KEY

Romeo-
Juliet-
Friar Lawrence-
Montague
Lady Montague
Capulet
Lady Capulet
The Nurse
Tybalt
Mercuito
Benvolio
Prince Escalus
Paris
Balthasar
Sampson
Gregory
Abraham
The Apothecary
Peter
Rosaline
Friar John
The Chorus

Act One Scene One

Sampson-Gregory, I promise you, we can’t let them humiliate us. We

will not take their garbage.
Gregory-No, because then we would be trash men.
Sampson-I mean, that if they make us mad, then we can pull out our
swords.
Gregory-Maybe, you should try to stay out of trouble, Sampson
Sampson-I rebel when I am mad.
Gregory-We both know how hard it is to make you mad.
Sampson-Those dogs (people)at the Montague home can make me
mad.
Gregory-Mad enough to run away? Not to stay and fight?
Sampson-They would make me mad enough to take a stand. If I should
pass them on the street, I would scoot next to the wall and let them
walk in the gutter.
Gregory-Then you are the weak one, because only the weak get
pushed up against the wall.
Sampson-You are right. That is why girls get pushed up against the
wall, because they are weak. So I will push the Montague men into the
street, and the women up against the wall.
Gregory-The fight is between our masters, and we who work for them.
Sampson-Oh it’s all the same. I will be a harsh master to them. After I
fight the men, I will be nice to the women; I will cut off their heads.
Gregory-Cut off their heads? Oh you mean their virginity
(maidenheads.)
**Translation into plain English-With help and guidelines from:
NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet, Sparknotes**
 Sampson-Cut off their heads, take their maidenheads, whatever. Take
what I said in any sense you like.
Gregory-The women you rape will have to “sense” it.
Sampson-They will feel me as long as I can keep an erection (able to
stand.) Plus everybody knows that I am a good looking guy.
Gregory-It’s a good thing you are not a fish. You are all dried and
shriveled like a salted fish. (joking about Sampson’s private parts).
***Abram(Abraham), Romeo’s servant, enters with another Montague
servant***
Gregory-Pull out your tool, these guys are from the Montague home.
Sampson-I have my naked sword out. You fight and I will back you up.
Gregory-How will you back me up? By running away?
Sampson-Oh don’t worry about me.
Gregory-No, I really am worried about you!
Sampson-Well, let’s not break the law by starting a fight. Let them
start something.
Gregory-Then I will frown at them when they pass by, and they can
react however they want.
Sampson-Don’t you mean however they dare. I will bite my thumb at
them. That is an insult, so if they let me go on, then they will be
dishonored.
Abram-Hey, are you biting your thumb toward us?
Sampson-Well I am biting my thumb.
Abram-Are you biting you thumb at us?
Sampson-(to Gregory)Is the law on our side if I say yes?
Gregory-(to Sampson)No, it is not.
Sampson-(to Abram)No, I am not biting my thumb at you, but yes, I am
biting my thumb.
Gregory-Are you trying to start a fight?
Abram-Start a fight? No, I am not.
Sampson-Well if you want to fight, I am your guy. My master is as good
as your’s
Abram-Yes, but he is not better than mine.
Sampson-Well then.
***Benvolio, Romeo’s cousin and thoughtful friend, enters***
Gregory-(whispering to Sampson)Say “better.” Here comes one of the
Montague relatives.
Sampson-(to Abram)Yes, “better.”
Abram-You liar.
Sampson-Then pull out your swords, if you are men. Gregory, do you
remember how to slash.
***They Fight***
Benvolio-(pulling out his sword)Break it up here, you fools. Now put
your swords away. You don’t know what you are doing.
***Tybalt, Juliet’s Cousin, enters***
Tybalt-What is this? You pulled your sword out to fight with these lowly
servants? Why don’t you turn around Benvolio, and look at the man
that’s going to kill you.
Benvolio-I am only trying to keep the peace. So either put away your
sword, or use it to help me stop this stupid fight.
**Translation into plain English-With help and guidelines from:
NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet, Sparknotes**
 Tybalt-What’s that? You take your sword, and then talk about peace? I
hate the word peace as I hate hell, all Montagues, and you.
***Benvolio and Tybalt fight. Three or four Citizens of the watch enter
with clubs and spears.***
Citizens-Use your clubs and spears! Hit them! Beat them down! Down
Capulets! Down Montagues!
***Capulet enters in his gown, with his wife, Lady Capulet***
Capulet-What is with this noise? Give me my long sword! Come on!
