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Romeo and Juliet: The Trials of The Friar and The Nurse

The document describes a classroom activity where students will participate in mock trials of Friar Laurence and the Nurse for their roles in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. In the first trial, Friar Laurence is charged with manslaughter for providing Juliet with a potion that led to her death. In the second trial, the Nurse is charged with child abuse for her actions leading up to the tragedy. The document provides roles, instructions, witness statements, and other materials to structure the mock trials as a learning exercise for students to examine the culpability of these characters in Shakespeare's play.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
832 views17 pages

Romeo and Juliet: The Trials of The Friar and The Nurse

The document describes a classroom activity where students will participate in mock trials of Friar Laurence and the Nurse for their roles in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. In the first trial, Friar Laurence is charged with manslaughter for providing Juliet with a potion that led to her death. In the second trial, the Nurse is charged with child abuse for her actions leading up to the tragedy. The document provides roles, instructions, witness statements, and other materials to structure the mock trials as a learning exercise for students to examine the culpability of these characters in Shakespeare's play.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
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Romeo and Juliet The Trials

The Trials of the Friar and the Nurse


This GCSE speaking and listening activity can be assessed for a number of criteria –
group discussion ‘analyse’ for the jurors; individual extended contribution ‘persuade’ for
the barristers; drama ‘imagine, explore’ for the witnesses etc. It is also good preparation
for an essay on the roles of the Nurse and the Friar in the play, and their culpability for the
tragedy that befell Romeo and Juliet.

Roles

Case One: the Friar’s Trial Case Two: The Nurse’s Trial

Judge Judge
Clerk of Court Clerk of Court
2 × Prosecution Barristers 2 × Prosecution Barristers
2 × Defence Barristers 2 × Defence Barristers
Dr Montoya (expert witness) Lord Capulet
Nurse Lady Capulet
Friar Nurse
Friar John Benvolio
Jurors Juror

(Recommend that the Nurse in each trial is played by a different person)

Preparation:
• All people involved in each trial are given a complete list of instructions, witness
statements and exhibits for that trial to analyse.
• The prosecution barristers should work with their witnesses, and the defence
barristers with the defendant and their witness. They need to rehearse taking
their witnesses through their statements, draft questions for cross-examination of
the other witnesses, and prepare their opening/closing statements. They must
each look for strengths and weaknesses in both the defence and the prosecution.
• The jurors should examine and discuss the statements and exhibits in groups,
looking for strengths and weaknesses, but should try not to come to any definite
conclusions yet.
• The Clerks and Judges should also examine and discuss the evidence, and work
out what punishments should be given to each defendant should they be found
guilty.

Timings and Resources:


• The preparation should take about one and a half hours, and the trials should be
given 50–60 minutes each. Keep a strict time limit on the examination of 3
minutes, and cross-examination of 5 minutes.
• All resources are included, apart from Exhibit B in Case One – the drug bottle
that Juliet drank the potion from.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 1 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case One

Brought by the City State of Verona, under orders of his honour the Duke.

Charge: Manslaughter through the


administration of illegal drugs

Defendant: Friar Laurence

Witnesses for the Prosecution: Dr Inigo Montoya


Nurse Capulet

Witnesses for the Defence: Friar Laurence


Friar John

Case Two

Brought by the City State of Verona, under orders of his honour the Duke.

Charge: Child Abuse

Defendant: Nurse

Witnesses for the Prosecution: Lord Capulet


Lady Capulet

Witnesses for the Defence: Nurse


Benvolio

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


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Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Order of Proceedings
1. The Judge will sit and the court will be brought to order.
(2 mins)

2. The Clerk of the Court will introduce the charge.


(5 mins)

3. The first lawyer for the prosecution will introduce all of the lawyers.
4. The prosecution will make an opening statement of not more than three
minutes.
(5 mins for 3&4)

5. The first prosecution witnesses will be called and examined by the


prosecution.
(3 mins)

