Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet for ESL Students Adapted by Zachary W. Brown Prologue CHORUS: Two families that are similar in wealth and power, Living in Verona, where our story takes place, Have been angry for ages and are now frustrated again. Two children from these families were destined to fall in love, And with the youths death show their parents the error of their ways. SCENE 1: On a Street SAMPSON and GREGORY, Capulets, enter talking GREGORY Here come two of the house of Montague. ENTER two other servants/lower court people, ABRAHAM and BALTHAZAR, of the Montagues SAMPSON I hate those guys! I m going to flip them off! [He makes a rude gesture] ABRAHAM Whoa! Did you just flip us off?! SAMPSON Yes I did, sir. ABRAHAM Did you just flip us off?! SAMPSON [to GREGORY] Is the law of our side if I say yes? GREGORY No. SAMPSON No sir, I do not flip you off, but I do make a rude gesture ABRAHAM You lie. SAMPSON Fight us if you re men. They FIGHT. ENTER BENVOLIO BENVOLIO Ok, ok, ok break it up! Stop fighting, you fools! ENTER TYBALT TYBALT [to BENVOLIO] What are you doing here fighting with these hooligans? I ll fight you! BENVOLIO I was breaking up the fight TYBALT I hate the Montagues and you! Come on! THEY FIGHT. CITIZENS Enter and break up the fight. CAPULET AND LADY CAPULET Enter CAPULET What are you doing? Where s my sword? Oh look! Montague s here! MONTAGUE AND LADY MONTAGUE ENTER FROM THE OTHER SIDE MONTAGUE You re a villain, Capulet! [LADY MONTAGUE holds him] Let me at him! LADY MONTAGUE You won t go one step closer! CAPULETS and MONTAGUES remain on sides of stage, yelling at each other while others fight in center. ENTER PRINCE PRINCE What are you beasts doing? Stop this! [EVERYONE stops] Capulet and Montague, you two have caused much trouble today. Don t let this happen again or you ll pay. EVERYONE except BENVOLIO LEAVES. ROMEO ENTERS. BENVOLIO What s up, cousin? ROMEO It is only morning, but I m so sad already. BENVOLIO What s wrong with you? ROMEO The girl I love won t have me. [Looking around at the destruction from the fight] What all happened here? Eh, I can guess. BENVOLIO So who is this lady you love? ROMEO She is so beautiful BENVOLIO The best way to feel better about a woman who won t have you is to just forget her. Look at other people!
ROMEO Forget? No. You cannot teach me to forget. [BENVOLIO AND ROMEO EXIT] SCENE 2: Outside Capulet House. CAPULET AND PARIS are talking CAPULET can we not just stay friendly with each other? PARIS It is sad that you and Montague continue to hurt your reputations by causing trouble. Have you considered what I asked earlier? CAPULET About marrying Juliet? She is so young! Only 14! PARIS But young girls often become wonderful mothers. CAPULET Ok. I trust you, Paris, and you may marry her. Come to my party tonight to meet my extended family. [PARIS AND CAPULET EXIT. ROMEO AND BENVOLIO ENTER] BENVOLIO Hey, Romeo! I heard Capulet is having a party tonight and no Montagues are welcome. Let s go crash it! ROMEO Why not. I m already sad enough [THEY EXIT] SCENE 3 Capulet s House. ENTER LADY CAPULET AND NURSE NURSE Juliet! [ENTER JULIET] JULIET What is it? NURSE Your mother wants you JULIET Yes, mother? LADY CAPULET Juliet, would you like to be married? JULIET Not really. LADY CAPULET Well, you re going to be. Paris wants you for his wife. You ll meet him tonight at the party. NURSE Lady, the guests are here. Juliet, go have a good time. SCENE 4 on the Street. ROMEO, BENVOLIO, MERCUTIO, AND PARTY GUESTS ENTER MERCUTIO Romeo, you have to dance here. ROMEO No. I can t dance when I feel so horribly. BENVOLIO Here we are! ROMEO This is a bad idea. I had a dream that something bad is going to happen after tonight BENVOLIO Come on! The food is almost gone! THEY EXIT SCENE 5 Capulet s House, there is much dancing and drinking. ROMEO AND JULIET dance together, but PARIS takes her away. ROMEO is in awe of her, standing away from her. He asks a SERVANT ROMEO Who s that beautiful lady? SERANT I don t know. ROMEO She teaches torches to burn! I ve never loved until now! [HE FOLLOWS JULIET] [TYBALT APPROACHES CAPULET] TYBALT That Montague pig Romeo is here! CAPULET Settle down, cousin. Leave him alone. [TYBALT EXITS ANGRILY] ROMEO [taking JULIET s hand] Your hand is lovely and holy. I hope I don t offend you. JULIET Nay, your hands are quite holy themselves. Holding hands is like a different kind of kiss. ROMEO Holy men use their lips to pray, right? JULIET Yes, lips for prayer ROMEO Then let us pray [THEY KISS] JULIET You re quite the kisser. NURSE Juliet, your mother wants you! [EXIT JULIET] ROMEO Who is her mother? NURSE Lady Capulet is her mother. [EXIT NURSE]
