Could the play of Romeo and Juliet have still unfolded in a similar way without this night of lovemaking?

Answer 1

It is always possible to alter details of a plot without changing the outcomes. The outcome may become more and more implausible as a result, or the audience may end up sympathizing with the wrong characters.

The key issue here is raised by the Nurse. "Romeo is out of the picture, so why not marry Paris?" If Romeo and Juliet had merely exchanged fervent poetry one night in Juliet's backyard, how much would we sympathize with the nurse? Quite a lot, I suspect. If Juliet complained we might see her as petulant and childish. Certainly audiences of an earlier and less indulgent era would have thought so. If Romeo and Juliet had engaged themselves to marry, we might have less sympathy for the nurse. If they had gone through a form of marriage without consummating it, we would have less still. But such a marriage could easily be annulled and certainly would have been if Capulet had found out about it.

Once, however, the marriage is consummated, the bond becomes permanent. Once they had slept together and had sex with each other, they were man and wife until death parted them. The church would not annul the marriage nor divorce them. For Juliet to marry Paris would be to commit bigamy, a serious sin. Audiences of a previous time would know this and their sympathy would be entirely with Juliet.