6. The defence will cross-examine the first prosecution witnesses.


(5 mins)

7. The second prosecution witnesses will be called and examined by the


prosecution.
(3 mins)

8. The defence will cross-examine the second prosecution witnesses.


(5 mins)

9. The first defence witnesses will be called and examined by the defence.
(3 mins)

10. The prosecution will cross-examine the first defence witnesses.


(5 mins)

11. The second defence witnesses will be called and examined by the defence.
(3 mins)

12. The prosecution will cross-examine the second defence witnesses.


(5 mins)

13. The defence will make a closing statement of not more than three minutes.
(3 mins)

14. The jury will retire to decide their verdict (which must be carried with a
majority of at least 2/3rds).
(?)

15. The jury will return and the defendant will be called to hear the verdict.
16. The judge will declare the defendant free to go, or declare the penalty they
have decided if the defendant is declared guilty.
(3 mins for 15& 16)

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


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Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Directions for the Clerk of the Court.

‹ Call the court to order with the words:

I call the court to order for the case of the Crown versus…. Friar Laurence /
Nurse Capulet

‹ Introduce the charge with the words:

[Case One]
In this case of the Crown versus Friar Laurence, Friar Laurence is charged with
manslaughter through the administration of an illegal drug. The charge follows that on
the afternoon of the 3rd July 1596, Friar Laurence gave Juliet Rosanna Capulet an illegal
drug which produced the symptoms of death, causing her family to bury her in the
Capulet tomb. It is charged that the circumstances of her awakening, along with the
mental side-effects of the drug, provoked a suicide which was the direct result of the
Friar’s actions.
{To Friar Laurence}
Are you Friar Laurence? {reply yes}
How do you plead? {not guilty}

[Case Two]
In this case of the Crown versus Nurse Capulet, Nurse Capulet is charged with Child
Abuse. The charge follows that between the 27th June and the 3rd July 1596, the Nurse
abused the child put into her care, Juliet Rosanna Capulet, through encouraging lewd
and lascivious behaviour in the child, assisting her illegal wedding, abetting her physical
violation, and failing to report lewd events to her parents.
{To the Nurse}
Are you Nurse Capulet? {reply yes}
How do you plead? {not guilty}

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 4 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Directions for Barristers.


After the defendant has declared their plea (guilty or not guilty) the first barrister for the
prosecution should introduce all of the barristers with the words…

[To the Judge]

Your honour, I am ……………………, appearing for the Crown prosecution, along with
my friend …………………………My friends ………………………. and …………………..
appear for the defence.

Then the prosecution makes their opening statement. This should sum up the situation
as you see it, focusing on the proof you have that the defendant is guilty e.g.

“Your honour, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it is our intention to prove, beyond all
reasonable doubt, that this man is guilty of causing the tragic death of a beloved young
woman of Verona. You will hear from an expert witness who will confirm that the friar
supplied the child with an unregistered, illegal drug, deliberately producing the most
disturbing and fearsome of symptoms….” Etc

At the end of the statement, the prosecution should call their first witness.

Guidelines for examination and cross-examination.

Barristers should guide their own witnesses through their statements without
leading them. For example,

“How did Juliet seem?” is fine….


“Did Juliet seem upset at all?” is not fine….
“Tell us about the content of the letter” is fine…
“Did the letter say anything about Juliet?” is not fine….

The opposing barristers may object if they feel the witnesses are being led; the
judge will have final ruling and can order that the question be rephrased.

Barristers can lead the opposing witnesses during cross-examination.


“You were thinking of your own status in Verona, weren’t you?” is fine.

After all of the witnesses have been examined and cross-examined, the defence
make a closing statement, of not more than 3 minutes. This should be prepared
in advance and then adapted as necessary to take account of what has
happened in the court. It should sum up the reasons why your client should be
found not-guilty.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


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Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case One: Witness Statements

Prosecution: Dr Inigo Montoya

[Note: Dr Montoya is a forensic pathologist who has been called to provide an expert
opinion of the circumstances surrounding the death of Juliet Capulet.]

