Romeo and Juliet

In the sun- washed megacity of Verona, two great homes stood in fierce contest the Montagues and the Capulets. Their feud was long- standing and bitter, poisoning the thoroughfares with violence and bloodshed. Indeed the Prince of Verona had grown sick of their quarrels, having interposed time and again, only to see tempers reignite with lesser fury.    

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the sun washed mega city of Rona, two great
homes stood in fierce contests of Montags and the Capulets.
Their feud was long standing, in bitter poisoning the thoroughfares
with violence and bloodshed. Indeed, the Prince of Rona had
grown sick of their quarrels, having interposed time and again,
only to see tempers reignite with lesser fury. Romeo Montague,

(00:23):
the youthful son of Lord Montague, wandered restlessly under the
weight of melancholy. His musketeers Mercutio and Benvolio teased him
and tried to cheer him, but Romeo's heart was lost
in unrequited love. He fretted for Rosalind, a lady of Rona,
who had sworn herself to chastity eye list to Romeo's
ankering eyes. Benvolio, ever, the militarist, encouraged Romeo to look

(00:47):
away to forget Rosalind by comparing her beauty to other women.
When he learned that the Capulets were holding a grand
facade ball that veritably evening, Benvolio proposed they attend in disguise.
May Romeo could see for himself that Rosalind was empty
only star in Verona's sky. Meanwhile, within the Capulet Minaje,
medications were under way for the feast. Lord Capulet, primogenet

(01:11):
of the family, hoped the festivity would buck up spirits
and introduce his cherished son Juliette to the possibility of marriage.
Among the noble guests invited was Paris, a youthful count
of high regard who had asked for Juliette's hand. Though
Capulet felt Juliette, at slightly fourteen, was still too youthful
to wed, he prompted Paris to invite her gently and

(01:34):
win her heart. Juliette, graceful and biddable, lived in the
shadow of her family's name and their prospects. She had
no way given her heart to anyone, nor allowed deeply
of love. Her nanny, a pious and garrulous woman who
had raised juliet from immaturity, frequently spoke fondly of her
beauty and future. Though juliet heeded kindly, she remained distant

(01:56):
from similar matters until fate drew near. As dust cloaked
the mega city Romeo and Voglio and the facetious Mercutio
slipped masks and slipped into the Capulet's estate. The halls
lustered with night, and music swirled like incense in the air.
Noble guests dance in circles, horse laugh echoing beneath bounded ceilings. Romeo,

(02:18):
detracted and reticent, walked with reluctant way until his eyes
fell upon her. She still like a honey in the dark,
juliet Capulet, radiant and alive. In that moment, rosalind dissolved
from his studies. Romeo's heart, formerly heavy, now contended with
wild abandon. He moved toward her, drawn like a moth

(02:39):
to the fire. Juliette too, saw him a foreigner, masked,
his aspect, warm and full of riddle. Their hands touched
in the cotillion, and times sounded distill. Words passed between
them like a participated breath, soft and filled with wonder.
Romeo spoke of saint and pilgrims, of sacred hands and lips. Juliette,

(03:00):
clever and curious, match with grace. A kiss followed, light
as a feather, charged with a thousand dreams. But the
moment shattered when Juliette was called down by her nanny. Romeo,
dazed and breathless, asked who she was. The verity struck
him like thunder. She was a capulet, the sun of

(03:20):
his family, sworn adversaries. Likewise, juliet soon learned the master
youth who had captured her heart was none other than
Romeo Montague. The world around them shifted, the joy of
new love was pierced by the sharp brand of their names.
Still neither could forget the other. Latterly, that night, unfit
to sleep, Romeo slipped into the Capula's estate and climbed

(03:42):
the theater wall. Moonlight bade the theater and tablewar, and
he wandered beneath Juliette's deck, Ignorant that she too was restless.
She appeared over her hair flowing in the night breath,
her eyes searching the stars. And also she spoke audibly,
not knowing Romeo was near. Oh, Romeo Romeo, wherefore art

(04:02):
thy Romeo? She cried, deny thy father, and refuse thy name.
Her words flowed from her soul. Torn by love and family,
Romeo stepped from the murk, declaring his presence and his love.
The deck came a sacred place where secret and promises
were rumored into the dark. Juliette conservative yet valorous asked

