Act 5 Scene 3 • Inevitable Fate

I write now weighed down in heavy sorrow and shaken by many fleeting and unexpected events. Upon learning that Romeo did not receive his letter, I had a foreboding premonition of something bad to come. I immediately rushed to the Capulet's tomb in an attempt to rescue Juliet myself. Fearing that she would be angry and afraid alone in the tomb with no Romeo to greet her from her deep sleep, I made haste, unaware that this should be the least of my fears.

To my surprise, I ran into Balthasar, the servant of Romeo, waiting in the shadows of the tomb. He informed me of Romeo's desperate pleas not to follow him into the burial chamber, which roused my suspicions. I was in no way prepared for the scene that greeted me upon entering the grave: Romeo and Paris both lie dead on the floor! Among many other emotions, desperation crossed my mind. The consequences of the recent actions lay completely on my shoulders and Romeo's death could not be undone. My beloved son! And what of Juliet? How would she react and what was to become of her? As she stirred, I heard noises from above and I desperately implored her to leave the place with me. I would hide her into my cell until we thought of another plan that hopefully would be more successful than the last, but she refused my request. I had no other choice but to flee.

Despite my attempt to evacuate the crime scene, I was discovered and was deemed a main suspect due to the tools I possessed. I was also at the wrong place at the wrong time. Seeing the dreadful sight of Juliet's bloody body sprawled desolately across Romeo's did not come as much of a shock to me as you would expect. She had been planning to end her life if she could not come up with a solution other than forgetting Romeo and marrying Paris, so I had no reason to believe that she would choose to live under these circumstances without Romeo. All of this happening at once was far too much for me to handle in such a short amount of time. I remained unresponsive until called upon to give an account, and an honest account was what I gave. I spoke no other word but the truth and claimed full responsibility for my actions, as I should have. The Prince took mercy on me and allowed me to remain a holy man in Verona.

At long last, the feud between the families was settled due to mutual loss and understanding of the gravity of this pointless argument. As I had expected, the star crossed lovers did end up bringing their families together, just not in the way I had expected. Fate remained unavoidable despite my precautions.