Juliet Capulet was certified dead by my colleague, Dr Johnson, on the morning of the 4th
July this year. An examination of the body and the crime scene indicated a verdict of
death by suicide, through the consumption of poison. Juliet exhibited all the signs of
morbidity, including static dilation of the eyes, lack of a pulse, no breathing.

[Note: The original death certificate is available as exhibit A]

I was called in as part of the police team who examined the scene of death. We found a
small, unmarked empty bottle in Juliet’s hand, and traces of the liquid that the bottle had
contained was found on Juliet’s lips. The bottle was taken to the laboratory for analysis.

[Note: This bottle is available as exhibit B]

Our initial tests on samples of the liquid indicated a formerly unknown poison, based on
the Hemlock plant, but comprising several other elements, some of which still remain
unidentified. We thus accorded with the coroner’s verdict of the victim’s suicidal death by
poisoning.

We also ran fingerprint tests on the bottle, and found a set of prints which did not belong
to the victim. The investigative team sampled the prints of everyone in the Capulet
household, but were unable to find a match. More recent investigations following the
strange tragedy that occurred after the entombment of the victim have revealed that
these prints belong to the Friar.

The Capulet tomb was violated on the night of the 5th July, when the banished Romeo
Montague returned and committed suicide by a known poison based on arsenic. The
discovery that Juliet Capulet had been entombed alive was a shock to the whole medical
community here in Verona. Once again, my colleague Dr Johnson was called upon to
write a death certificate for the girl, who had Romeo Montague’s dagger driven through
her chest, which had punctured her lung.

[Note: The second death certificate is available as exhibit C]

It is my opinion that the contents of the bottle, originally thought to be a poison, were, in
fact, a drug intended to evoke the symptoms of death by inducing an extreme coma, in
which the breathing and heartbeat of the imbiber would be so slow and shallow that they
would avoid detection. It is entirely possible that this sort of drug would also affect the
chemical balance of the brain, producing hallucinations, or other mental side effects.
This drug is not listed, and is certainly not registered, and our attempts to use the small
samples that we have to recreate it have, thus far, failed.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


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Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case One: Witness Statements

Prosecution: Nurse Capulet

Juliet was very upset after her parents told her that she would have to marry
Paris that week, very upset. She had an awful shouting match with her mother,
then her father, who threatened to throw her out, but then she seemed to come
round. I thought that she’d realized that it was sensible to marry the good County
after all the trouble with Romeo.

I was with her all that day. It’s my job to look after her and keep her safe, and I
never let her out of my sight, particularly as she was so upset. I thought she’d
need a bit of company. The only times she was on her own were when she was
tucked away in her room, with me sitting outside to keep an eye on things, doing
my darning, as usual. She was as dear to me as my own child, and such a lovely
girl.

She left the house once that day – 3rd July – to go to confession, I think she said.
I went with her to the church, and I was pleased for her, going to get it all off her
chest, ready for her match with the Count, make a fresh start and all that. As I
said, I went with her to the church, which was empty, then let her go into the
sacristy to find the Friar. She was adamant that she wanted to go alone. I heard
raised voices – both high and low voices shouting – which I thought a bit strange,
and then she came out again. I could see that she’d been crying, but she looked
strangely calm, and was even smiling slightly. I thought to myself, she’s had a
good shout and cry, ’twill all be better in the morning.

She went to bed early, and I slept on my pallet in the antechamber outside her
room, as usual. No one could have got in or out without me knowing about it.

