Hello and welcome to "Read it and (Don't) Weep," the podcast that will help you breeze through your high school literature classes. Are you tired of struggling to understand the themes and characters in classic works of literature? Well, I’ve got you covered! I am your host, Jackey Taggart, and I taught high school English for almost 20 years. 

Join me each episode as I dive into the world of high school literature and break down the essential elements of each work. From Shakespeare to Steinbeck, I'll cover it all. My goal is to give you valuable insights and analysis on some of the most popular high school literary texts, as well as tips and tricks for acing your tests and essays.  Let’s start reading!

Well, we have made it to Act 5!  We are in the home stretch of the play, so let’s get started.  Act 5 is basically every possible thing that could go wrong, does, which of course brings about the tragic conclusion of the play. If you have not yet read up to this point in the play, it would be a good idea to get caught up with your reading and listen to my other episodes before continuing.

Act 5, Scene 1

Despite all of the tragic drama in Act 3 and 4, Act 5 opens with a feeling of optimism as Romeo, who is now in Maunta,  has a premonition of good news.  Romeo is discussing a recent dream, “My dreams presage some joyful news at hand.”  In his dream, Juliet finds him dead but kisses him, and he awakens. It kind of sounds like a Disney fairy tale, but part of the dream does foreshadow the tragic events to come. Remember back to Act 1 he was discussing his dreams with Mercutio, and he had the premonition that he shouldn't go to the Capulet ball because it would bring about his untimely death. Now, his dreams have the opposite effect. He feels like he is the king of the world, to reference another Leonardo DeCaprio movie, but this dream gives Romeo a false sense of hope.  Essentially, these dreams relate the play's themes of fate, destiny, star-crossed lovers, and the tragic consequences of the choices Romeo and Juliet make.

Back to the action. Romeo's servant, Balthasar, arrives from Verona with news. Unfortunately, it is not the letter from Friar Lawrence, which would have explained the situation in detail.  Friar John is supposed to be delivering this, but more on him in Scene 2.  Balthasar tells Romeo that Juliet is dead and has been laid to rest in the Capulet tomb. Of course, Romeo believes him as he has no reason to doubt his family’s servant. 

Overwhelmed with grief, Romeo makes a rash decision, not surprising considering all of Romeo’s decisions have been rash.  Rather than mourn Juliet's death, Romeo plans to reunite with her in death. Although he sees this as a triumph over fate, for the audience, this is the heart of the tragedy. Romeo plans to take his own life because he doesn't know that Juliet is going to wake up. He decides he cannot live without Juliet and plans to return to Verona to die by her side. He seeks out an apothecary. We would call this person a pharmacist, not a drug dealer. The apothecary is hesitant to sell Romeo anything at first, as selling poison is illegal in Mantua and punishable by death. However, Romeo convinces him by paying him a large sum of money. Since the apothecary is poor, he gives in and sells Romeo a potent poison.

With poison in hand, Romeo heads back to Verona and Juliet's tomb, to see her one last time, drink the poison, and join her in death.

We, as the audience are screaming out, No Don’t go back! Just wait! But impulsive Romeo waits for no one. He doesn’t seek out Friar Lawrence; he doesn’t pass go: he doesn’t collect $200.  

Act 5, Scene 2

On to Act 5, Scene 2, another short, but important scene.  Friar John, who I mentioned in scene 1, was supposed to deliver a letter to Romeo detailing Friar Lawrence’s plan to fake Juliet’s death. 

Friar John enters Friar Lawrence's cell to explain why he was unable to deliver the letter to Romeo in Mantua. Before leaving for Mantua, Friar John when to see another friar so he wouldn’t have to travel alone.  However, on his arrival at the friar’s home, Friar John was quarantined by the authorities when they suspected he was exposed to the plague, similar to the way we had to quarantine in place at the beginning of COVID. He was quarantined for 24 hours and then sent back to Verona without getting the message to Romeo. The authorities would also not let the possibly contaminated letter be delivered by another messenger. Essentially, Romeo has no idea what is going on as no one has been able to tell him about Juliet’s faked death. 

Great Scott! Realizing the gravity of the situation, Friar Lawrence becomes very alarmed. His entire plan centered on Romeo knowing  what was going on.  Since Romeo doesn’t know about Juliet’s fake death, he might do something impulsive, which Friar Lawernce knows this is something that Romeo would absolutely do. Friar Lawrence heads to Juliet's tomb himself. He needs to be there when she wakes up from her deep sleep, so he can protect her and hide her in his cell until Romeo can be contacted.

