Romeo Juliet summary
Romeo and Juliet Summary
Romeo and Juliet Summary provides a quick review of the play's plot including every important action in the play. Romeo and Juliet Summary is divided by the five acts of the play and makes an ideal introduction before reading the original text.
Prologue
Arguably Shakespeare's most famous play begins with a Prologue which establishes that this play will be a tragedy and that the children of two feuding families, Romeo of the Montague family and Juliet of the Capulet family, will both love and die in the course of this play...
Act I.
Sampson and Gregory, servants to the Capulets and Abraham and Balthasar, servants to the Montague family start a street fight, which is joined by Benvolio (Montague) and Tybalt (Capulet). Escalus, the Prince of Verona who angrily learns of this fight, declares a death penalty for further feuding between the two families. Romeo we learn is lovesick; Rosaline, the object of his affections will not requite (return) his love. His friend Benvolio tells Romeo to look at other girls...
Meanwhile Capulet is keen for Paris to marry his daughter Juliet and plans a party to be held later that night. Romeo and friends decide to turn up uninvited, Romeo hoping to see Rosaline, whom he still pines for...
Lady Capulet discusses the idea of marriage to Paris with Juliet. Juliet keeps her options open. The Nurse wishes Juliet every possible happiness...
Meanwhile Mercutio attempts to cheer a lovesick Romeo up, telling him to be rough with love if need be.
At the Capulet's party, Romeo who is disguised by a masque (mask), falls in love with Juliet on sight. Capulet stops Tybalt from attacking Romeo at his party, telling him there will be other opportunities. Both Romeo and Juliet learn that they are each enemies of the other's family... A Prologue sung by a choir dramatizes the conflict both Romeo and Juliet feel between their love for one another and their loyalty to their respective families.
Act II.
Ignoring the danger, Romeo scales the Capulet's wall to be near Juliet, the woman he cannot forget... Unnoticed in Juliet's orchard, Romeo learns of Juliet's love for him. After declaring their feelings for each other, the two decide to marry. Juliet will send Romeo a messenger in the morning to make plans for their wedding...
The very next day, we meet Romeo's friend, Friar Laurence. He wonders how Romeo can forget Rosaline so quickly but agrees to marry the two since he hopes this marriage it will end the long running Montague / Capulet feud...
Romeo catches up with his friends Mercutio and Benvolio. Juliet's messenger, the Nurse, arrives and the wedding is set for later that day. The Nurse brings Romeo "cords" or ropes which will allow Romeo to climb into Juliet's bedchamber as her husband later that night... Act II ends with Romeo and Juliet's marriage.
Act III.
Benvolio and Mercutio (both Montagues) meet Tybalt (Capulet). Tybalt attempts to provoke Romeo into fighting. Mercutio fights Tybalt and is killed. Romeo then kills Tybalt. Escalus, the Prince of Verona banishes Romeo from Verona threatening death should he ever return. Juliet learns of Romeo killing Tybalt and despite being torn between her loyalty for her family and Romeo, mourns her husband Romeo's banishment.
Romeo learns of the banishment order, realizing he will not be able to see Juliet again. Friar Laurence suggests Romeo go to Juliet's bed chamber to comfort his wife... Capulet, who does not know of Romeo and Juliet's marriage, decides that the marriage of Juliet to Paris must now proceed, bidding his wife to make Juliet aware of Paris' love for her. The day of the marriage has been decided; it will be Thursday.
We learn that Romeo has spent the night with his Juliet. Juliet who is now already secretly married to Romeo, learns that she is to marry Paris. She tries to fight her father's wishes, failing to dissuade him. Juliet decides to commit suicide if all else fails...
Act IV.
Paris reveals that the wedding will occur on Thursday. Juliet is cold to Paris. Friar Laurence tells Juliet to take a potion simulating death, allowing Romeo to take her away, unopposed to Mantua since everyone will think she is dead at the Capulet's ancient vault or burial ground.
Capulet makes plans for Juliet's wedding. Juliet, who has decided to drink Friar Laurence's potion, no longer opposes the wedding, delighting Capulet.
Hearing this good news, Capulet, who is keen to have Juliet marry Paris decides to move the wedding forward. It will now be on Wednesday morning, not Thursday as previously planned...
Juliet succeeds in sleeping alone which allows her to take the potion in privacy. Juliet worries about the Friar's intentions before the potion takes effect and she falls asleep...
Lady Capulet and the Nurse are busy making preparations for the wedding. It is 3 o'clock in the morning and now Capulet hearing music announcing Paris' arrival, tells the Nurse to wake Juliet. The Capulet's learn that their daughter Juliet is dead. The wedding preparations are changed to those of a funeral.
Act V.