Then, in the morning, I went in all cheery and excited about her wedding day –
’twas to be a proper one this time, not like all that silly nonsense with Romeo. But
the minute I saw her I knew something was wrong – her eyes were open, but
staring glassily at the ceiling. She looked so pale…. Then I saw the accursed
bottle in her hand, and I knew immediately what had happened. ’Twas that Friar
gave her the poison when I heard them shouting – and poison it was, in the end,
even if it didn’t kill her outright like we thought. His poison left her to gut herself in
that fearsome house of death, all alone. It must have driven her mad, affecting
her mind. Imagine waking up in that place, with the taint of poison still addling
your brain. I’ll never forgive myself for letting her go to him.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


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Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case One: Witness Statements

Defence: Friar Laurence

Juliet turned to me at a time when she had no one else to turn to. The conflict
between her family and that of the Montagues had driven her to desperation. I
acted in order to prevent her suicide, not to cause it.

When she visited me on the 3rd July, Juliet had already decided to take her own
life. She came to me as a last resort, looking for some way out of the terrible
situation into which she had been driven by the callous demands of her parents.
Without the protection of Romeo, she faced the mortal sin of bigamy or the
unthinkable penalty of being turned out on the street, destitute and shamed. The
blot on her reputation would have been impossible to clear, and she faced the
worst kind of penury and revilement.

I sought to protect both her and the reputation of her house. This feigned death
would allow the Capulets to mourn and remember her with dignity and honour,
and would render to Juliet the one thing she could not live without, her beloved
Romeo. With the protection of a husband, she could start a new life in Padua, not
in the material luxury in which she had been raised, but with the more potent
luxury of a true and loving husband.

I do not deny giving her a potion to drink, but I do deny that it was an illegal drug,
and I certainly deny that it was the cause of her death. It is a purely medicinal
concoction, and while the combination of elements itself has not been registered,
all of the components are naturally extracted from common plants, with no
chemical alteration, thus rendering it a herbal infusion, not an illegal drug. As to
the drug itself being the cause of her suicide, I utterly refute this. It is plain to
anyone who saw her anguish in the preceding days that her mental instability
was caused by the impossible situation into which her own parents had forced
her; indeed, if anything, I managed to delay her suicide, even if – God forgive – I
was unable to prevent it entirely.

The circumstances which brought Romeo to the tomb were unfortunate in the
extreme. I had dispatched a trusted messenger with a letter to tell Romeo that he
must come and rescue his wife, and that her death was but feigned. This was the
good Friar John. Unfortunately, an outbreak of plague prevented him from
completing this task, and Romeo received word of Juliet’s death without realizing
that it was false. Fate, or the hand of God, dictated this death, along with the evil
enmity between the two premier households of Verona. I acted only to prevent it.

[Note: the letter is available as exhibit D]

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 8 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case One: Witness Statements

Defence: Friar John

I knew little of what had passed between Romeo and Juliet, but I believe that the
Friar acted always in their best interests, as he believed them to be. He did
indeed entrust me with an urgent missive to Romeo in Mantua, in which was
detailed the plan he had created to protect their honour and their happiness. The
tragedy which could have been prevented had I succeeded in this task will
always weigh heavily upon me.

Before leaving Verona on the afternoon of the 3rd July, I decided to find another
member of our order to accompany me on the journey, as the roads can be
dangerous. I found Friar William in a house just inside the city walls, visiting the
sick. As I went in to call on him for help, the city watch heard that there was
infectious plague within the house, and barred the doors, trapping us inside. I
tried to hail a messenger to take the letter on from the window upstairs, but
everyone was so afraid of the plague that they would not touch anything that had
been on my person. The guard would not let us pass for more than 48 hours,
after which I returned to Friar Laurence, thinking that I was too late.