(04:24):
if his love was true, and Romeo swore with his heart.
They agreed to marry in secret, despite the troubles. With
Dawn on the horizon, Romeo sought Friar Lawrence, a kind
and thoughtful clerk. The Friar, surprised at Romeo's unforeseen shift
from Rosalind to Juliette, questioned him, but Romeo's passion and
honesty moved the old man's heart. He saw in their

(04:47):
union the possibility of ending the feud. Maybe love could
do what reason and authority had failed to achieve. The
variably coming day, Romeo and Juliet met in the tabernacle,
with only the Friar and juliet Its Nannias substantiations. They
were wed, their lips touched in sacred pledge, their souls
entwined in secret match, but the Thoroughfares of Arona knew

(05:09):
no peace. That same day, as Romeo's companions walked through
request forecourt, they encountered Tibblet, Juliette's fiery kinsman. Tibolt, disrespected
that a Montague had dared intrude upon the capulet Ball,
sought vengeance. He challenged Romeo to a dogfight, but Romeo,
now kin to Tibble through marriage, refused. He called Tibolt family,

(05:33):
prayed for peace and would not lift his brand. Mercutio,
furious at Romeo's poltroonery, drew his own blade. He fought
Tibblet in Romeo's place. Joshi indeed his brands flashed in
the sun, but the dog fight turned deadly. Romeo tried
to stop the fight only caused confusion. Tibot struck Mercutio

(05:54):
a fatal blow beneath Romeo's arm. With his dying breath,
Mercutio cursed both houses a pest, oh both your houses,
and fell into death. Romeo's grief boiled into rage, honor
and love collided in his casket eyelas with revenge. He
hunted Tibble and fought him. Their dogfight was nippy and brutal.

(06:14):
Tiblet fell his blood, discovering onto the cobblestones. The Prince
arrived amidst the chaos. Justice was demanded. Though Romeo had
redressed his friend, he'd also revealed blood in the thoroughfares.
The Prince ordered Romeo's discipline, not death, but expulsion. Romeo
was to leave a ronette formerly no way to return.

(06:35):
News of the brawl reached Juliette in her chamber. Her
joy of marriage turned to anguish. Tibbalt her Kinsman was dead,
but taken by her hubby. Equivocal in grieving, she wept,
yet her love for Romeo burned through the pain. Romeo
hid in fry Lawrence's cell, crushed by the judgment of exile.
He saw no life beyond Verona, no future without Juliet.

(06:58):
But the friar, the o wise counselor, prompted him to
be patient. Go to Juliette tonight, he said, but leave
before dawn. I'll find a way to make this right.
That night, Romeo climbed formally further to Juliette's deck. They
held each other as hubby and woman, hearts beating in
anguish and joy. Their night was transitory, bittersweet. As the

(07:21):
frisk sang in morning broke, Romeo departed into exile, leaving
Juliet weeping in the light. Trouble soon followed. Lord Capulet,
ignorant of Juliet's secret marriage, arranged for her to marry
Paris within three days. He believed it with cheer her spirits.
After Tibbalt's death, Juliette, hopeless and affrighted, refused. Her father,

(07:44):
maddened by her defiance, hovered to cast her out. Indeed,
her nanny, once a confidante, now prompted her to marry
Paris and forget Romeo. Juliet abandoned by all, fled to
Friar Lawrence in despair. There she hovered to take her
life rather than betray her promises. The Friar, moved by
her courage, cooked the hopeless plan. He gave her a potion,

(08:07):
a draft so important it would mimic death. For forty
two hours, she'd lie as if breathless. Her family would
bury her in the Capulet grave. When she awoke, Romeo
would be there, take her down, and they could escape together.
Juliette took the vile and return home. That night. She
drank it with pulsing hands, brooding. Romeo's name is Darkness

(08:29):
took her. The coming morning, the Capulet minaj prepared for
a marriage, but rather of matrimonial songs, they were met
with riots. Juliet lay cold and still. Grief caught them,
and she was carried to the family grave, dressed not
as a bridegroom but as a cadaver, But fate was
cruel and nippy. News of Juliette's death reached Romeo in Mantua,

(08:52):
but not the verity the runner meant to deliver. Friar
Lawrence's plan was delayed. Rather, Romeo learned only that his
cherish was gone. Shattered, he bought bane from an apothecary
and set out for Verona, resolved to die beside Juliette.
The thoroughfares of Rona were cloaked in stillness. When Romeo returned,
disguise and grief stricken, he moved like a shadow through

(09:14):
the alleys and places that formerly echoed with horse laugh
and love. His mind was consumed by juliet Her smile,
her voice, the wimpiness of her hands. Now, in his
broken belief, all had been swallowed by death. Gripped in
his hand was a vile of deadly bane, bought from
a hopeless apothecary in Mantua. The man had dithered still

(09:35):
in the law, but Romeo's anguish and gold converted him.
My poverty but not my will warrants the apothecary had murmured.
Handing over the murderous draft, Romeo watched a little for
law or consequence. Juliet was gone, and with her life's meaning,
he made his way to the Capulet grave. Undercover of darkness.

