Scene 1

• Romeo (in Mantua) laments about a dream he had
  
  • he was dead, but Juliet kissed him and he was alive again
  Balthasar, a servant of the house Montague, informs Romeo that Juliet is dead
• Romeo plans on returning to Verona the same night
• Romeo asks the servant whether he is carrying a letter from Friar Lawrence, which the servant denies
• not being able to live without Juliet, Romeo visits an apothecary in order to buy poison
• it is illegal to sell poison, so Romeo bribes the apothecary with a proper amount of money
• just as Juliet did, Romeo speaks to the vial, declaring that he will kill himself at Juliet‘s grave

Function

• theme of fate
  
  • Romeo feels that fate has tried to separate him from Juliet
  • "Then I defy you, stars" - Romeo wants to defy that specific fate by committing suicide and thus being with Juliet forever
  • the decision to circumvent his own fate actually brings Romeo‘s fate about - it is him killing himself who ensures the double suicide

Scene 2

• Friar Lawrence talks to Friar John in his cell
• Friar John was supposed to deliver a letter to Romeo which was to inform him about Juliet‘s staged death
• due to an outbreak of plague, Friar John was not able to deliver the message
• Friar Lawrence realizes that since Romeo doesn‘t know about Juliet‘s fake death, he won‘t be there to retrieve her from the tomb and decides that he will have to retrieve her himself
• he sends another letter to Romeo, explaining what happened

Function

• theme of fate
  
  • the friar‘s plan is not supposed to go wrong but the plague thwarts his plans

Scene 3

• Paris is at Juliet‘s grave, adorning it with flowers; when he hears someone approaching he hides
• Romeo and Balthasar enter, Romeo claims that he wants to get a valuable ring from Juliet and he asks Balthasar to leave and to give Montague a letter that he had prepared
• Balthasar appears to leave, but stays hidden in order to watch out of curiosity
• Paris recognizes Romeo as Romeo, the murderer of Tybalt and indirectly of Juliet and thinks that he has come to dishonor either Tybalt‘s or Juliet‘s body
• enraged, Paris tries to intervene whatever Romeo is doing and Romeo begs him to leave
• a sword-fight between the two erupts and Romeo kills Paris whose last words are to be laid next to Juliet
• Romeo carries Paris into the tomb, sees Juliet and wonders why she can look so beautiful, almost as if she weren‘t dead at all
• he kisses Juliet, drinks the potion, kisses her again and then dies
• Friar Lawrence enters and finds Balthasar who tells him that Romeo is in Juliet‘s tomb
• in the tomb, the friar finds Paris‘ and Romeo‘s bodies just as Juliet wakes
• the watch approaches and Friar Lawrence informs Juliet about the deaths of both Paris and Romeo and he asks her to leave with him
• Juliet refuses and is left alone in the tomb
• seeing the dead Romeo, she also wishes to die and to join him in eternity and kisses him, hoping to die from the same poison that Romeo took
• noticing that the poison does not kick in, she grabs Romeo‘s dagger and stabs herself
• the watchmen notice the bloody scene and hold on to Balthasar and Friar Lawrence
• Prince Escalus and Capulet enter and the dead bodies of Paris, Romeo and Juliet are discovered in the tomb
• Montague also enters and explains that his wife has died of grief over Romeo‘s banishment; upon that, he is shown his son‘s body
• Friar Lawrence tells the story of Romeo and Juliet‘s falling in love with each other, of them secretly marrying and of the consequent events that have taken place
• the letter that Romeo had given Balthasar confirms the friar‘s recount
• the Prince holds the Montague and Capulet families responsible for the deaths of their children, and also of his two kinsmen Mercutio and Paris
• both Montague and Capulet agree to finally end their feud and claim that they will erect golden statues of Romeo and Juliet

Function

• Romeo and Juliet‘s double suicide has several functions
  
  • symmetrical death through poison
  • suicidal impulse as aspect of love
  • both protagonists want to live for love or die for it - since they are prevent from doing the first, the double suicide provides a convenient outlet for their dilemma
  • love as self-destructing force
  • Juliet attempts to kill herself through love by kissing Romeo and hoping that there might be some poison left on his lips
  • the happy dagger fulfills her wishes to be united with Romeo forever
  • ability to escape from an oppressing world through death
  • their suicide ends their families‘ feud once and for all
• Prince Escalus as embodiment of the law
  
  • finally restores peace
  • recognizes what Romeo and Juliet have done as honorable
• the statues as immortalizations of archetypes of true love