In Mantua, Romeo learns of Juliet's death, deciding to risk his own life by returning to Verona at once to see Juliet one last time. Romeo also buys some poison from a local Apothecary.
Friar John explains to Friar Laurence that his letter informing Romeo that Juliet is not dead, did not reach Romeo. Friar Laurence tries again to inform Romeo of his plan and heads off to the Capulet burial chamber where Juliet will soon awaken.
Paris mourns his bride that never was. Romeo arrives, opening Juliet's coffin to look at his love one last time. Paris fights Romeo whom he believes is desecrating Juliet's grave. Paris dies, Romeo placing him beside Juliet. Romeo takes his poison, kisses Juliet and dies. Friar Laurence arrives too late. Juliet, now awakens, asking for her Romeo. Friar Laurence leaves, leaving Juliet alone. Juliet kisses Romeo and stabs herself, dying. The Prince, Capulets, and Montagues arrive, Balthasar and Friar Laurence explaining all. Escalus scolds the two families who finally end their feud. The play ends with the Prince summarizing this tragic love story.
I'm sure you can find an obscure but accurate summary of RJ on Google. I haven't read Butterfly Lovers. Here's my summary of Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo was from the family Montague, while Juliet was from the family Capulet. These two families were in a long feud, but the two characters fell deeply in love with each other when they met in a masquerade ball. They knew that both families would protest the love, so only Juliet's Nurse and Friar Lawrence were in on the secret. Meanwhile, Capulet consented the Prince of Verona to marry Juliet, and Romeo killed Tybalt, cousin of Juliet, in a duel, and was banished from Verona. Juliet, unable to accept these fate, sought Friar Lawrence for a sleeping potion that would allow her to avoid the wedding with the Prince, and allow Romeo to elope with her out of Verona. She sent word to Romeo of this scheme, but it was not passed onto Romeo. Romeo thought Juliet was really dead, then he bought a vial of poison, intending to kill himself by Juliet's side in the crypt. When Romeo arrived, he saw Juliet lying on her grave, unable to deal with the loss, he drank the poison. Right after Romeo dies, Juliet woke up and saw Romeo dead, she then stabbed herself to "be" with Romeo.
Unlike the other titular characters in Shakespeare's plays (e.g. Hamlet, Henry V), Caesar is not the central character in the action of the play, appearing in only three scenes and dying at the beginning of the third Act. The central protagonist of the play is Brutus and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honour, patriotism, and friendship.
The play is notable for being the first of Shakespeare's five great tragedies (the others being Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth).
Most Shakespeare critics and historians agree that the play reflected the general anxiety of England due to worries over succession of leadership. At the time of its creation and first performance, Queen Elizabeth, a strong ruler, was elderly and had refused to name a successor, leading to worries that a civil war similar to that of Rome's might break out after her death.
Contents [hide]
1 The plot
2 Text of the play
3 Dramatis Personae
4 Movie versions
5 Notable stage productions
6 External links
[edit]
The plot
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Marcus Brutus is Caesar's close friend whose ancestors were famed for driving the tyrannical Tarquin kings from Rome. Brutus allows himself to be cajoled into joining a group of conspiring senators because of a growing suspicion—implanted by Gaius Cassius—that Caesar intends to turn republican Rome into a monarchy under his own rule. Traditional readings of the play maintain that Cassius and the other conspirators are motivated largely by envy and ambition whereas Brutus is motived by the demands of honour and patriotism; in fact one of the central strengths of the play is that it resists categorising its characters as either simple heroes or villains.
The early scenes deal mainly with Brutus's arguments with Cassius and his struggle with his own conscience. The growing tide of public support soon turns Brutus against Caesar. A soothsayer warns Caesar to "beware the Ides of March", which he ignores, culminating in his assassination at the Capitol by the conspirators on that very day.
Caesar's assassination is perhaps the most famous part of the play. After ignoring the soothsayer as well as his wife's own premonitions, Caesar is caught at the senate at the mercy of the conspirators. After a few words exchanged, Casca stabs Caesar in the back of his neck, and the others follow in stabbing him; Brutus last. Caesar famously says at this point, Et tu, Brute?. This translates to "Even you, Brutus?". The conspirators make clear that they did this act for Rome, not for their own purposes.
After Caesar's death, however, another character appears on the foreground, in the form of Caesar's devotee, Mark Antony, who, by a rousing speech over the corpse—the much-quoted Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears...—deftly turns public opinion against the assassins by speaking to the more personal side of his position, rather than the public and rational tactic Brutus uses in his speeches. Antony rouses the mob to drive them from Rome.