(09:55):
The vault, sculpted from ancient gravestone, impended at the edge
of the megacity. Cold and silent firebugs flit along the path,
casting long murk across the marble graves. There within. Juliet
lay on a gravestone arbor, dressed in her finest gown,
as of awaiting a marriage rather than mourning. But Romeo

(10:15):
was then alone. Paris, the youthful gentleman fiance Juliette, had
come as well. He stood near the grave with flowers
in hand, mourning her with quiet reverence. He didn't know
of the secret marriage or the love that had bloomed
in defiance of Rona's cruel feud. All he knew was
that Juliette had been taken too soon. As Romeo approached,

(10:36):
Paris stepped forward, Startled by the presence of foreigner so
near the grave of the girl he loved. He honored
the figure and drew his brand. This is that banished
proud Montague. Paris declared, condemned villain come to do some
unlawful shame to the dead. Romeo, exhausted and agonized, prayed
Paris to leave tempt not a hopeless man, he contended,

(11:00):
putting not another sin upon my head by prompting me
to fury. But Paris would not yield, and at two
disaccorded by the gate of the grave. The fight was
nippy and savage. Paris, professor and prow fought fiercely, but
Romeo's anguish made him reckless and deadly. Soon Paris fell
fatally wounded. With his last breath, he asked to be

(11:21):
laid beside Juliette in death. Moved by anguish and pity,
Romeo granted his request and gently carried him into the grave. Also,
Romeo turned his eyes to Juliette. She lay motionless, her
skin pale as ivory, lips parted as if in mid dream.
Romeo wept as he knelt beside her, stroking her face

(11:41):
and speaking to her as if she could hear him.
Thens to my love, he rumored. Holding the bane above,
he drank the bitter contents in one nippy stir. The
bain coursed through his modes like fire. He embraced juliet
one last time, placed a kiss upon her lips, and
collapsed beside her, his life, fleeing with the final beat
his heart. Moments latterly, steps echoed down the grave's corridor.

(12:05):
Friar Lawrence had arrived. His communication of Romeo had no
way reached him, and, stewing disaster, he'd come to the
grave himself. With him was another man bouta ser Romeo's menial,
who had reported his master's appearance. Inside the grave, Friar
Lawrence was met with horror. Paris's body lay cold wave
near the entrance, and further in Romeo breathless beside Juliette.

(12:30):
The Friar's heart pounded, but as he approached juliet he
saw commodie extraordinary. She stirred. Juliette's eyes fluttered open, her
breath returned. The potions spell had ended. Confused and swimmy,
she looked around, awaiting joy, awaiting Romeo, but rather she
saw blood. The dim torchlight revealed Paris's breathless form and

(12:53):
also Romeo's. She rushed to his side, calling his name.
He did and respond. Her eyes fell upon the empty
vial in his hand. Understanding struck her like lightning. She
cried out, clinging him, lips pulsing. Refusing to accept the verity.
Friar Lawrence, shocked and guilt stricken, prompted her to leave.

(13:16):
Come go good, Juliette, I dare no longer stay, he said,
But Juliette didn't move. She kissed Romeo's lips, hoping some
bain remained. None did. She searched for a dagger. Her
hand set up it beneath Romeo's cloak, his blade with
no vacillation. She took it and pressed it to her casket. Oh,

(13:37):
happy dagger, this is our jacket, their rust, and let
me die, she rumored. The dagger pierced her heart, and
she fell beside her chairs, united in death. The vault
echoed with silence. Formerly more soon later, the megacity stirred
with noise. The watchmen had been advised. Guards and patricians
rushed to the grave. Among them were Lord and Lady Capulet,

(14:01):
Lord and Lady Montague, and the Prince of Roona. They
sighted the scene with horror and anguish. Paris, Romeo, and
juliet each dead. The Prince, filled with wrathfulness and mourning,
demanded answers. Friar Lauren stepped forward and confessed all. He
told of Romeo and Juliet's secret marriage, of the plans
to reunite them, of the potion, and of how cruel

