Juliet Capulet - a beautiful thirteen year old girl, who has thought little about love and marriage, but grows up quickly when she falls in love with the son of her family's greatest enemy.

Lord and Lady Capulet - Juliet's Parents

Count Paris - the gentleman that Juliet's parents say she must marry

Tybalt - Juliet's quick-tempered cousin on her mother's side.

Nurse - Juliet's confidant and the person who basically raised her.

Romeo - a young man of about sixteen who is handsome, intelligent, and sensitive. He is impulsive and immature, but his idealism and passion make him an extremely likable character. His family is in a long time feud with the Capulet family.

Lord and Lady Montague - Romeo's parents - both parents are worried about Romeo's melancholy or sad mood.

Benvolio Montague - Romeo's cousin and thoughtful friend, he makes a genuine effort to defuse violence. He is a good guy.

Mercutio - Romeo's close friend. He has a vivid imagination. He loves wordplay and puns. He can be hot-headed and hates people who are pretentious or snobby.

Friar Laurence - A priest who is a friend to many a young person in his community. He is kind and always concerned with the well being of his community.

A family feud:
The story takes place in Verona, Italy, in the late 1500s. The Montagues and the Capulets, two very powerful families, have been fighting for many years.

The Capulets throw a big party.

Romeo Montague wants to go to the party to see Rosaline, a girl he likes. Because of the feud, his family is not invited. He wears a costume and sneaks into the party anyway.

Falling in love:
At the party, Romeo sees a girl, Juliet, and falls in love. Soon he finds out that she is a Capulet.

Juliet sees Romeo and falls in love with him, too. She has no idea that he is a member of the Montague family.

Later Juliet learns that Romeo is a Montague She goes out on her balcony to talk Later, Juliet learns that Romeo is a Montague. She goes out on her balcony to talk to the stars about her love for Romeo.

Romeo hears her and tells her he feels the same.

A secret marriage:

The next day Romeo and Juliet are married secretly by Romeo’s friend Friar Lawrence They tell no one
Lawrence. They tell no one.

The same day that Romeo and Juliet are married - Romeo's cousin Benvolio and Romeo's best friend Mercutio get into a fight with Juliet's cousin Tybalt.

Tybalt, furious at Romeo for coming to the Capulet's party, starts a fight with Benvolio and Mercutio.

Romeo shows up, but doesn't wish to fight because he has married Juliet - though no one knows of this.

Romeo's friends can not understand why he refuses to fight, so Mercutio takes on Tybalt. Tybalt kills Mercutio.

Romeo is angry that his best friend has been killed and in a fit of rage Romeo kills Tybalt.

The Prince of Verona tells Romeo that he must leave the city forever and never come back.

Naturally Juliet is heartbroken.

A Match Making father -

Juliet's father, who doesn't know that Juliet is already married to Romeo, decides to marry her to a man named Paris.

A desperate plan:

Juliet goes to Friar Lawrence for help.

He gives her a potion to drink that will make her look dead, even though she really will just be sleeping.

The Friar says he will tell Romeo to come get her from the family tomb.

Some deadly gossip

Before the Friar can tell Rmoeo that Juliett is not really dead, Romeo gets a message from a friend that Juliet is dead in Verona.

Romeo wants to die beside his wife, so he buys poison and goes to Juliet's tomb

At teh door of the tomb, Romeo fights and kills Paris.

The death of Romeo and Juliet

Inside teh tomb, Romeo drinks the poison and dies next to Juliet.
Soon after, Juliet wakes up and sees Romeo dead next to her.

Friar Lawrence comes into the tomb and tells Juliet what happened.

Juliet takes Romeo's dagger and kills herself.

The Montagues and Capulets learn a lesson from the deaths of their children. They agree to never fight again.