Lady capulet-A crutch, what you need is a crutch.Why are you asking
for a sword?
***Montague enters with his sword drawn, with his wife, Lady
Montague.***
Capulet-I want my sword! Old Montague is here, and he is waving is
sword around in the air, just to make me mad!
Montague-Capulet, you villan! (his wife holding him back,) Don’t stop
me. Let me go.
Lady Montague-You are not taking a single step toward any enemy.
Prince- Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, Profaners of this
neighbour-stained steel,-- Will they not hear? What, ho! you men, you
beasts, That quench the fire of your pernicious rage With purple
fountains issuing from your veins, On pain of torture, from those
bloody hands Throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground, And
hear the sentence of your moved prince. Three civil brawls, bred of an
airy word, By thee, old Capulet, and Montague, Have thrice disturb'd
the quiet of our streets, And made Verona's ancient citizens Cast by
their grave beseeming ornaments, To wield old partisans, in hands as
old, Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd hate: If ever you
disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.
For this time, all the rest depart away: You Capulet; shall go along with
me: And, Montague, come you this afternoon, To know our further
pleasure in this case, To old Free-town, our common judgment-place.
Once more, on pain of death, all men depart. Exeunt all but
MONTAGUE, LADY MONTAGUE, and BENVOLIO
Montague-Who started this fight? Nephew, were you here when it
started?
Benvolio-Well your servants were fighting the enemy’s servants before
I got here. I pulled out my sword to stop them. Though then that stupid
Tybalt showed up with his sword ready. He was taunting me and
waved his sword around, making the air whirl. As we traded blows,
more and more people started showing up, until then the Prince came
and broke everyone up.
Lady Montague-Well, where is Rome? Have you seen him today. I’m
glad he missed the fight.
Benvolio- Madam, my thoughts were swirling in my head an hour
before dawn, so I went for a walk. Under the Sycamore grove on the
west side of the city, I saw Romeo taking an early walk himself. When I
walked toward him he saw me and hid in the woods. I assumed he was
feeling the way I was, and wanted to be alone, tired of his own
company. I figured he was avoiding me, and I was happy to leave him
alone and keep to myself.
**Translation into plain English-With help and guidelines from:
NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet, Sparknotes**
 Montague-He has been seen there many morinigs, adding tears to the
dew and making a cloudy day cloudier with his sighs.Though as soon
as the sun rises over east, my son comes home escaping from the
light. He locks himself in his room and , shuts his windows keeping the
beautiful sunlight out, he makes an artificial night. This mood of his is
going to bring bad news, unless somebody smart can fix what’s
bothering him so much.
Benvolio –My uncle, do you know why he is acting like this?
Montague-I have no idea, and he will not tell me.
Benvolio-Have you done everything in your power to make him tell you
the reason?
Montague-I have tried and so have many of our friends, just to get him
to talk, but he keeps his thoughts to himself. He doesn’t want any
friends but himself, and though I don’t know if he is a good friend to
himself, but he certainly keeps his own secrets. He is like a flower that
won’t blossom to the world, because it’s been poisioned by paristies
from the inside. If only we could find out why he is sad,we would be as
eager to help him as we were to learn of his reason for sadness.
***Romeo enters.***
Benvolio-Look, here he comes. If you wouldn’t mind, please step aside.
He will either have to tell me what is wrong or else continue to tell me
no over and over again.
Montague-I hope you are lucky enough to hear the true story from him
by sticking around. (to his wife)-Come madam, let’s go.
***Montauge and Lady Montauge exit.***
Benvolio-Good morning my cousin.
Romeo-Is it still that early in the day?
Benvolio-It’s only nine o’clock now.
Romeo-Oh my, time goes by real slowly when you’re sad. Hey, was
that my father that my father who left here in a hurry?
Benvolio-Is was. So what is making you so sad and your hours so long?
Romeo-I do not have that thing that makes time fly.
Benvolio-You are in love?
Romeo-Out.
Benvolio-Out of love?
Romeo-I love someone. She does not love me.
Benvolio-It is sad. Love looks like it is a nice thing, but it is really very
