View an excerpt of David Garrick's 18th-century adaptation of William Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet” where the lovers speak to each other before they die
View an excerpt of David Garrick's 18th-century adaptation of William Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet” where the lovers speak to each other before they die
Excerpt from David Garrick's 18th-century adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, in which Romeo takes the poison but is still conscious when Juliet awakens. The two then speak dialogue not written by Shakespeare.
Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Excerpt from David Garrick's 18th-century adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, in which Romeo takes the poison but is still conscious when Juliet awakens. The two then speak dialogue not written by Shakespeare.
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Learn about Jean Cocteau's Surrealist stage production of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, as depicted in the book Roméo et Juliette (1926).
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A look at all four “states” of the Martin Droeshout engraved portrait of William Shakespeare, first published with the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare's plays.
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Writing by women in English during the 16th and 17th centuries is more common than once thought—and women scholars today are leading efforts to rediscover these authors.
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© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Hear the original pronunciation of Elizabethan English as demonstrated and explained by British linguist David Crystal and his actor son, Ben Crystal. Actors at the rebuilt Globe Theatre, London, have used this pronunciation in performances of William Shakespeare's plays.
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A brief discussion of the King James Bible's influence on English literature.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Julius Caesar muses to Mark Antony about Cassius, “Let me have men about me that are fat,” in Act I, scene 2, of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A look at an illustrated manuscript by Ralph Brooke, a herald in the English College of Arms in the 1590s. During that period, the college granted coats of arms to a prominent fishmonger and to William Shakespeare, but Brooke considered both applicants unworthy.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn more about William Shakespeare and the use of audition sides in acting.
News •
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet used in Surrey knife crime lessons
• Dec. 17, 2025, 5:39 AM ET (BBC)
Transcript
SPEAKER: Can you spot what's odd in this image of David Garrick as Romeo and Mrs. Bellamy as Juliette? It depicts a scene that is not strictly possible in Shakespeare's script.
[PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
ROMEO: Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace. And lips, oh, you, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death. Come, unsavory guide, thou desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark. Here's to my love.
SPEAKER: In Shakespeare's version, Romeo drinks the poison he's brought to the till. And he says--
ROMEO: Oh, true apothecary, thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss, I die. [GROANING]
SPEAKER: And he does.
ROMEO: [GASPING]
And Juliet doesn't awaken until some 25 lines later. Then she stabs herself with Romeo's dagger.
JULIET: Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. Oh, Churl, drunk all, and left no drop to help me after. I will kiss thy lips. Happily, some poison yet doth hang on them to make me die with a restorative.
[GASPING] Thy lips are warm. Yea, noise? [GASPING] Then I'll be brief. Oh, happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rust and let me die. [GASPING]
SPEAKER: When David Garrick adapted Romeo and Juliet, he followed a different ending, in which the lovers speak to each other before they die. In Garrick's version, Romeo drinks the poison, which doesn't kill him immediately. Juliet awakens. And in his joy at seeing her alive, Romeo momentarily forgets that he's not really long for the world.
ROMEO: Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace. [GASPING] Lips, oh, you, the doors of breath. Softly, soft she breathes. She stirs!
JULIET: Oh, where am I? Defend me!
ROMEO: She breathes. She lives. And we shall still be blessed.
JULIET: Oh, doth thou avoid me, Romeo? Let me touch thy hand and taste the cordial of thy lips.
ROMEO: Oh, I cannot. I have no strength, but want thy feeble aid. Cruel poison.
JULIET: But did I wake for this?
ROMEO: I am blasted. Betwixt love and death, I am torn. I am distracted. But death's strongest. And I must leave thee, Juliet. Oh, cruel cursed fate that was in heaven. Oh, Juliet. [GASPING] Juliet.
SPEAKER: Over 60 lines of dialogue, Garrick's Romeo realizes his fatal and very tragic mistake. This popular version remained the standard for a century. Even contemporary productions will sometimes echo Garrick's version, either consciously or not.
For example, Baz Luhrmann's 1996 movie version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes has Juliet awake just as Romeo drinks the poison. And then, with Romeo aware that she is alive, Juliet watches him die before she stabs herself.
[PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
ROMEO: Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace. And lips, oh, you, the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death. Come, unsavory guide, thou desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark. Here's to my love.
SPEAKER: In Shakespeare's version, Romeo drinks the poison he's brought to the till. And he says--
ROMEO: Oh, true apothecary, thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss, I die. [GROANING]
SPEAKER: And he does.
ROMEO: [GASPING]
And Juliet doesn't awaken until some 25 lines later. Then she stabs herself with Romeo's dagger.
JULIET: Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. Oh, Churl, drunk all, and left no drop to help me after. I will kiss thy lips. Happily, some poison yet doth hang on them to make me die with a restorative.
[GASPING] Thy lips are warm. Yea, noise? [GASPING] Then I'll be brief. Oh, happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rust and let me die. [GASPING]
SPEAKER: When David Garrick adapted Romeo and Juliet, he followed a different ending, in which the lovers speak to each other before they die. In Garrick's version, Romeo drinks the poison, which doesn't kill him immediately. Juliet awakens. And in his joy at seeing her alive, Romeo momentarily forgets that he's not really long for the world.
ROMEO: Eyes, look your last. Arms, take your last embrace. [GASPING] Lips, oh, you, the doors of breath. Softly, soft she breathes. She stirs!
JULIET: Oh, where am I? Defend me!
ROMEO: She breathes. She lives. And we shall still be blessed.
JULIET: Oh, doth thou avoid me, Romeo? Let me touch thy hand and taste the cordial of thy lips.
ROMEO: Oh, I cannot. I have no strength, but want thy feeble aid. Cruel poison.
JULIET: But did I wake for this?
ROMEO: I am blasted. Betwixt love and death, I am torn. I am distracted. But death's strongest. And I must leave thee, Juliet. Oh, cruel cursed fate that was in heaven. Oh, Juliet. [GASPING] Juliet.
SPEAKER: Over 60 lines of dialogue, Garrick's Romeo realizes his fatal and very tragic mistake. This popular version remained the standard for a century. Even contemporary productions will sometimes echo Garrick's version, either consciously or not.
For example, Baz Luhrmann's 1996 movie version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes has Juliet awake just as Romeo drinks the poison. And then, with Romeo aware that she is alive, Juliet watches him die before she stabs herself.
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