Death Brings Peace

Act 5 Scene 3:

Oh my! The sadness just doesn't stop. I was away in my room, trying to sleep, but thoughts of Juliet kept racing through my mind. So I was just lying there. Lord and Lady Capulet knocked and asked if I was awake. I told them yes and asked them to enter. That's when they relived that nights story.

Where do I start? Apparently Paris died tonight, along with Romeo and Juliet (she wasn't actually dead before, but I'll get to that later). Friar Lawrence told everyone about Romeo and Juliet's deep love for each other and about their secret marriage. That news was no surprise to me, because I already knew that. The rest of this story is new to me, so listen closely. Juliet then went to Friar Lawrence and asked him for a poison so she could kill herself. The Friar had another plan for her, to stage a fake death so Romeo could come and rescue her and then the two of them could run off and be together. I'm guessing Juliet went to him the day after Romeo spent the night. Oh, I almost forgot! That's when Lord and Lady Capulet told Juliet they were going to disown her if she didn't marry Paris. She didn't seem to happy when I advised her to marry Paris. Now that they mentioned it, Juliet did seem rather cheerful when she came home from shrift. Oh my! I could have prevented this. If only she had trusted me and told me of her plan, I could've helped! So anyway, you know the part about Juliet "dying." Well, apparently she wasn't really dead, just under a sleeping potion! I should've known; but with my old age I can't tell a bird from a butterfly. So the buried Juliet in the Capulet vault.

This is where it gets interesting. Romeo's servant, Balthasar, said he was the one who told Romeo of Juliet's death. The Friar was supposed to deliver Romeo a letter about the plan, but I guess he never received it, or the outcome would have been a lot different. So Romeo, oh sweet Romeo, with all of his love for Juliet, decided he could not live without Juliet in this world. Romeo bought a potion from some apothecary and started back to Verona to go to Juliet's tomb. As Romeo entered the vault, he encountered County Paris leaving Juliet flowers. It is odd that Paris was there. Juliet and Paris had never even met and he was going to visit Juliet's grave? Oh well. Then Romeo killed Paris. It seems that Romeo doesn't know his own strengths, killing both Tybalt and Paris.

Anyway, when the Friar finally got to the vault, Romeo had already taken the potion and was dead. That's when Juliet awoke from her deep sleep and saw Romeo dead on the ground. Poor Juliet, her husband dead on the floor! Juliet told Friar Lawrence she would not live without him. So Juliet stabbed herself.

Two innocent children died this evening, all in spite of their parents hate for each other. I'm still in disbelief of this great tragedy. It just goes to show that a hate between two people can affect so many people in the community. I have lost my dearest friend, Juliet, as well as her husband. May her and my daughter rest in heaven together.

Dead, She's Dead!

Act 4 Scene 5:

Oh my! Oh my! I still can't believe it's true! Dead, Juliet, dead! It's hard to tell the story without waterfalls of tears spilling from my eyes.

It was sunrise when I entered her room. It was her wedding day and she needed to arise and get ready for the ceremony. I called her name several times, so I thought she was stirring. I made some jokes about Paris planning their first nights together. I didn't hear a sound out of her, which was odd because she usually giggles at my jokes. I finally went over to her bed and saw her dressed in her clothing from the previous night. Ay me! Dead, she was. I immediately called for Lady Capulet. She was so busy, but when she saw the frozen body of her one and only daughter, tears gushed from her eyes as well. Oh my poor Lady. She also lost her only child. I can relate to her; my own daughter died when she was a little girl, but of course Lady Capulet probably wouldn't have remembered that at a time like this.

Then Lord Capulet came in. He was speechless. He started blubbering on about a flower and something else, but I could not listen to these soft spoken words; I was so pain driven that my poor Juliet was dead. Oh, how I wasted my last minutes with her. If only I had known. Then County Paris and the rest of the guests started arriving. How awful them seeing her like that. That was no way for them to remember her. Paris, that buffoon! He was playing his part well, saying that he was so upset that his wife was dead. Yeah right. He was just upset that he had no one to sleep with! Ha! He barely knew the girl. Heck, had they even talked for more than a minute? Oh well, I must not criticize him. Lord and Lady Capulet each said a little speech about how they were so upset. I find it kind of ironic, they were the ones who truly brought about this death. I know the real reason she died, or maybe even killed herself! She told me she would rather die then not be with Romeo. Oh dear. I saw this coming, I could've done something to prevent this! Oh!

