Scene V of Romeo and Juliet
FINAL DRAFT

Scene V begins with a joyful Romeo who describes a dream he had the night before. In the dream, Juliet found him dead and she kissed him breathing life into his body. Then, Balthasar enters and Romeo tells him that he must have come from Verona with the news about Juliet. Balthasar tells Romeo that Juliet is well, for she’s in heaven and had been found dead in her home. Romeo cries out, “Then I defy you, stars.” He asks Balthasar to get him pen and paper and Romeo writes a letter for him to give to Montague. He also asks him to hire horses and tells Balthasar he’ll come back to Verona that night. Balthasar is afraid to leave Romeo because Romeo seemed incredibly distressed. Romeo tells him that he is fine. Once Balthasar is gone, Romeo says he will lie with Juliet that night. He goes to find someone who can sell him some poison and Romeo offers to pay him a hefty price that could not be refused. The man tells Romeo that selling poison in Mantua carries the death sentence and Romeo replies by saying the man is too poor to refuse the sale. He apprehensively sells the poison to Romeo. Romeo decides that he’ll go to Juliet’s tomb and kill himself. Earlier, Friar Laurence had sent Friar John to Mantua with a letter for Romeo. He speaks with Friar John and asks him how Romeo responded to the letter. The letter described the plan that Friar Laurence had come up with regarding Juliet’s false death. Friar John explains that he was unable to deliver the letter because he’d been shut up in a house due to an outbreak of plague. Friar Laurence gets upset knowing that if Romeo doesn’t know about Juliet’s false death, there won’t be anyone to get her out of the tomb when she wakes up. Friar Laurence decides that he’ll need to rescue Juliet from the tomb himself. He sends another letter to Romeo warning him about what has happened and decides he’ll keep Juliet in his cell until Romeo arrives. Paris and his servant go to Juliet’s tomb. There are flowers and sweet water strewn all over her tomb. His servant leaves and Paris mourns deeply for Juliet. The servant whistles, warning Paris that someone was coming. Paris hides and sees Romeo and his servant, Balthasar, enter the tomb. The servant is carrying a pickaxe, an iron rod and a torch. Romeo gives a letter to Balthasar for his father. He tells Balthasar he needs to open the tomb to retrieve a ring, which he was hoping would cause a diversion about what he was really planning to do. He gives Balthasar some money and Balthasar hides because he wants to see what Romeo is going to do. As Romeo begins to open the tomb, Paris comes out of hiding and tries to stop Romeo. They begin to fight. Paris’ servant calls for help, but while he’s gone trying to find help, Romeo kills Paris. While he’s dying, Paris asks Romeo to lay him in the tomb with Juliet. Romeo feels guilty when he realizes who Paris was, so he decides that he will grant his wish. However, when he catches a glimpse of Juliet, he’s overcome with her beauty. He promises never to leave her again and will be with her forever and ever in death. He then drinks the poison and dies. Friar Laurence enters the frightening scene and discovers the dead bodies of Romeo and Paris.