I wish now that I had tried to find Romeo – through any means possible – even at
that late time. I wish that I had not sought company, and had been brave enough
to carry this message alone, and to find Romeo in time. I can only trust in faith
and believe that it was the will of God that all should be so. My faith does lead
me to believe that Friar Laurence acted in hope and trust, as we all seek to, and
that his efforts were all directed towards preventing the dreadful sin of suicide,
not abetting it.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 9 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case One: Exhibit A

Certificate of Death
dated 4th July 1596

Juliet Rosanna Capulet


Of
Capulet Mansion
Verona
Italy

Born: 11th May 1582

Died: 3rd July 1596

Time of Death: Approx 11pm

Place of Death: Bedchamber, Capulet Mansion, Verona, Italy

Cause of Death: Poison induced paralysis of the heart and lungs


Death by Suicide

Signed: Dr W.B. Johnson

Witnessed: L A Capulet L M Capulet

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 10 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case One: Exhibit C

Certificate of Death
dated 5th July 1596

Juliet Rosanna Capulet


Of
Capulet Mansion
Verona
Italy

Born: 11th May 1582

Died: 5th July 1596

Time of Death: Approx 10.30pm

Place of Death: Capulet Tomb, Verona, Italy

Cause of Death: Punctured lung, loss of blood caused by self-


delivered stab wound to chest
Death by Suicide

Signed: Dr W.B. Johnson

Witnessed: L A Capulet L M Capulet

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 11 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case One: Exhibit D

3rd July 1595

Good Romeo,

I hope this letter finds you well, and quickly. Your lady wife
has great need of you.

Firstly, let me assure you that she is well – if any who have
suffered the pains that she has borne in this hateful feud – can be
so. If you hear word of her death, be assured that this mortality is
feigned. I have given her a drug which will create all of the
symptoms of death, while actually keeping her safely in a deep
coma.

The result of this will be her entombment in the Capulet tomb


tomorrow night, where she will be safe, but affrighted. You must
brave the anger of the Duke and come, under cover of nightfall, to
rescue her and take her from the city to a place of secrecy and
safety, where you can both begin your lives afresh and unafraid.

As her parents would have her marry the County Paris on the
morrow or be disowned, this is the only way to save her reputation
and her life. You must come tomorrow night, after which all shall
be well. Be there when she awakens, for she will have need of you.

Yours,

Friar Laurence.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 12 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case Two: Witness Statements

Prosecution: Lady Capulet

The fact of my late daughter’s affair with the son of my greatest enemy only became
known to me after her terrible death in the Capulet tomb. Coming so soon after the news
of her first – fake – death, which I so trustingly believed was real, it was a terrible shock
from which I have yet to recover. The discovery of the role played by my most trusted
employee in the wicked, deceitful dealings has been a terrible blow.

When I took this nurse into my employ fourteen years ago, I had her on the very best
references from a family friend in Mantua. I spent some time searching for a suitable,
trustworthy woman to care for my only child, and I considered her role the most
important in the whole household, for the physical, mental, and, yes, spiritual welfare of
my beloved daughter and heiress was dear to my heart. The nurse seemed to acquit
herself well in the early years, which perhaps led to my tendency to be too trusting in
giving my daughter’s care over to her. My own tender heart and innocent trusting nature
was to be my downfall.

For this nurse – this beast, this horror – betrayed my trust, betrayed her own position,
her duty and her household, in the basest manner, leading my daughter into carnal
lustfulness, and the mortal sin of fornication.

In our society, it is the legal right of a parent to decide to whom their daughter shall be
married, and our child, at this tender age, had more need than ever of a parent’s loving
guidance. This nurse shamefully led my precious Juliet into evil. She knew that the two
children had met alone after our lavish ball, and yet conspired to keep this knowledge
from me, her mistress, and my husband, her master. This alone is a crime of treachery,
and yet her behaviour worsened. She aided the sinful lust between the two children by
carrying messages between them, accompanied them to a makeshift ‘wedding’ at which
none of the proper contracts were made and performed the most blatant, shameful act in
carrying a ladder to my daughter’s window so that her seducer and molester could
clamber to her room and betray her innocence with the sins of the flesh.