Between all of the sobbing, Friar Lawrence stepped in with some of his great wisdom. He told us that it was her destiny and that she is now up in heaven with the greater power. He ordered us all to take Juliet's body down to the church where they would have a proper funeral for her. I can't believe this happened. But wait a moment, how will Romeo find out about this tragic event? Someone must tell him! I bet the Friar will send him a letter since they are like father and son. I will hope that Romeo does not do anything too rash.

I will not sleep tonight knowing my Juliet lies dead. I pray to the starry skies.

A Dear Friend Has Been Killed!

Act 3 Scene 2:

A terrible tragedy happened tonight! Tybalt, the cousin of Juliet, was killed by Romeo, her new husband! I had to go tell Juliet this terrible news. I entered her room and she pounced on me and questioned me about what had happened. The tears were gushing out of my eyes and all I could say was "he's dead." I then told her I couldn't believe it was Romeo! I described the event to her and she got extremely emotional about it. My tears were drowning my hears and I could not really hear what Juliet was saying, but I did manage to hear her say something about her broken heart. I knew she and Tybalt were close, but his death broke her heart? I was quite confused at this. I told her Tybalt was one of my best friends, one of the only honest and true gentleman I knew. Then Juliet asked who was dead, Romeo or Tybalt? I told her Tybalt was murdered by Romeo. I also told her the Prince banished Romeo from Verona and is never allowed to come back.

Juliet was in a state of great confusion at this point. She was so upset her cousin was dead and even more upset that her newly wed husband was the one who had killed him. She kept referring to Romeo and many oppositional words, like an honorable villain and what not. As following Juliet's footsteps, I also spoke ill of him. Oh, but she would have none of that! She criticized herself for speaking ill of her husband. With Romeo being banned, her husband would not be allowed to be with her. Poor girl. Juliet was so upset her husband had been banished before Romeo could take her maidenhead. Her first love being taken away, it's just so sad.

I then remembered where Romeo was hiding for the time being, Friar Lawrence's cell! I thought of a brilliant, yet risky idea. I would go find Romeo and get him to say his last goodbyes to Juliet. Before I set off, Juliet gave me a ring to give her husband. The ring was to represent their love. So I left my sweet girl, crying on her bead, alone. I hated to it to her, but I had to go out and find Romeo.

And the love begins...

Act 2 Scenes 2 and 4:

Where do I begin? Last night after the ball, I went straight upstairs to get Juliet ready for bed. As I knocked on her door, there was no reply. It was quite odd. Figuring she was already in bed after having such a busy night, I entered. She was not in her room, so I again assumed she was out on her balcony. I did not want to intrude on her deep thoughts, so I called out her name. Oh yes, she was out on the balcony. My hearing is growing faint, but it did sound like she was talking to someone. It was getting late and she really needed to proceed to bed, so I called again. She seemed quite agitated at me, yelling "anon!" Finally she came back inside and told me she needed to say one last prayer. I'm a deep believer in praying, so of course, I let her go on and say her last prayer. It took her long enough! She finally came inside after what seemed like ages! Oh, but how she was in a daze. I had never seen her look like this before. Her eyes were twinkling like the stars and her cheeks had a bright tint to them. That was the sign of true love. I questioned her, asking if anyone else was out there with her. Poor Juliet can't lie on her life! Sweet girl, she told me everything that happened! The part about Romeo overhearing her deepest thoughts to them sharing one final kiss before she reappeared in her room. Young love is always the dearest.