rough when you experience it.
Romeo-What is sad is that love is supposed to be blind, but yet it can
still make you do whatever it wants. So them, where should we eat?
(seeing blood) Oh my! Well what fight happened here? No, do not tell
me, I know all about it. This fight had a lot to do with hate, but it has
more to do with love. O brawling love! O loving hate! Love that comes
from nothing! Sad happiness! Serious fulishness! Beautiful things are
muddled together into an ungly mess! Love is heavy and light, light
and dark, hot and cold, ill and healthy, asleep and awake, it is
everything except what it is! For this is the love I feel, though no one
loves me back. Are you laughing?
Benvolio-No, my cousin, I am crying.
Romeo-Good dear, why are you crying?
**Translation into plain English-With help and guidelines from:
NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet, Sparknotes**
 Benvolio-I am crying because of how sad you are.
Romeo-Yes, this is what love does. My sadness sits heavy in my chest,
and now you want to add your own sadness to my own so there’s even
more. I have too much sadness already, and now you’re going to make
me even sadder by feeling sorry for you. Here is what love is: a smoke
made out of lovers’ sighs. When the smoke then clears, love is a fire
burning in your lover’s eyes. If you frustrate love, you get an ocean
made out of lover’s tears. What else then is love? It’s a wise form of
madness. It is a sweet lozenge the we choke on. Goodbye to you
cousin.
Benvolio-Wait, I will come with you. If you just leave me like this,
you’re doing me wrong.
Romeo-I am not myself. I am not here. This is not the Romeo you
know, he is somewhere else.
Benvolio-Now tell me seriously, who is the one you love?
Romeo-Seriously? You mean I should just groan and tell you?
Benvolio-Groan? No, no. But then tell me seriously who it is.
Romeo-You would not tell a sick man he “seriously” has to make his
own will, it would just make him worse. Seriously, cousin, I love a
woman.
Benvolio-I guessed that already when I guessed that you were in love.
Romeo-Then of course you were right on target. The woman I love is
beautiful.
Benvolio-A beautiful target is the one that always gets hit the fastest.
Romeo-Well, you’re not quite on target there. She refuses to be hit by
Cupid’s arrow. She is as clever as Diana, and shielded by the armor of
chasity. She can’t be touched by the weak and childish arrows of love.
She won’t listen to words of love, or let you look at her with loving
eyes, or open her lap to receive gifts of gold. She is rich in beauty, but
she is also poor, because when she dies her beauty will be destroyed
with her.
Benvolio-So she made a vow to be a virgin forever?
Romeo-Yes she has, and by keeping celibate she wastes her beauty. If
you starve yourself of sex you cannot ever have children, and so your
beauty is lost to future generations. She is too beautiful and too wise
to deserve heaven’s blessings by making my despair. She has sworn
off love, and that promise has left me physically alive, but dead, living
only to talk about it now.
Benvolio-Take my advice. Do not think about her
Romeo-Teach me to forget to think!
Benvolio-Do it by just letting your eyes wander freely. Look at other
beautiful girls
Romeo-That will only make me think more about how beautiful she is.
Beautiful women like to wear black masks over their faces, those black
masks only make us think about how beautiful they are underneath. A
man who goes blind can’t forget the precious eye sight he lost. Show
me a really beautiful girl. Her beauty is like a note telling me where I
can see someone more beautiful. Goodbye. You cannot teach me to
forget

**Translation into plain English-With help and guidelines from:

NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet, Sparknotes**
 Benvolio-I will show you how to forget, or else I will die owing you that
lesson.
***They Exit***
Act One Scene Two
Act One Scene Three
Act One Scene Four
Act One Scene Five
Act Two Scene One
Act Two Scene Two
Act Two Scene Three
Act Two Scene Four
Act Two Scene Five
Act Two Scene Six
Act Three Scene One
Act Three Scene Two
Act Three Scene Three
Act Three Scene Four
Act Three Scene Five
Act Four Scene One
Act Four Scene Two
Act Four Scene Three
Act Four Scene Four
Act Four Scene Five
Act Five Scene One
Act Five Scene Two
Act Five Scene Three

**Translation into plain English-With help and guidelines from:

NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet, Sparknotes**