More than this, once Romeo’s hot-blooded temperament caused him to commit murder
as well as seduction, the nurse still refused to reveal the evils of the situation, leaving
Juliet’s father and I uncomprehending and unsympathetic to our daughter’s frankly
confusing refusal to marry the County Paris. Her abuse of my daughter – a trusting child
who acted on the advice of a woman whose holy duty it was to protect her from such evil
– led directly to my child’s horrific death.

This woman acted as a bawd, turning my innocent child into a prostitute, a rich heir’s
plaything, and then abandoned her to despair. If you do not find this to be abuse of the
grossest kind, then God’s justice is defiled.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 13 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case Two: Witness Statements

Prosecution: Lord Capulet

Legally speaking, we employed the Nurse to be in loco parentis, which means that
she must take all the reasonable care of a parent to protect and guide her charge,
as well as reporting all problems and concerns to myself and my wife. The contract
we have with her states this, and we never dreamed that it would be a problem.

My daughter was at an age where she could marry, but still a very young woman –
a child even, just about, by law. As a young bride she would need the care of a
worthy gentleman to coax her into the joys and responsibility of womanhood, along
with the continued guidance and supervision of her own parents, and we had
arranged for all these things to happen. It is the legal right and prerogative of a
father to make the arrangements to dispose of his daughter as he sees fit.

The actions of our employee, as well as being morally reprehensible, are thus
deeply criminal. The so-called wedding which the nurse assisted was not declared
in the banns, and thus there was no right of objection given. This renders the
wedding – little more than a pagan handfasting if you ask me – null and void, with
no legal status. The nurse then assisted the violation of my daughter.

[Note: the wedding certificate is available as exhibit A]

The actions of the nurse result not only in leading my child into physical abuse and
sin, but also into destroying her reputation. And what is a woman without
reputation? Surely this is the grossest abuse of all: the conspiracy of the nurse to
destroy Juliet in the eyes of her family and her society, leaving her nothing but a
life of shame and despair. This affair would ruin the chance of a good marriage for
her, and therefore rob her of her inheritance. I could not trust my estates and
assets to such an heir.

Since the death of my only child, I have made some enquiries into the character of
this nurse, and have discovered that she has gained a reputation for a shocking
lewdness quite out of keeping with her position. She has become known for
singing bawdy songs, making jokes which should not be repeated in polite
company and giving married men a lascivious eye. This would suggest a
predisposition towards this kind of unscrupulous behaviour, and that she is a
danger to society if allowed to go free. Would you allow her to nurse and counsel
your own children?

I can only imagine that some vindictive ill-will was working in the nurse towards her
charge, that her actions were calculated to do as much harm as possible to my
daughter.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 14 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case Two: Witness Statements

Defence: Nurse

You can ask anyone – any of the servants you like, anyone who’s ever known
me save my lord and ladyship there – and they will tell you that I loved Juliet like
my own daughter. Loved her better than that, even; there was nothing I wouldn’t
have done for her. Everything I did was done to give her joy, and by her own
command. I’d never have done anything to hurt her.

Juliet was a young woman when she died. Her parents were all to ready to marry
her off, so they must have known that. She was old enough to make her own
decisions and old enough to fall in love. She’d always been a bit headstrong,
though she kept her peace with her parents, but with that much beauty and
kindness that I couldn’t help but love her passion and her stubbornness.

Anyone who had seen her with Romeo couldn’t doubt that they’d stop at nothing
to be together. I’ve never seen a love its like – so tender and so pure. It came on
them in a flash – at that banquet – but they were prepared to stick it out. They
showed that with the wedding. There was nothing untoward until after they were
married, you can be sure of that. Such joy there was in my mistress that, if you’d
seen it, you’d have been as happy as I was to do anything you could to help that
happiness live a little longer. I did nothing wrong – except perhaps keeping things
from my Lady Capulet – but nothing wrong for Juliet, you can be sure. As for the
ladder business, well, they were married by then, and threatening to run away
together. At least I was keeping her safe in the bosom of her family, protecting
the Capulet reputation with the secret until they could come to terms and
welcome Romeo for the handsome son-in-law he would have been.

