Romeo And Juliet Summary Act 1

Benvolio and Mercutio walk on the street under the boiling sun. Tybalt enters with a group of cronies. He approaches Benvolio and Mercutio asking to speak with one of them. Annoyed, Mercutio begins to taunt him. As Romeo enters, Tybalt turns his attention to Romeo, and calls him a villain. However, since he is secretly married to Juliet, Tybalt is now Romeo’s kinsman. Therefore, Romeo refuses to be raged by Tybalt’s verbal attack. Tybalt demands Romeo to draw his sword, and fight him. Romeo refuses, and explains that he has a good reason to love Tybalt, and does not want to fight him. Mercutio decides to defend Romeo’s honor for him, and fights Tybalt. As Romeo attempts to break the fight, he comes in between the combatants. Tybalt stabs

Mercutio dies, cursing both the Montagues and Capulets with a plague, blaming the families for his tragic death. Romeo decides to fight Tybalt for the justice of his good friend, Mercutio and kills Tybalt, as a group of citizens witness the brawl. The outraged crowd begins to approach the scene. Benvolio suggests Romeo to run, and he flees the scene. Prince Escalus enters, accompanied by many citizens including the Montagues and Capulets. Benvolio tells the Prince the story of the brawl, emphasizing Romeo’s attempt to keep the peace. Lady Capulet accuses Benvolio of lying to protect the Montagues. She demands Romeo’s life, for the justice of her nephew. Instead, Prince Escalus chooses to exile Romeo from Verona, and if he is seen he will pay with his life. In the Capulet house, Juliet waits for nighttime to see Romeo. The nurse rushes in with the news of Romeo killing Tybalt. As

Lord Capulet says that because of the terrible recent events, he has had no time to ask his daughter about her feelings for Paris and the marriage proposal. Lady Capulet tells him that she will let him know of Juliet’s decision by morning. Capulet promises Paris that the wedding will be on Thursday. Just before dawn, Romeo lowers himself from Juliet’s window to begin his exile to Mantua. Juliet tells Romeo that he must flee before dawn approaches. Romeo promises Juliet that they will see one another again, and hurries away as Lady Capulet enters her room. Her mother mistakes her grief to be for her late cousin, Tybalt as her sadness is for Romeo. Lady Capulet changes the subject, and begins talking about Capulet’s plan for her to marry Count Paris on Thursday. Juliet is aghast and rejects the proposal, admitting that she would rather marry the villainous Romeo than Paris. Capulet enters her chamber, and learns of Juliet’s strong disagreement to marrying Paris. He becomes enraged, and threatens to disown Juliet if she does not obey him. When Juliet entreats her mother to intervene, her mother denies her help. Juliet asks the nurse to help her in this sticky situation. The nurse strongly advises her to just marry Paris because he is a better match than Romeo. Juliet is disgusted by her disloyalty and pretends to agree to her suggestion. Juliet hurries to the friar, vowing that she will never trust the nurse’s