, my soul-mate and the only one I will truly be happy with, didn't last very long. Because of my cousin, Tybalt, he was banished. BANISHED! I will never be able to see him again. Mercutio and Tybalt got in a fight, curse that horrible feud, and Mercutio died. Romeo tried to break up the fight and reason with the two. Break it up, not encourage the fatal fighting. Of course, once Mercutio had died, Romeo had to kill Tybalt; he couldn't just let Tybalt get away with it. I don't blame him, but why? Why did he have to kill Tybalt? Why did he have to get himself banished? WHY?

My parents, how could they do such a thing. Surely, Romeo's punishment was suggested by them. I know that they hate all Montagues, but how could they do such a cruel thing? And Tybalt, how could he kill Mercutio? He never did anything bad to him, I am sure. It is all Tybalt's fault that I will no longer be happy in this life.

I am so furious right now. Obviously, the situation with Romeo isn't enough. My parents also have to force me into a marriage with Paris. At first glance, he seems okay, but in comparison to Romeo, he is like the devil. Why does everybody think that he is perfect for me? Can't anybody see that I simply do not love him, and never will? Why does my "thoughtful" father have to force me into this?

There is absolutely no way that I will allow this marriage to continue. I would rather die than betray Romeo and marry Paris. Perhaps I arrange for my death, however I don't think I could ever do that to Romeo. Maybe Friar Lawrence will have some idea for a way for me to get out of this. Surely, he will understand. I must depart now and go see him for some answer to my problem.

In fury, sorrow, grief, and trust,

Juliet

Post #3: Act II- All for Love

Do you approve of the Nurse's and Friar's actions in helping with the secret wedding?  Explain why or why not and support your reasoning with citations from the text.  


Personally, I do approve of Nurse's and Friar's actions in aiding the secret wedding between Romeo and Juliet in Scene II of Shakespeare's play.  Both Romeo and Juliet clearly wanted to be together, so I do not see anything wrong in helping them achieve their wish.  At the time, the wedding seemed to be a good idea; it would end the feud.  People would be truly happy and everyone would get what they want.  When Juliet exclaims, "Nay, come, I pray thee, speak; good, good nurse, speak," it shows her desperation to be Romeo and to hear good news concerning their relationship.  Romeo's line, "Let's go.  I insist on being quick about this," also shows his desperation to be with Juliet, as well as his determination to do whatever it takes in order to be with her.  Nurse and Friar Lawrence were simply trying to help Romeo and Juliet get what they wanted.  They had no way of foreseeing the misfortune and sorrow the wedding would bring.  

Romeo and Juliet look extremely happy with each other.  Since neither Nurse nor Friar Lawrence could see into the future and the effects their actions would cause, there was nothing wrong with them trying to help people they cared about achieve true happiness. 

Vocabulary: 
chided: criticized; scolded
confounds: confused; obscures
driveling: chattering; jabbering
exposition: display; demonstration
idolatry: worship; adoration
lamentable: unfortunate; regrettable
perjuries: lies; swearing to what is untrue

This video shows the wedding scene between Romeo and Juliet, as portrayed in the 1996 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.  In Shakespeare's play, this scene takes place in Act II, Scene VI.    

To see Shakespeare's play in its entirety through MIT's website, click here.