Romeo and Juliet: ThemeTracker

The LitCharts ThemeTracker is a mini-version of the entire LitChart. The ThemeTracker provides a quick timeline-style rundown of all the important plot points and allows you to track the themes throughout the work at a glance.

	Prologue	The Chorus tells the basic plot of the play.
	1.1	The Montagues and Capulets brawl. Escalus pronounces death for any Montague or Capulet who fights in the future. Romeo tells Benvolio of his love for Rosaline.
	1.2	Capulet decides Juliet is too young to marry Paris, but invites Paris to the Capulet’s masquerade. Romeo and Benvolio learn of the masquerade. Benvolio suggests they crash the party to see Rosaline.
	1.3	Lady Capulet tells Juliet that Paris wants to marry her. Juliet is uninterested but dutiful.
	1.4	Romeo tells his friends that he dreamed that going to the masquerade will end badly Mercutio gives the “Queen Mab” speech.
	1.5	At the ball, Romeo spots Juliet and falls instantly in love. Tybalt recognizes Romeo and vows revenge. Romeo and Juliet meet, kiss, and only afterward learn each other’s identities.
	2.prol	The Chorus outlines the obstacles facing the young lovers.
	2.1	Romeo ditches Mercutio and Benvolio and sneaks through the Capulet garden to a spot beneath Juliet’s window. Romeo and Juliet vow their love for each other in the balcony scene. Romeo promises to marry Juliet.
	2.2	Friar Laurence meditates on moderation as the crucial thing in life. Romeo rushes in saying he wants to marry Juliet. Though skeptical at Romeo’s sudden switch from Rosaline to Juliet, the Friar agrees to marry them in hopes it will heal the Capulet/Montague feud.
	2.3	Mercutio and Benvolio discuss the fact that Tybalt has challenged Romeo to a dual. Romeo appears, and banters with Mercutio, but does not mention Juliet. The Nurse arrives. Romeo privately gives her instructions for the wedding.
	2.4	Juliet waits impatiently for the Nurse to return with news of the wedding plans.
	2.5	Romeo and Juliet are married.
	3.1	Tybalt challenges Romeo to dual. Romeo refuses to fight. Mercutio, furious, accepts the challenge. Tybalt kills Mercutio. Romeo kills Tybalt. Escalus banishes Romeo from Verona.
	3.2	Juliet learns that Romeo killed Tybalt. Though momentarily distraught, she soon realizes that her loyalties are with her husband.
	3.3	In Friar Laurence’s cell, Romeo threatens to kill himself when he hears he’s been banished. The Friar tells Romeo to spend the night with Juliet, then flee to Mantua until the marriage can be made public.
	3.4	Capulet decides to marry Juliet to Paris… in three days!
	3.5	Romeo and Juliet wake and for a while pretend it’s still night. But they can’t pretend for long, and Romeo leaves for Mantua. Lady Capulet tells Juliet of the planned marriage to Paris. Juliet refuses to marry him. Capulet threatens to disown her.
	4.1	At Friar Laurence’s, Juliet mocks Paris without him realizing it. Juliet tells Friar Laurence she is going to kill herself. Friar Laurence comes up with the sleeping potion plan.
	4.2	Juliet tells Capulet she’ll marry Paris. Capulet moves the wedding up another day.
	4.3	Juliet drinks the potion.
	4.4	The next morning, Juliet is discovered dead. The wedding becomes a funeral.
	5.1	Friar Laurence’s message fails to reach Romeo, who learns from Balthasar that Juliet has died. He buys poison from an apothecary.
	5.2	Friar Laurence learns his letter never reached Romeo.
	5.3	Romeo comes to Juliet’s tomb. He fights and kills Paris, then kisses Juliet, drinks the poison, and dies. Juliet wakes just before Friar Laurence arrives. She refuses to flee with the Friar. Juliet stabs herself and dies. The Montagues and Capulets end their feud.