ROMEO Is she a Capulet? BENVOLIO [Grabbing ROMEO] Let s get out of here before they catch us. ROMEO Good plan. CAPULET [Talking to the whole room as BENVOLIO and ROMEO leave] Thank you all for coming! The party s over! [All EXIT LEFT. NURSE AND JULIET ENTER RIGHT] JULIET Hey, who was that dashing fellow? NURSE He is Romeo. He is the only son of the Montagues! JULIET Great love from great hate! [They EXIT] SCENE 6 Outside the walls of Capulet s house. ROMEO hides, MERCUTIO AND BENVOLIO ENTER, laughing. BENVOLIO Romeo jumped over the wall to go find his love! MERCUTIO He is blind with love. Blind men hit no marks. There s no way he ll get her BENVOLIO Let s leave. [ROMEO IN THE ORCHARD] ROMEO They joke, but have never felt this feeling. What s that light from that window? It is the east and Juliet is the sun! It s her, my love! If only she knew [JULIET appears at the balcony] JULIET Oh goodness ROMEO She speaks! Say something else, my angel! JULIET Oh Romeo, Romeo, where are you, Romeo? I wish you were not a Montague! But just swear your love to me and I ll stop being a Capulet. ROMEO Should I listen more or speak?? JULIET What s in a name? What we call a rose would smell as sweet if it had another name. Romeo! Get rid of your name and take me! ROMEO [coming from his hiding place] I trust you. Call me your love, and I won t be Romeo! JULIET [shocked] What are you doing in my bushes? What if someone saw you? ROMEO No one saw me. No Montague, no Capulet. It s too dark. But I don't care. I love you! I swear by the moon! JULIET Do you really love me? You need not swear. But if you do NURSE [calling] Juliet!!! JULIET My Nurse! Goodnight, my Romeo! If you do love me and want to marry me, send me word tomorrow and I ll be yours. NURSE Juliet!!!!! JULIET I m coming! Tomorrow I ll send the messenger! Goodnight! [EXIT JULIET] ROMEO I cannot wait. Leaving you is so hard! [EXIT] SCENE 7 FRIAR LAWRENCE is in his Cell when ROMEO ENTERS. ROMEO Good morning, Father! FRIAR Romeo! You ve not slept. Were you with that Rosaline girl? ROMEO Rosaline? No. I m done with her. My true love is now Juliet, daughter of Capulet! I have come to ask you to marry us today! FRIAR You ve got to be kidding! ROMEO Don t scold me, Father. FRIAR Well, maybe this will end the ongoing anger between your families. I ll do it! [THEY EXIT] SCENE 8 A street. MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO are talking. MERCUTIO I wonder where Romeo spent the night? BENVOLIO He wasn t at his father s house. [ENTER ROMEO] ROMEO Good morning, friends! I am so happy!
MERCUTIO You certainly are in a better mood than yesterday. Where were you last night? Oh, hey, here comes a gentlewoman. ENTER NURSE. NURSE Do any of you know a Romeo? ROMEO That s me! NURSE Come with me, good fellow. ROMEO [to Mercutio and Benvolio] I ll see you later. [MERCUTIO AND BENVOLIO EXIT RIGHT] NURSE Ok, so if you are trying to play games with her, you are some kind of sick ROMEO ok ok ok. Listen. I m serious about marrying Juliet. Tell her to come to Friar Lawrence s cell this afternoon and we ll be married. NURSE She ll be there. [THEY EXIT] SCENE 9 Juliet s room in Capulet s house. The NURSE rushes in while JULIET sits. JULIET My Nurse! What news do you have?! NURSE Give me a second. I m out of breath. JULIET You re breathing! You re not out of breath! What news is there? NURSE He seems like a nice boy. Go to Friar Lawrence s Cell to be married this afternoon! [THEY EXIT] SCENE 10 FRIAR LAWRENCE s Cell. ROMEO waits with FRIAR LAWRENCE. JULIET ENTERS with NURSE, both holding flowers. They