(14:23):
fate had unraveled at all. The grief of the two
houses turned into commodity deeper shame. Lord Montague, crushed by
the loss of his only son, wept openly. He revealed
that Lady Montague, overcome by grief from Romeo's expulsion, had
failed before that. Veritably, night Lord Capulot stood in stupefied silence,

(14:44):
also turned to Montague, Oh family, Montague, He said, give
me thy hand, this is my son's junction. For no
further can I demand. Montague took his hand. But I
can give thee more, he said, for our raise or
statue in pure gold. And so the feud, long marked
by blood and abomination, came to an end. Too late

(15:06):
to save the youthful suckers, but in their memory peace
bloomed where formerly only war had grown. Romeo and Juliet,
children of two adversaries, had in death fulfilled what no
living soul could achieve. Their story, woeful and dateless, came
a legend in Verona, A Simon in love in haste
and fate, and in the price of ancient grievances. The

(15:28):
sun rose gently over Verona, casting golden shafts upon a megacity,
steeped the morning bell's bonds to the morning haze. Solemn
and slow, as news of the woeful deaths of Romeo
and Juliet spread like campfire, the people stood still in
the thoroughfares, in doorways and requests, each one brooding the
same names with unbelief and anguish. Verona, long bombarded by

(15:51):
the feud between the Capulets and Montag's, now felt the
sting of a pain far less than pride or contest,
the unrecoverable loss of two children born into abomination but
bound by love. Within the halls of the capulate estate,
silence reigned. The grand feasting chamber, which only days ahead
had been prepared for a marriage, now stood draped in black.

(16:13):
Juliette's nanny wept uncontrollably in her chamber, visited by guilt.
She had formerly held Juliet in her arms as a babe,
sang her lullabies, laughed with her, And now the echo
of Juliette's last breath visited every corner of her memory.
Lord Capulet, formally proud and unyielding, sat drooped at the
bottom of the staircase. His eyes were red, his hands

(16:36):
pulsing as he held Juliette's last strip. Lady Capulots stood
behind him, her fritters gripping the edge of the rail,
unfit to speak. Their son, who had only begun to
taste Lfe's agreeableness, had been laid to rest beside her love.
Ever beyond their reach across the megacity, the Montague manage
was no less mournful. Lord Montague, progressed by heartake overnight,

(17:00):
wanted the theater where Romeo had formerly spoken of stars
and sonnets. His woman, Lady Montague, had failed just hours before,
her heart broken by Romeo's exile, and now her son
too was gone. When the Prince of Verona summoned both
families to the city forecourt, it was and for justice
or revenge, it was for reckoning. There before the townspeople,

(17:23):
Friar Lawrence stood and formerly again told the full tale.
He spared no detail, the secret marriage, the night of passion,
the rub out of Tibbalt, the hasty expulsion, the potion,
the communication that nowhere arrived, and the grave that came
a cradle of death. Each word struck the crowd like thunder,
revealing the verity behind the rumored tragedy. The Prince, formerly

(17:45):
a symbol of law and order, now bore the weight
of responsibility. His own relative, Mercutio, had been among the
first to die in the curl of bloodshed. Where beat
these adversaries, The Prince declare, with mournful authority, see what
a scourge is laid upon your hate? That Heaven finds
means to kill your manners with love? He turned the
Lord Capulet and Lord Montague, both hollowed by their children's deaths.

(18:10):
All are disciplined, he said, But no way was a
story of further woe than this of Juliet and a Romeo.
The words echoed into the still air, marking not just
the end of a tail, but the end of a feud.
In the days that followed, the two houses worked together
for the first time in living memory. The thoroughfares of Rona,
formerly battlefields of Pride, came paths to participated morning. The

(18:33):
Capulets offered of all of honor for Romeo, while the
Montag's pledge to make a statue of Juliet carved from
the finest gold to stand in the mega city square,
a symbol of peace and love lost. The golden statue
rose within weeks. Drafted by Verona's topmost crafters, it stood outitudinous,
Juliet's face sculpted with delicate beauty, her eyes cast over

(18:57):
as of an eternal reflection. Across the forecourt, the Montags
placed a corresponding statue of Romeo, his hand reaching toward hers.
Both numbers etornally suspended in craving. People came from far
and wide to peer upon them. Children learned their story.
Suckers knelt at their bases, swearing devotion. Indeed, elders who