The marriage, as far as I can see, was a proper one as it should be. I wouldn’t
have been sure that it was the right thing to do if the holy Friar had not allowed it,
but, I thought, if a man of God was willing, then it mustn’t be a sin. I followed the
guidance of the church – how can that be a sin? It was vows said before the altar
in the house of God, and his appointed priest declared them man and wife. What
harm then in letting them be together?

Now, after the terrible things that have happened, I am sorry that such evil
overcame my little Julietta. But, you see, it was ever her wishes that ruled my
actions, and I did nothing of my own devising. She had come of age, and she
was my little mistress, and I was bound to do her bidding. That love she shared
with Romeo burned so brightly that they illuminated all who touched them – what
could I do to extinguish a flame so strong? I wish her choices had been
otherwise, but ’tis not an ill of my creation that led to her death.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 15 of 17
Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case Two: Witness Statements

Defence: Benvolio

Nothing could have come between Romeo and Juliet. He was mad for her, but in
a new way – there was none of the pining, moping Romeo that we’d become
used to. He was twice the man – full of energy, full of delight. Even his words
seemed faster, more genuine, more... poetic. She inspired him.

It irritated us a lot, especially Mercutio, God rest his soul. When Tybalt came
against him in challenge, we couldn’t understand his response. He let himself be
pushed down, but kept declaring to Tybalt that he loved him, though he could not
say why. It was such a huge change in Romeo. Now I know that it was for Juliet
that he behaved in this way – could anything but true love have quelled his anger
and the hatred of the feud in this way?

I think he killed Tybalt in the madness of despair. Mercutio was his best friend. I
think Romeo realized that the feud could not be ended, and it was this that drove
him into rage. He was sorely provoked – I don’t think anyone could really blame
him for it.

I didn’t see much of Juliet, but I could tell from Romeo’s behaviour when he
talked about her that she loved him as much as he did her. Doesn’t her death just
prove that? I don’t think anyone could have intervened to keep them apart, and
the nurse was doing what she could to protect them in their love for each other.
At least she helped to protect them from sin with the wedding. Maybe she hoped
for reconciliation between the Capulets and the Montagues too? I know I did.

I saw the nurse once on an errand for Juliet, bringing a message to Romeo. We
were rude to her at first, I’m ashamed to say, thinking that this affair of Romeo
and Juliet’s was just a bit of lust, but I know better now. She was afraid of us, I
think, as well she might be, and it showed bravery and faith in her young mistress
that she would carry such a message. The look she gave Romeo was clear to all
of us, even though he sent us away before he heard the message – something
along the lines of “If you hurt her I’ll string you up by the….” Anyway, I think she
meant to help. We tried to listen and spy from behind the door, but I couldn’t
make out much. One thing I did notice was the nurse protesting when Romeo
tried to give her a silver ducat for her pains – surely she would have taken the
money readily if she were doing this for spiteful reasons?

It sounds to me like Juliet was just as willful and determined as Romeo, and if
that’s so, nothing was going to keep them apart. I don’t think this nurse did
anything wrong in trying to help them be together.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


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Romeo and Juliet The Trials

Case Two: Exhibit A

Certificate of Marriage
on this day 2nd July 1595

Between

Romeo Benedicte Montague Juliet Rosanna Capulet


of of
Montague House and Capulet Mansion
Verona Verona
Italy Italy

Born: 3rd October 1580 11th May 1582

Place of Birth: Verona Verona

Witnessed: Friar Laurence Nurse Capulet

Officiator: Friar Laurence


Of: Chapel Saint Iago, Verona, Italy

Those whom God has joined together, let no man put asunder

Under the blessing and jurisdiction of his honour the Duke of


Verona, and his worshipfulness the Bishop of Verona.

© 2004 www.teachit.co.uk 1668.doc


Page 17 of 17

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