Evidence file: Verona under pressure

Use these details as a self-contained reminder of the play. The Montagues and Capulets are feuding families. Romeo and Juliet meet at a Capulet feast and fall in love, then secretly marry. Tybalt kills Mercutio; Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished. Juliet’s family plans her marriage to Paris. Friar Laurence’s plan depends on a message reaching Romeo, but the message fails. Romeo believes Juliet is dead and takes poison; Juliet wakes, finds him dead, and kills herself. The Prince condemns the feud, and the families agree to end it. Useful moments to consider: the lovers’ first meeting, the balcony scene, the secret marriage, the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt, Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris, and the final tomb scene.