approach ROMEO. ROMEO and JULIET hold hands. FRIAR May God bless this union such that sorrow does not follow us after. [ROMEO and JULIET kiss. ALL EXIT SCENE 11 BENVOLIO and MERCUTIO on a street BENVOLIO Let s go inside. It s hot and there s nothing to do. And if we see the Capulet s you know we ll fight. MERCUTIO I don t care. [ENTER TYBALT and other CAPULET THUGS] TYBALT Good evening, gentlemen. May I have a word with one of you? MERCUTIO More like a word and a fight! TYBALT Well, I ll certainly oblige there. Mercutio, you are friends with Romeo? [ENTER ROMEO] Here he is! I have no love for you. You are a villain! ROMEO I am no villain. I have never injured you. Please, good Capulet, a name that I hold as well as my own, let s just stop this fight. MERCUTIO What are you saying, man? [He takes out his sword] Come at me, Tybalt. ROMEO Easy, friend. TYBALT I ll fight you! [The two fight, Mercutio is a better fighter] ROMEO [grabs TYBALT and separates them] The Prince won t allow this foolishness! Stop! [TYBALT Stabs MERCUTIO under ROMEO s arm] BENVOLIO Whoa! Are you hurt? MERCUTIO Only a scratch, friend. A bad one. ROMEO Have courage friend! MERCUTIO That does it! I m dead! Because of your anger, I place a curse on both of your houses! A curse! [MERCUTIO DIES] BENVOLIO Tybalt, you beast! Get him, Romeo! ROMEO You alive in victory and Mercutio dead! You must join him in the grave, you fiend! TYBALT No, Romeo, it will be you who dies! [They fight. ROMEO KILLS TYBALT.] BENVOLIO Oh no! Romeo! You need to leave town quick! The Prince is coming! ROMEO Oh fortune is so awful! [ROMEO EXITS. ENTER PRINCE/PARIS, MONTAGUES AND CAPULETS]
PRINCE Who started this mess? BENVOLIO It was him! [Points at Tybalt] Romeo killed him after he had already killed my friend, Mercutio! LADY CAPULET Oh my poor cousin Tybalt! Prince, make this right and hurt the Montagues. BENVOLIO Romeo said good things of him. But Tybalt was set to kill Mercutio and stabbed him while Romeo held him. LADY CAPULET Romeo must not live. PRINCE Romeo is now exiled from Verona! [ALL EXIT] SCENE 12 Juliet s bedroom. NURSE Enters in a hurry JULIET Do you have news of my Romeo? NURSE Sadness! He s exiled! He s dead! JULIET What do you say? NURSE Romeo killed Tybalt, your cousin! Your husband is exiled! JULIET Oh no! But I cannot speak poorly of my Romeo. Nurse, take this ring to him and ask him to come bid me farewell. [BOTH EXIT] SCENE 13 Friar Lawrence s Cell with FRIAR and ROMEO FRIAR Sorrow loves you! ROMEO Exiled! How horrid! It is worse than death! FRIAR All is not lost, Romeo. [A knock at the door] Hide yourself! [NURSE ENTERS] NURSE I come from Juliet. ROMEO How is she??? NURSE She is weeping and in deep sadness. Here is a ring she gave me to give you. Come to see her. Quickly! [NURSE EXITS] FRIAR Go to Mantua and I ll let you know when it s safe to come back. Good luck! [BOTH EXIT] SCENE 14 Capulet s house. PARIS AND Capulet talk. PARIS These sad events cause us much pain, but I still have much love for your daughter. CAPULET Truth. But she will still marry you. Thursday! We will have the wedding! [BOTH EXIT] SCENE 15 Juliet s bedroom. ROMEO AND JULIET are together. JULIET Don t go. It is still night. ROMEO No. It is morning. I must go or die. JULIET How I want you to stay, but be gone! NURSE Juliet, your mother is coming. JULIET Out the window with you! ROMEO Goodbye and farewell! [HE EXITS] JULIET [to herself] My poor love will not live long. He will soon live in a tomb. [She begins to cry] [ENTER LADY CAPULET] LADY CAPULET What are you so sad, my child? Crying over your cousin s death? No more tears. Your father has arranged a day of joy for you. JULIET How so? LADY CAPULET Marriage! The virtuous Paris will marry you next Thursday and bring you joy! JULIET He will bring me no joy! I won t marry him. And when I do marry, it will be to Romeo! LADY CAPULET Tell him yourself. [CAPULET ENTERS] My husband, she won t marry Paris. She is wedded to her grave! CAPULET How? Will she not accept this joy and opportunity? She is unworthy of our name! No, Go now to the church to marry Paris or I will drag you there!