Juliet uttered that she loved him. Those words came as a shock to me. They had known each other for nearly a couple of hours, and they had fallen in love? I mean I guess I can relate, my dear husband fell in love at first sight. Oh God rest his soul! Anyway, I could tell she meant it. While telling her story, she told me that Romeo was to tell her whether he wanted her hand in marriage. That's when Juliet asked me to go out to the town square tomorrow and receive Romeo's response. I told her I would, but she needed to sleep.

Now this morning I went into the town square and tried to find Romeo. I walked around aimlessly thinking of places where he would be at this hour. I came across what seemed to be some Montague boys. At first, I did not see Romeo with them, but them I saw him galloping toward the other young men. So I walked towards them, when one of them said something quite rude; he was told me "the dial is upon the prick of noon!" I'm not one to judge about sexual jokes, but saying them to an elderly lady is quite rude! I tried to ignore them and went ahead and asked for Romeo. The same young man was obviously saying some rude comments, but I did not understand him. I probably wouldn't have wanted to understand him either. So anyway, the other men left and the young Romeo and myself were left alone to talk. I first scolded him for the other man's behavior, then I told him it would be a bad idea to set my dear Juliet up for heart break.

Romeo reassured me of his love for Juliet and told me to find a way for Juliet to attend shrift today, in order for the two to get married. He also gave me some money to buy a ladder for him to secretly meet with Juliet tonight. I bid him good night and returned to my Juliet. We'll see how this secret marriage of theirs ends up...

What A Night

Act 1 Scene 5:

Last night was the big ball. Juliet was to dance with County Paris, her soon to be husband. I wanted to see their interactions, but of course, I was sent to help with the guests. When I was serving Lord and Lady Capulet, Tybalt arrived. For some reason he seemed angry. I couldn't help my nosy self, so I listened intently to the conversation between Lord Capulet and Tybalt. Tybalt was ranting about some boy who crashed the party. Oh, but Lord Capulet would have none of it! He told Tybalt to either calm down or to leave the party immediately. I don't usually care for Lord Capulet, but he acted quite nobly.

Anyway, I left the party for some time to help in the kitchen. When I came back up, I saw Juliet talking with some young man. I assumed it was County Paris, I mean who else could it be? Juliet seemed quite happy; her cheeks were a rosy red, and I knew she was in love. I was so happy for her, she finally found a nice young man. Lady Capulet found me and told me to get Juliet for her. I did not want to interrupt Juliet and her fellow man, but Lady Capulet made it sound urgent. So I approached the two and told Juliet that her mother awaited her. The gentleman seemed quite confused. He even asked me who her mother was! How did he not know? It was then that I realized that it was not County Paris she was dancing with, rather Romeo of the house of Montague. Then Romeo left with a group of his friends, probably going out to cause a raucous.

Juliet then called me over and asked me who the gentleman she was dancing with was? I also told her he was a Montague and Juliet was outraged! She said something about loving him. She's only known him for about ten minutes and she says she loves him? Ah, the young children these days with their warped sense of love.

Dear Juliet Has A Suitor

Act 1 Scene 3:

Today was interesting. Lady Capulet summoned Juliet and ordered me to leave the room. The look on her face was obvious that she was going to talk to Juliet about something uncomfortable. I knew I would be needed there to break the ice. So I leisurely strolled out of the room, and moments later was beckoned to come back. Of course she needed me there; I practically raised the girl! I remember thirteen years ago when she was born; she was sucking the milk from my breast by the dove house wall.

Anyway, Lady Capulet told Juliet that County Paris wished to marry her. Boy, I was not expecting that one. Like I said, Juliet's not even fourteen yet and she plans on getting married?!? Juliet didn't say much about the topic, but the look in her eye told me she did not want to get married to him. County Paris is a beautiful looking man, but that isn't enough for my dear Juliet. She needs a man who will do anything for her and who loves her passionately. Well, Lady Capulet kept saying something about a book. Who knows what she was talking about, because I sure had no clue. All I kept imagining was Juliet becoming pregnant, because that always happens with men. They only want to do it with you.

Oh well. Lady Capulet was sure fond of this idea. She told Juliet that County Paris was coming to the party and that she should get to know him for more than his looks. I know Juliet and this plan will not go far. But what do I know, I'm just a nurse.