Romeo & Juliet: Plot Summary (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Plot Summary

Examiners always praise students who clearly know the plot of the texts they are studying, as having this base of knowledge leads to the best exam responses. Below you will find:

• a storyboard of the plot

• a general overview of the whole play

• detailed summaries by act

Plot Storyboard

Overview of Romeo and Juliet 

Romeo and Juliet is a five-act  tragedy written by William Shakespeare in 1597. Set in Renaissance Italy, it takes place in a city called Verona and its eponymous   protagonist , Romeo and Juliet, are two teenagers who belong to two rival families.

The play begins with a street fight between the servants of the two feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues. Romeo Montague, absent at the fight, is introduced as a loner, a young heartbroken boy uninterested in the family feud . His friends encourage him to forget about love and party at the Capulet Ball. Here, his fateful journey begins, as he meets Juliet, his enemy, and they embark on a forbidden love affair. Finding themselves at odds with their families and friends, they marry in secret in a bid to avoid Juliet Capulet’s arranged marriage to Paris. Tybalt Capulet insists on fighting Romeo to avenge his family's honour. This leads to Tybalt’s death and Romeo’s exile. 

The lovers, isolated and desperate, take their lives into their own hands. Juliet asks a local religious man, Friar Laurence, to help her and he instructs Juliet to take a potion which will make her family think she is dead. Once in the tomb, however, she will awaken, meet Romeo and flee the town. By a twist of fate, Romeo does not receive the friar’s message and believes, like her family and friends, that she is dead. Acting in defiance of the stars, Romeo decides to return to Verona despite the danger. His  fatal flaw, his impulsiveness, leads to his rash suicide. Juliet wakes, sees Romeo dead beside her and takes her own life as well. Shakespeare’s tragedy ends with a gloomy peace between the two families as they grieve over their children.

Act-By-Act Plot Summary

Act I

• An old feud between the Capulets and the Montagues breaks out on the streets of Verona between the servants of the families

• Benvolio Montague tries to stop the fight but Tybalt Capulet is keen to fight for his family name

• Both sides are warned by Prince Escalus that they must not disturb the peace again on pain of death

• Paris asks Lord Capulet for Juliet’s hand in marriage and Capulet tells him to  woo her at the party

• Juliet is not as happy as her mother about the prospect of marriage and tells her mother, Lady Capulet, she will see what she thinks of Paris at the ball

• Lord and Lady Montague ask Benvolio where Romeo is, showing concern about his mental state

• Benvolio, on behalf of Lord and Lady Montague, seeks out a troubled Romeo 

• Bevolio finds Romeo alone, opposed to the feud, burdened by his Unrequited Love  for Rosaline

• Benvolio tells Romeo to attend the Capulet Ball and find someone new

• Mercutio’s light-hearted attempts to encourage Romeo to be less serious about love lead Romeo into the danger of the Capulet house

• Romeo and Juliet meet and learn they are from enemy families

Act II

• Romeo hides from his friends instead of joining them after the party 

• Romeo sees Juliet on the balcony and overhears her concerns over their family names  

• When Romeo interrupts and declares his love, Juliet asks him to be less sudden with his vows

• Juliet asks him to meet her nurse the next day if he is serious about marriage

• Romeo visits Friar Laurence and asks him to marry them

• The friar accepts in a bid to end the grudge between the families

• Romeo and Mercutio tease each other about love and Mercutio forgives Romeo 

• Romeo leaves his friends again. First, to speak to Juliet’s nurse, and then, to the church for his secret wedding

• The friar, in attendance with the nurse, marries Romeo and Juliet, although audiences do not see the wedding

Act III

• A Pivotal moment in the play, Benviolio and Mercutio gather on a hot day in the streets

• Benvolio, aware of the Prince’s warning about further public fights, warns of a potential fight with the Capulets

• Tybalt arrives looking for Romeo. In Romeo’s absence, he and Mercutio begin to quarrel

• When Romeo arrives back from his secret wedding, his friends are confused about his refusal to fight Tybalt, who is now his cousin

• Mercutio is angry with Romeo and turns to fight Tybalt himself 

• Romeo stops Mercutio and Tybalt stabs Mercutio instead of Romeo

• As he is dying, Mercutio places a curse on both families

• In a violent rage, Romeo rushes after Tybalt and kills him in revenge

• Juliet awaits Romeo’s return, unaware of the violence

• Romeo seeks help from the friar when he learns the Prince has exiled him to Mantua

• Friar Laurence is angry at Romeo’s impulsiveness, his hamartia , when Romeo wishes himself dead rather than accept exile

• After a forbidden night together, Romeo leaves Juliet at dawn to escape death

• Lady Capulet tells Juliet she is to be married to Paris in two days

• Juliet refuses and her parents disown her after an aggressive argument

Act IV

• Juliet tells her nurse she is going to  confession but, instead, asks the friar to help her avoid the wedding to Paris

• Friar Laurence offers a solution in the form of a poison which will mimic death 

• Juliet is told by her father that the wedding day has been moved forward and would take place the next day

• That night, and after some hesitation, Juliet takes the potion

• The next morning, the nurse finds Juliet ‘dead’ and the family grieves 

• Friar Laurence says the wedding will now become a funeral

Act V

• Romeo, in Mantua, receives a message from his friend, Balthasar, that Juliet is dead

• Romeo asks if there is a word from the friar but Balthasar says there is not

• In defiance of his punishment, Romeo decides to return to Verona to be with Juliet, whom he believes is dead

• Aware he will be killed if he is found, Romeo convinces an  apothecary  to sell him poison so he can die alongside Juliet

• Friar Laurence learns that his message was not delivered due to a plague preventing people from leaving the city, bringing Mercutio’s curse to fruition 

• Paris meets Romeo at Juliet’s tomb, aware only that they are from enemy families

• Paris challenges Romeo and, again, Romeo tries to avoid a fight

• Paris, like Tybalt, rejects his peaceful greeting, they fight, and Paris is killed

• Romeo, believing Juliet to be dead, drinks the poison, kisses Juliet and dies

• Friar Laurence enters the tomb but hearing some noise he leaves

• Juliet awakes and finds Romeo next to her, dead

• Juliet attempts to drink some of the poison from the vial and from Romeo’s lips

• Unable to find any, she stabs herself with his dagger

• Upon finding the pair dead, Friar Laurence tells the tragic story to the Prince and the families

• Audiences learn that Lady Montague has died from a broken heart at Romeo’s exile

• The grieving families make an uneasy and gloomy peace