Our Romeo and Juliet Story

Scene one

Friar Lawrence and Pairs enter.

Friar Lawrence - On Thursday, sir? That's very soon.

Paris - That's how my future father-in-law Capulet wants it, and I'm not dragging my feet.

Friar Lawrence - You say you don't know what the girl thinks. That's a rocky road to be riding. I don't like it.

Paris - She's grieving too much over the death of Tybalt. So I haven't had the chance to talk to her about love. Romantic love doesn't happen when people are in mourning. Now, sir, her father thinks it's dangerous that she allows herself to become so sad. He's being smart by rushing our marriage to stop her from crying. She cries too much by herself. If she had someone to be with her, she would stop crying. Now you know the reason for the rush.

Friar Lawrence - (to himself) I wish I didn't know the reason why the marriage should be slowed down. Look, sir, here comes the lady walking toward my cell.

Ciara enters.

Paris - I'm happy to meet you, my lady and my wife.

Ciara - That might be the case sir, after I'm married.

Paris - That "may be" must be, love, on Thursday.

Ciara - What must be will be.

Friar Lawrence - That is a certain truth.

Paris - Have you come to make confession to this father?

Ciara - If I answered that question, I'd be making confession to you.

Paris - Don't deny to him that you love me.

Ciara - I'll confess to you that I love him.

Paris - You will also confess, I'm sure, that you love me.

Ciara - If I do so, it will mean more if I say it behind your back than if I sat it to your face.

Paris - Your poor soul, your face has suffered many tears.

Ciara - The tears haven't done much because my face looked bad enough before I started to cry.

Paris - You're treating your face even worse by saying that.

Ciara - What I say isn't slander, sir. It's the truth. And what I said, I said to my face.

Paris - Your face is mine, and you have slandered it.

Ciara - That may be the case, because my face doesn't belong to me. Do you have time for me now, Father, or should I come to you at evening mass?

Friar Lawrence - I have time for you now, my sad daughter. (to Paris) My lord, we must ask you to leave us alone.

Paris - God forbid that I should prevent sacred devotion! Ciara, I will wake you early on Thursday. (kissing her) Until then, good-bye, and keep this holy kiss.

Paris exits.

Ciara - Oh, shut the door, and after you shut it, come over here and weep with me. This mess is beyond hope, beyond cure, beyond help!

Friar Lawrence - Oh, Ciara, I already know about your sad situation. It's a problem too hard for me to solve. I hear that you must marry this count on Thursday, and that nothing can delay it.

Ciara - Don't tell me that you've heard about this marriage, Friar, unless you can tell me how to prevent it. If you who are so wise can't help, please be kind enough to call my solution wise. (she shows him a knife) And I'll solve the problem now with this knife. God joined my heart to Romeo's. You joined our hands. And before I-who was married to Romeo by you- am married to another man, I'll kill myself. You are wise and you have so much experience. Give me some advice about the current situation. Or watch. Caught between these two difficulties, I'll act like a judge with my bloody knife. I will truly and honorably resolve the situation that you can't fix, despite your experience and education. Don't wait long to speak. I want to die if what you say isn't another solution.

Friar Lawrence - Hold on, daughter, I see some hope. But we must act boldly because the situation is so desperate. If you've made up your mind to kill yourself instead of marrying Count Paris, then you'll probably be willing to try something like death to solve this shameful problem. You can wrestle with death to escape from shame. And if you dare to do it, I'll give you the solution.

Ciara - Oh, you can tell me to jump off the battle posts of any tower, or to walk down the crime-ridden streets of a slum. Or tell me to sit in a field full of poisonous snakes. Chain me up with wild bears. Hide me every night in a morgue full of dead bodies with wet, smelly flesh and skulls without jawbones. Or tell me to climb down into a freshly dug grave, and hide me with a dead man in his tomb. All those ideas make me tremble when I hear them named. But I will do them without fear or dread in order to be a pure wife to my sweet love.

Friar Lawrence - Hold on, then. Go home, be cheerful, and tell them you agree to marry Paris. Tomorrow is Wednesday. Tomorrow night make sure that you are alone. Don't let the Nurse stay with you in your bedroom. (showing her a vial) When you're in bed, take this vial, mix its contents with liquor, and drink. Then a cold, sleep inducing drug will run through your veins, and your pulse will stop. Your flesh will be cold, and you'll stop breathing. The red in your lips and your cheeks will turn pale, and your eyes will shut. It will seem like you're dead. You won't be able to move, and your body will be stiff like a corpse. You'll remain in this deathlike state for forty-two hours, and then you'll wake up as if from a pleasant sleep. Now, when the bridegroom comes to get you out of bed on Thursday morning, you'll seem dead. Then, as tradition demands, you'll be dressed up in your best clothes, put in an open coffin, and carried to the Capulet family tomb. Meanwhile, I'll send Romeo word of our plan. He'll come here, and we'll keep a watch for when you wake up. That night, Romeo will take you away to Mantua. This plan will free you from the shameful situation that troubles you now as long as you don't change your mind, or become scared like a silly woman and ruin your brave effort.

Ciara - Give me the vial. Give it to me! Don't talk to me about fear.

Friar Lawrence - (Giving her the vial) Now go along on your way. Be strong and successful in this decision. I'll send a friar quickly to Mantua with my letter for Romeo.

Ciara - Love will give me strength, and strength will help me accomplish this plan. Goodbye, dear Father.

They exit separately.