Tragedies • c. 1597
Romeo and Juliet: Modern English Translation & Study Guide
Two young star-crossed lovers from feuding Veronese families fall passionately in love, but their forbidden romance leads to untimely tragedy and the reconciliation of their bitter households.
Read Romeo and Juliet Side by Side
Every scene pairs the public-domain original with a line-matched, original modern-English paraphrase. Choose a scene below to begin reading.
- Act 1, Scene 0 line-by-line translation — PROLOGUE
- Act 1, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. Verona. A public place.
- Act 1, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. A street.
- Act 1, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. A room in Capulet's house.
- Act 2, Scene 0 line-by-line translation — PROLOGUE
- Act 2, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. A lane by the wall of Capulet's orchard.
- Act 2, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. Capulet's orchard.
- Act 2, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. Friar Laurence's cell.
- Act 3, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. A public place.
- Act 3, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. Capulet's orchard.
- Act 3, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. Friar Laurence's cell.
- Act 3, Scene 4 line-by-line translation — SCENE IV. A room in Capulet's house.
- Act 4, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. Friar Laurence's cell.
- Act 4, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. Hall in Capulet's house.
- Act 4, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. Juliet's chamber.
- Act 4, Scene 4 line-by-line translation — SCENE IV. Hall in Capulet's house.
- Act 5, Scene 1 line-by-line translation — SCENE I. Mantua. A street.
- Act 5, Scene 2 line-by-line translation — SCENE II. Friar Laurence's cell.
- Act 5, Scene 3 line-by-line translation — SCENE III. A churchyard; in it a tomb belonging to the Capulets.
Romeo and Juliet study pathways
Related across the Shake Up Network
Extend this play’s ideas through a connected subject lens.
- Attachment, conflict & adolescent choice — Shake Up Psychology
Study how identity, group loyalty, and emotional intensity sharpen the play’s tragic conflict. - Fate, providence & sacred language — Shake Up Theology
Trace the play’s religious imagery and its competing ideas of fate, choice, and reconciliation.
Original text source: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, MIT HTML edition. MIT states that its HTML versions of the plays are placed in the public domain.