(19:18):
had formerly fought in the thoroughfares now sat still before
the statues. Heads bowed, their hearts, softened by the memory
of youth and the cool cost of pride. Friar Lawrence,
though spare by the Prince, chose a life of solitaire
and his Subsequently, he returned to his humble cell to Friary,
spending his days tending the auditoriums and offering prayers. Departed,

(19:39):
he knew that his plan, however born from good intentions,
had failed. Yet he also believed that through tragedy, a
lesser peace had been won. Juliette's nanny, who had formerly
pictured of seeing her youthful ward wed in splendor, left
the Capulet Minaj. She could no longer walk the corridors
where Juliet formerly danced and laughed her. She served in

(20:01):
an orphanage on the outskirts of Verona, pouring her love
into minding for children without families. There she frequently rumored
Juliet's name, telling no Bonner's story, but always flashing back. Paris,
the gentleman who had hoped to marry Juliette, was buried
with honor in the Capulat vault. His family, though stricken
with grief, bore no abomination towards Romeo, for they came

(20:25):
to learn the verity of Juliette's love, and so indeed
Paris's kin accepted the peace. Verona changed. The brands of
the guards no longer disaccorded against the walls, no more
to cries of Montague and Capulet ring to the thoroughfares. Rather,
people spoke of Romeo and juliet with reverence, as if

(20:45):
their names held magic, not of violence, but of love
too important to be bound by abomination. Times passed, and
the story was retold by every voice, the chef, the knitter,
the trafficker, the minstrel. Ditties were sung in taverns, oils
of the decks scene appeared in noble homes, the image
of Juliette leaning over her rail Romeo below. In the
moonlight came eternal children, who had no way known the feud,

(21:09):
now played beneath the statues, ignorant that their peace had
been bought with the blood of two suckers, and maybe
there was a final gift. Romeo and juliet left behind, unborn,
untainted by the history. Among those children one day was
a boy named Pietro who asked his mama, why do
those golden people look so sad? His mama knelt beside

(21:30):
him and said gently, because they loved one another in
a world that didn't understand love. Did they do commodity wrong,
he asked, eyes wide, No, she rumored, but those around
them did, and now we flashed back, so we do
and forget. In the auditoriums near the Capulot grave, white
lilies were planted in Juliette's honor, while red roses bloomed

(21:52):
beside Romeo's name. Every spring, the flowers were turned more
vibrant than a head, as if nourished by the veritable
substance of their story. And among muses, Romeo and Juliet
came the sacred poet. Their story was one of failure,
but a beauty. How indeed, the briefest flicker love could
outmatch centuries of hate pens pen sonnets, plays epics. The

(22:15):
very name Romeo came to mean a devoted nut, and
Juliet a symbol of pure smooth heart. Their story cross borders,
travel the lands far from Verona, restated into languages no
way spoken. In their continuance, generations who had no way
walk to cobble thoroughfares of their megacity came to know
their names. Romeo and Juliet came not only the soul

(22:38):
of Verona, but of the world. And so it was
that from ashes rose the most continuing love ever told. Reflection,
the tragy of Romeo and Juliet is frequently incorrect for
a story of reckless youth, but it's far further than that.
It's a glass held in the idiocy of man. How pride,
wrathfulness and the vision can destroy what's utmost beautiful. In

(22:59):
their final break, Romeo and Juliet tutored us that love
knows no names, no walls. It's simply as pure, unafraid,
and eternal. Had demond tags and capulots not been consumed
by revenge, these two youthful souls may have lived long
lives together, raising children, growing old hand in hand. But
they came killers for peace, immolating themselves not for cause,

(23:22):
but for each other. Their immolation was ent in vain.
The megacity changed, heart softened, adversaries came of betters, and
in the quiet fate of their deaths, love blooming places
where ahead only rage had grown. Indeed, now centuries latterly
we flashed back them, not because they failed, but because
of how they loved. Epilogus Time wolve its endless thread

(23:45):
to the fabric of Arona. The heritage of Romeo and
Juliet remained untouched by age. Stone faded, structures, atrophied. Generations passed,
but their story endured. Callers still gathered beneath Juliette's deck,
writing letters of love, stopgap and craving others brute wishes
at Romeo statue. Artists, romanticists and suckers from all corners

(24:07):
of the world leave behind commemoratives. Flowers, runs rings at
the point where fabrication meets history, And though the suckers
are long gone, their story lives on in every streak
of a youthful heart, in every rumored I love you
beneath the moonlit sky, in every pledge made a cross
feuding lines Romeo and Juliet remain eternal.