The beginning of Act Four is marked by the quarrel scene, where Brutus attacks Cassius for soiling the noble act of regicide by accepting bribes ("Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? / What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, / And not for justice?", IV.iii). The two are reconciled, but as they prepare for war with Mark Antony and Caesar's great-nephew, Octavian (Shakespeare's spelling: Octavius), Caesar's ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat ("thou shalt see me at Philippi", IV.iii). Events go badly for the conspirators during the battle; both Brutus and Cassius commit suicide rather than be captured. The play ends with a tribute to Brutus, who has remained "the noblest Roman of them all" (V.v) and hints at the friction between Mark Antony and Octavian which will characterise another of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Antony and Cleopatra.
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Text of the play
Julius Caesar was first published in the First Folio in 1623. The Folio text is notable for its quality and consistency, generally leading scholars to believe that it was prepared from a theatrical promptbook. The play's source was Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Life of Brutus and Life of Caesar.
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Dramatis Personae
Julius Caesar
Octavius Caesar, Marcus Antonius, M. Aemilius Lepidus, Triumvirs after the death of Julius Caesar
Cicero, Publius, Popilius Lena, Senators
Marcus Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Trebonius, Ligarius, Decius Brutus, Metellus Cimber, Cinna, Conspirators against Julius Caesar
Flavius and Marullus, Tribunes
Artemidorus, a Sophist of Cnidos
A Soothsayer
Cinna, a poet
Another poet
Lucilius, Titinius, Messala, Young Cato, Volumnius, Friends to Brutus and Cassius
Varro, Clitus, Claudius, Strato, Lucius, Dardanius, Servants to Brutus
Pindarus, Servant to Cassius
Calphurnia, wife to Caesar
Portia, wife to Brutus
It was hinted in the play that Julius Caesar was deaf in one ear and also suffered from epilepsy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar_(play)
罗密欧・Juliet 总结
罗密欧与朱丽叶概述
罗密欧 朱丽叶之夏天
罗密欧朱丽叶摘要
逯秀杞明： 罗密欧与朱丽叶,英文原名为The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,简写为Romeo and Juliet,是英国剧作家莎士比亚著名的悲剧. 故事梗概:凯普莱特和蒙太古是一座城市的两大家族,这两大家族有宿仇,经常械...
云安县13791279306： 罗密欧与朱丽叶的故事是? - ？
逯秀杞明： 故事梗概 凯普莱特和蒙太古是一座城市的两大家族,这两大家族有宿仇,经常械斗.蒙太古家有个儿子叫罗密欧,17岁,品行端方,是个大家都很喜欢的小伙子.有一天,他听说自己喜欢的一个女孩要去凯普莱特家赴宴,为了见一眼这位女孩...
云安县13791279306： 罗密欧 朱丽叶 的英文名字怎么写 - ？
逯秀杞明： 罗密欧 Romio 朱丽叶 Julier
云安县13791279306： 罗密欧与祝英台曹格(罗密欧与祝英台) ？
逯秀杞明： 1、罗密欧与朱丽叶 罗密欧与朱丽叶,英文原名为The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,简写为Romeo and Juliet,是英国剧作家莎士比亚著名的悲剧,但罗密欧与朱丽叶这个悲剧故事并不是莎士比亚的原创,而是改编自阿瑟·布卢克(Arthur Broke)1562年的小说《罗密欧与朱丽叶的悲剧历史》(The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet).2、所以罗密欧是英国人莎士比亚笔下的一名人物,而祝英台是我国历史上十分传奇的一位人物,两者没有关系 .
云安县13791279306： 莎士比亚笔下的罗密欧和朱丽叶是哪国人? - ？
逯秀杞明： 是英国的莎士比亚写的 罗密欧与朱丽叶 罗密欧与朱丽叶,英文原名为The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,简写为Romeo and Juliet,是英国剧作家莎士比亚著名的悲剧,但罗密欧与朱丽叶这个悲剧故事并不是莎士...
云安县13791279306： 请问一首外国男歌手唱的带有romeo和juliet很轻快的爵士还不知道是蓝调的歌名? - ？
逯秀杞明： 《home 》 麦可布雷
云安县13791279306： 罗密欧与朱丽叶的故事内容.要英文的注意!是故事情节梗概!不是简介!英文150字左右. - ？
逯秀杞明：[答案] ROMEO AND JULIETThis story happened in Italy. Romeo born on the family of montague, and Juliet belong to the family of capulet. both are posted family. And they consider each other as enemy from their...
云安县13791279306： 罗密欧,朱丽叶的英文怎么拼写??? - ？
逯秀杞明： 罗密欧(Bernardo Romeo) 朱丽叶(Julia)
云安县13791279306： 莎士比亚笔下的罗米鸥和朱丽叶是哪国人 ? - ？
逯秀杞明： 故事发生在英国维洛那城
云安县13791279306： 朱莉叶与罗密欧的英文名是怎么写的?？
逯秀杞明： 原名为The Most Excellent Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo 简写Romeo and Juliet
