Plot
In Verona, Italy, Romeo and Juliet, the teenage children of two feuding families (Montagues and Capulets, respectively), meet at a feast and fall in love. They are secretly married by Romeo's confessor and father figure, Friar Laurence, with the assistance of Juliet's nursemaid. Unfortunately, a street duel breaks out between Juliet's cousin Tybalt and Romeo's friend Mercutio when Tybalt insults Romeo. However, since Romeo has just been married to Juliet, he refuses to fight, leading Mercutio to be a loyal friend and fight for him. This leads to Mercutio's death. Romeo retaliates by fighting Tybalt and killing him, and is penalized by the Prince of Verona with banishment instead of a death penalty.
Unaware of Juliet's secret marriage, her father has arranged for her to marry wealthy Count Paris. In order to escape this arranged marriage and remain faithful to Romeo, Juliet consumes a potion prepared by Friar Laurence, intended to make her appear dead for 42 hours. Friar Laurence plans to inform Romeo of the hoax so that he can meet Juliet after her burial and escape with her when she recovers from her swoon, but the news of Juliet's death reaches Romeo before the friar's letter. In despair, he goes to the tomb and there drinks a poison, killing himself. Awakening shortly after he expires, Juliet discovers a dead Romeo and proceeds to stab herself with his dagger. Later, the two families attend their joint funeral together and agree to end the feud.
Read more about this topic: Romeo And Juliet (1968 film)
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
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—Jane Rule (b. 1931)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
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—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)