Roméo et Juliette: Synopsis: Act 2

Act II

Scene: The Garden of the Capulets (23 Minutes)

Through the shadows of Count Capulet's moonlit garden, Romeo braves his way, hoping to see Juliette once more. In the distance he hears the voices of Mercutio and his other friends, calling him away. Unheeding, he turns to the balcony where a sudden light appears at Juliette's window. He sings an ardent serenade.

Juliette appears on the balcony. "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" she sighs. "Deny the name, or I'll forswear my own."

The lovers are interrupted for a moment by Gregorio and a group of Capulet servants who come looking for a page of the Montagues supposedly hiding within the palace grounds. The nurse Gertrude promises them her help, and finding Juliette, chides her for being up so late, and leads her off to bed.

Romeo now emerges from his hiding place to hear Juliette again calling him from the balcony: "If you wish to marry me, I will give you all my life, but if you jest - then never see me more." With her hand reaching down to his, the lovers bid each other farewell until the morrow.

At the repeated summons of her nurse, Juliette retires to her room, leaving Romeo to wish her sweet dreams and smiling sleep.