So, there's the second half of our tragedy. Romeo never gets the message that Juliet is in a fake death. He goes to the apothecary, buys himself the strongest poison he possibly can so that he can join her in death, and that is where we move into our last scene in the play. 

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Act 5, Scene 3

Lastly, Act 5, Scene, tragic culmination of a series of unfortunate events and misunderstandings that keep our star-crossed lovers apart. 

This final scene takes place in the churchyard and moves into the Capulet’s tomb. Paris and his page enter the churchyard because Paris has come to bring flowers and weep at Juliet's grave. He orders his page to keep watch and whistle if anyone approaches.

Romeo and his servant, Balthasar, arrive. Romeo gives Balthasar a letter and instructs him to deliver it to his father, Lord Montague, the next day. Romeo then orders Balthasar to leave him alone, but Balthasar hides nearby, worried about Romeo. 

As Romeo approaches Capulet’s tomb, Paris's page whistles to warn him. Paris recognizes Romeo and believes he's come to do harm to the bodies of the Capulets. They fight, and Romeo kills Paris. As Paris dies, he asks to be laid next to Juliet.

Romeo, then, breaks into the Capulet’s tomb to find Tybalt's and Juliet's bodies. He mourns Juliet, believing her to be dead. In his speech, Romeo notes that death may have sucked the life out of Juliet but not her beauty, as her lips and cheeks shine with crimson. Juliet is waking up, which is why her lips and cheeks are pinking up again. That's the dramatic irony. The audience knows Juliet is waking up, and Romeo just needs to wait. But he doesn't. He drinks the poison, kisses Juliet one last time, and dies next to her. “O true apothecary! / Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.”

At this point, Friar Lawrence arrives in the churchyard and speaks with Balthazar, who tells him that Romeo has been in the tomb about a half hour.  He enters the tomb to search for Romeo and Juliet. 

Meanwhile, after Romeo has taken the poison and died, Juliet awakens to find him dead beside her. Friar Laurence arrives, having come to the tomb after learning that Romeo never received his letter explaining Juliet's plan. He tries to persuade Juliet to leave the tomb, but she refuses. Juliet realizes that Romeo has killed himself. She realizes that he didn't get the message that she was going to be waking back up. His lips are still warm, and she realizes that he has just killed himself and didn't leave any friendly little drop for her to join him in death. She grabs Romeo’s dagger but hears noise just outside. She says, “Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger! / This is thy sheath, there rust, and let me die.” And dies next to her Romeo. 

The Watchmen arrive, having been alerted by Paris’ page, and find Paris and Romeo dead, and Juliet's dead body bleeding and newly dead. The Watchmen find it unusual that her dead body is now bleeding, so they call for Prince Escalus, the Capulets, and the Montagues to come to the tomb.

Once everyone arrives, Friar Lawrence explains the tragic turn of events,  and Prince Escalus realizes that he should have put a stop to the hostility long ago. He pardoned the families too many times, and now they've all received their punishment. They need to deal with the death of so many of their kinsmen and their children. That is ultimately where the play ends, and the tragedy of all these deaths, including our star-crossed lovers, concludes. “For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

As you finish your reading, think about when Shakespeare wrote his plays. Despite being written over 400 years ago, many people believe the themes and situations in "Romeo and Juliet" are still relevant today. There are many modern adaptations of Romeo and Juliet including:

·       Baz Luhrmann’s version of Romeo and Juliet using the original text in a modern setting

·       Stephen Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story which replaces the Capulets and Montagues with rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. 

·       Gnomeo and Juliet which is an animated film featuring garden gnomes.

·       Warm Bodies, both a novel and a film, is a zombie-themed romantic comedy drawing inspiration from Shakespeare’s play. 

·       Taylor Swift’s song “Love Story” which provides a happier ending to the play

·       Romeo and Juliet: Love is a Battlefield which is a rock musical that features the music of Pat Benatar. 

Why are Shakespeare’s themes in Romeo and Juliet still so relatable to modern audience? Can you think of any other modern stories (movies, books, TV shows) that have elements similar to "Romeo and Juliet"? Explain.

Take a few minutes to jot down your ideas in your reading journal before completing the play.  

And there you have it, the Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. I hope you enjoyed this series. If so, please subscribe to my show so you will be notified of new episodes. Tune in next time when I begin discussing a new piece of classic literature.

Ending

Thanks for listening to this episode of Read it and (Don’t) Weep. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you will be notified when new episodes are released. If you liked today’s show, please leave a review so others can discover my show.  If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, drop me an email at readitanddontweep@gmail.com, or reach out to me on social media. I would love to hear from you. The links are in the show notes.  

Thank you for listening.  I am Jackey Taggart and remember to Read It and Don’t Weep. 

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