Romeo and Juliet - Act Five

               Act Five, Scene One opens on a street in Mantua. Romeo is talking about his dream that he had about Juliet. In his dream he had died and Juliet had brought him back to life by kissing him. Romeo is amazed that being in love with Juliet came be so sweet that he does not even have to be near her to be hopelessly in love with her. Balthasar, a servant to Romeo, arrives on the scene. Romeo sees Balthasar and asks him first for news of his wife Juliet and then his father, he asks if he has a letter from the friar. He says if Juliet is well, for to him no news is bad news. Balthasar then tells him that Juliet is not longer alive, she’s now dead. Romeo hears this and becomes upset.  He asks Balthasar to get some horses that they can ride to see Juliet. Balthasar is worried about Romeo but leaves to get the horses after Romeo asks him one more time if he is sure that he does not have any letters from the friar. (Romeo hopes that Friar Lawrence sent him a letter with Balthasar that says this is all in the plan. But there is no such note. Although the plan is real.) Romeo once again tells Balthasar to go get them some horse. Once Balthasar is gone Romeo decides to go to the apothecary to get some poison that will kill him. The Apothecary hears Romeo request for a poison that will kill him. The Apothecary tells Romeo that he has the potion but feels that he can not give it to Romeo for it is against the law. Romeo tells the Apothecary (who is poor) that he will pay him a lot of money. So the Apothecary gives him the poison and tells him that it will kill him right away. Scene One comes to a close.

                        Scene Two returns to Friar Lawrence’s cell. Friar John (he is one of Friar Lawrence coworkers. He was to deliver the message of Juliet’s ‘death’ to Romeo) calls for Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence enters and asks Friar John if he has a message from Romeo. Friar John tells Friar Lawrence that he never had a chance to go to Romeo. He tells Friar Lawrence that he was helping the sick when he was helping the sick in an area where there was a plague. So he was not aloud to leave that section of town. He goes on to tell Friar Lawrence that he still has the letter. Friar Lawrence realizes that Romeo does not know of Juliet’s fake death. He knows that it would be best to get Juliet out of the tomb so he can talk to Romeo. He tells Friar John to fetch him a crowbar so he can enter the tomb. Scene Two ends.    

            Scene Three, the final scene, opens in the churchyard at night. Paris is going to the Capulet’s tomb so he can place flowers for Juliet. He does this in private while his page keeps watch. He promises Juliet’s unmoving body that he will bring her flowers, perfume, and tears every night. Then his page gives a whistle. This is a signal that someone is coming. He blows out the touch so he can hide in the night. Romeo and Balthasar enter with a torch, crow bar, and a mattock. ( Mattock - n. A digging tool with a flat blade set at right angles to the handle. http://www.dictionary.com/) Romeo tells Balthasar to go stand watch while he enters Juliet’s tomb to look at Juliet. He also tells Balthasar that he is not allowed to follow him. If he does Romeo threatens to kill him. Balthasar is fully scared by this and has not thoughts of entering the tomb but he does stay in the graveyard to keep watch. (even though the graveyard gives him the willies) Romeo then goes in the tomb. Paris sees Romeo go in the tomb and believes that this Montague wants to harm Juliet. (He knows that the Capulets and Montugues are enemies.)So he tells Romeo that he should back away and why mess with some one who is already dead. Romeo tells Paris that he should leave him alone. Paris refuses to and the two draw swords. Paris’s page sees the two fighting and runs to get the police. A little bit later Romeo stabs Paris.

            As Paris is dying he asks Romeo to place him next to Juliet. Then Romeo gets a good luck at who he just killed and sees that it is Paris. He feels awful because Paris was kinsman to Mercutio, Romeo’s friend. He begins to remember that Mercutio had once said that Paris was to one day going to marry Juliet although he dismisses the thought from his mind. Romeo then goes to see Juliet. He remarks on how flushed Juliet is in death. (That is because she is not really dead.)  He says one last time that he loves her, kisses her and takes the potion, seconds after he dies.  Friar Lawrence then enters and he sees Balthasar and asks who is in the tomb. Balthasar tells him that it is Romeo and he has been there for an half an hour. Balthasar also tells Friar Lawrence that he had a dream that there was a fight in the tomb. (Although who really falls asleep in the middle of a graveyard in the span of a half hour, this is the same guy who had willies about being in the graveyard.) Friar Lawrence then asks Balthasar to go with him in the tomb. Balthasar refuses because he is afraid to go since Romeo warned him away. Friar Lawrence then goes ahead by himself and sees Paris and Romeo dead. At this point Juliet wakes up. She finds out when Friar Lawrence tells her to come with him and that Romeo and Paris are dead. (At this time you can here police and citizens coming toward the tomb.) Juilet refuses and Friar Lawrence leaves. Juliet sees Romeo and the cup he used to drink the poison from. She then decides to die. She kisses Romeo in hopes that the poison on his lips can kill her. It doesn’t work. Then she hears the watchman in the page coming. She does not want anyone to stop her from killing herself so she begins to stab herself over and over again with Romeo’s dagger until she dies.

            The watchmen and the page then enter. They send massagers to go get the Capulets, Montugues, and The Prince. The watchmen find Friar Lawrence and Balthasar and hold them for questioning. The Capulets and The Prince then arrive and demand to know what is going on. A watchman tells the people that Paris slain, Romeo poisoned, and Juliet stabbed. The Capulets are startled to see their daughter dead again. The Capulets first blame Romeo because his knife is in Juliet but the Prince asks them to wait before they cast judgment. Montague then enters. The Prince greets him and asks him where his wife is. Montague tells him that his wife had died because of Romeo’s banishment, he then asks for the bad news. The Prince shows him his son’s body and Montague calls out in grief.  The Prince asks if anyone knows what happen. Friar Lawrence steps forward and tells everyone the whole story. (At this point in the play Friar Lawrence is the only one who knows almost everything.) Before he begin his speech Friar Lawrence said that he was willing to be punished but after he is done the Prince says that is not necessary. Balthasar and Paris’s page step forward when called and tell of their masters’ actions. The Prince announces the story true. He asks that the Capulets and Montugues stop arguing for there had been enough deaths. The two agree and also promises the other that they would honor their children. The Prince says that he is happy that something good came out of all this sorrow and Romeo and Juliet comes to an end. The moral of this story is that people should not be aloud to carry dangers objects when they go for a back.