Scene 1

• Benvolio and Mercutio wander the streets, Benvolio suggests to go inside since he fears they might encounter Capulets
• Tybalt approaches them with a group of men, Mercutio provokes him
• Romeo enters and is called a villain by Tybalt
• Romeo refuses to be provoked by Tybalt, being one of his kinsman now due to his secret marriage with Juliet
• Tybalt wants to fight Romeo who protests
• in Romeo‘s stead, Mercutio draws his sword
• looking to negotiate between the two, Romeo intervenes just as Tybalt stabs Mercutio and Mercutio falls
• Mercutio dies, cursing both the Capulet and Montague families
• Tybalt enters the scene again, a duel between Romeo and him erupts and Romeo kills Tybalt as revenge for Mercutio‘s death
• Romeo flees when Prince Escalus enters
• Lady Capulet demands Romeo‘s death, but he is exiled by Prince Escalus

Function

• despite the issues of love and romance, the play still takes place in a male-dominated world
  
  • notions of pride, honor and status
  • passion forces Tybalt to kill Mercutio, and also forces Romeo to take revenge
  • fragile romance between Romeo and Juliet seems at risk in the masculine world
• difference between Romeo and Mercutio
  
  • Romeo blames fate for him being exiled
  • Mercutio blames the families who have brought this destiny upon all of them, he doesn‘t give credit to a higher authority
• the duality of the true Romeo
  
  • for Mercutio, it is the Romeo that duels with Tybalt
  • for Juliet, it is the Romeo who tries to avoid conflicts
• Prince Escalus as the preventer of Romeo‘s and Juliet‘s love

Scene 2

• Juliet is made aware of the fight between Romeo and Tybalt by her Nurse
• once again, the Nurse is so distraught that she makes it sound as if Romeo is dead
• Juliet considers committing suicide
• however, the Nurse finally gets the story right, Juliet learns that Romeo has been exiled and that Tybalt is dead
  
  • Juliet is furious with Romeo but soon regrets faulting him
  • takes the side of her husband
  • Romeo‘s exile is worse for her than her cousin‘s death
• Juliet fears that Romeo might never come back but the Nurse assures her that she will make sure Romeo will come to their wedding night
• Juliet gives her a ring to give to Romeo

Function

• love between Romeo and Juliet is tested
• theme of suicide
  
  • first, Juliet believes that Romeo has committed suicide
  • believing that, Juliet wants to kill herself as well
  • suicide is portrayed as the only possible solution to the troubles of being young and in love

Scene 3

• Romeo is located in Friar Lawrence‘s cell and wonders about his punishment by Prince Escalus
• when Friar Lawrence explains that Romeo has just been banished, Romeo feels that this sentence is much worse than death having to live a life without Juliet
• Romeo collapses and when the Nurse enters to bring news from Juliet he believes that she will judge him as a murderer and thus, he wants to stab himself
• Friar Lawrence is much more rational, telling Romeo that he should be lucky that he and Juliet are still alive
• advice from Friar Lawrence: Romeo should spend the wedding night with Juliet and escape to Mantua and stay there until the news of their marriage has spread
• the Nurse hands Romeo Juliet‘s ring, the physical symbol of their love and Romeo becomes more hopeful

Function

• reaction upon hearing of his exile
  
  • Romeo is grief-stricken, his passion emerges and he collapses on the floor
  • rather exaggerated with regard to him actually still being alive despite his murder of Tybalt
• threat of suicide
  
  • foreshadows future events

Scene 4

• Capulet, Lady Capulet and Paris take a walk
• they talk about the possible marriage and that Juliet has not yet mentioned any thoughts upon that
• Capulet doesn‘t really care about his daughter‘s feelings, claiming that she will have to abide by his decision
• the wedding of Paris and Juliet will be held on Wednesday which is only two days left
• being too soon, Capulet postpones the wedding to Thursday

Function

• reasons for moving up the date of the wedding
  
  • lightening up Juliet‘s mood (although she is sad about her husband‘s banishment and not about her cousin‘s death
  • bringing hope and joy into a gloomy time
  • political reasons: strengthening ties to Prince Escalus, since Paris is one of his kinsman
• portrayal of the powerlessness of women

Scene 5

• Romeo and Juliet have spent the night together and Juliet does not want Romeo to leave, bringing up all sorts of reassurements that the time has not yet come
• Romeo decides to stay, ignoring the fact that if he will be found, he will be killed
• then again, Juliet changes her mind and begs Romeo to flee
• the Nurse warns of Lady Capulet‘s approach and Romeo swears his love to Juliet in the orchard and that they will see each other again
• Juliet notices Romeo‘s paleness and compares it to the skin colour of a body
• Juliet is pale herself
• Romeo flees and Juliet begs the fate for their soon reunion
• Lady Capulet tells Juliet about her wedding with Paris on Thursday
• Juliet refuses to marry Paris, claiming that she would rather marry Romeo - who she hates - than Paris
• Capulet enters and threatens to disown Juliet if she won‘t obey
• her mother does not help Juliet in swaying her father
• Juliet is desperate and asks for the Nurse‘s advice which is to marry Paris and to forget about Romeo
• disgust about her Nurse‘s disloyalty
• Juliet seems to agree to the Nurse‘s advice and claims she will have to make confession at Friar Lawrence‘s
• on her way there, she swears that she will take her life if Friar Lawrence will not be able to help her

Function

• characterization of Juliet
  
  • more pragmatic than Romeo as she tells him to leave in the morning
• recognition of the palor of both protagonists
  
  • foreshadowing the tragic end
  • Juliet already sees Romeo dead
• maturity of Juliet
  
  • her mother can‘t keep up with Juliet‘s intelligence and doesn‘t realize that Juliet tells her that she is in love with Romeo
  • realizes that her Nurse‘s advice is useless
  • step into womanhood by abandoning her Nurse and by maintaining her loyalty to her husband
• suicide as only control a woman has over her body and her life