JULIET Have patience with me! Please! CAPULET No. Do not speak to me. [He EXITS] JULIET Mother, please do not give up on me! Please delay the marriage, at least! [LADY CAPULET EXITS without looking at JULIET] What am I to do? Nurse, help! NURSE Your Romeo is exiled and the world is going to pieces. I think you may be best to accept this second match, as Romeo is dead, or good as dead. JULIET [Pauses] Go tell my mother I have gone to confess my sins at Lawrence s cell. [NURSE EXITS] I ll go to the Friar to get his advice and see about my own death. [SHE EXITS] SCENE 16 Friar Lawrence s Cell, FRIAR and PARIS are talking as JULIET comes in. PARIS Ah, here is my wife to be! So next Thursday we shall have the ceremony. FRIAR So it shall be. PARIS I bid you Farewell, my lady. [JULIET curtseys and PARIS EXITS] JULIET Shut the door. I m joined to Romeo, never to Paris. I want to die. Please help me. FRIAR Rather than killing yourself, you could make it seem like you died, making it so that you and Paris are never married. JULIET Yes! Please! FRIAR Ok. Drink this when you go to sleep and it will make you look like you are dead, with no pulse or warmth. I will let Romeo know through letters of the plan and tell him to return. JULIET Thank you, Father! Love give me strength! [EXIT BOTH] SCENE 17. Juliet s bedroom. LADY CAPULET and NURSE are helping JULIET prepare for her wedding day. JULIET Nurse, please do not stay in my room tonight. I need time to think. LADY CAPULET Goodnight, my daughter. You need rest. [LADY CAPULET and NURSE EXIT] JULIET Farewell! I do not know when I shall see you again! [Holding the vial] What if this doesn t work? Will I marry Paris tomorrow? [Picking up and setting down a knife] No, this will prevent it. [Drinking] Romeo! I wait for you! [She falls asleep] [Time passes. NURSE ENTERS. NURSE tries to wake JULIET, but she won t. She thinks JULIET is dead. She runs from the room screaming. EXIT NURSE.] SCENE 18 FRIAR LAWRENCE s Cell. FRIAR LAWRENCE is already in the cell. A SERVANT ENTERS. SERVANT I couldn t send this letter or find another messenger to get it to Mantua. FRIAR LAWRENCE [To himself] Oh horror. Fortune is unkind to poor Romeo again. Without this letter, he won t know about the trick Juliet has played. I must go to the monument. [EXIT BOTH] SCENE 19 In Mantua ROMEO awaits news. BALTHAZAR ENTERS. ROMEO Ha ha! News from Verona! How is my Juliet? BALTHAZAR Juliet has died! ROMEO [A stunned pause] Really? Surely it cannot be true. I will return tonight. Did you bring a letter from the friar? BALTHAZAR What letter? I brought no letter. ROMEO Curses. Well, leave me now. I will join you on the way soon. [BALTHAZAR EXITS.] Juliet dead my one love. I will lie with her in the grave tonight. [Going to a door and knocking] Hey! You Pharmacist! [PHARMACIST ENTERS] I see you need some money. Here is a large sum of money. Give me some strong poison. PHARMACIST I have deadly poisons, but it is against the law to sell them here. But I ll agree because I need your money. [They exchange money for a vial of poison] I don t want to do this, though. ROMEO [angrily] I m paying you for poverty, not your feelings.
[ROMEO EXITS quickly. PHARMACIST EXITS] SCENE 20 In the Capulet s tomb. JULIET lays on a stone monument looking like she is dead. ROMEO ENTERS and goes to her. ROMEO Oh my love, my wife. Juliet! Death has taken your breath, but has not stolen your beauty. Your lips are still red. It doesn t seem as though you are dead. Here I will end my life, unable to spend more time with you, my dear. I ll take one last look at you, give you one last embrace, and seal our love with a final kiss. [He kisses her] I drink to you, Juliet! [He drinks the poison. He chokes and gags.] Ack! This poison works quickly! With that kiss, I die! [ROMEO dies and falls by the monument. After a pause, JULIET awakes and sees him.] JULIET [Shocked] Romeo! What s this you are holding, my love? Poison! Oh no, he s drunk it all and left none for me to follow along after him. [She kisses him] Nor is there any left on his lips. [Movement is heard outside.] What is that noise? No matter. I shall join you, my love. Oh happy dagger, join me with my Romeo! [She takes the dagger and stabs herself a few times for good measure. JULIET dies and slumps.] [ENTER FRIAR LAWRENCE] FRIAR Juliet! No! [FRIAR EXITS. Time passes.] [FRIAR ENTERS WITH PRINCE.] PRINCE Why did you call me here so early? [He sees the bodies and falls silent.] [ENTER CAPULET AND LADY CAULET] LADY CAPULET I hear so much being said on the street about Romeo and Juliet. What is the matter? [They look at the bodies. They begin to cry.] [ENTER MONTAGUE] MONTAGUE My wife died this evening from her sadness about Romeo being exiled. [He sees the bodies.] Oh my. PRINCE See what your hate had brought! Death! All are punished for your foolishness! CAPULET Take my hand, Montague. We shall end our differences. MONTAGUE. Yes. Nothing shall ever pay back the losses we ve both suffered. PRINCE Alas, there has never been a story of more sorrow than that of Juliet and her Romeo. THE END