What is an alternate ending to Romeo and Juliet?

Answer 1

This is a very open-ended question; there are an infinite number of different ways you can take a story. Not all of them are very good, but they are different. A good question to start with is, when does the ending begin? How much can we change? I mean, can we have Romeo decide not to crash the Capulet party after all and then fall in love with Miss Petronelli, who is totally unrelated to the Capulets? At least for the purposes of this answer, we should probably at least have Romeo kill Tybalt and be banished, and Capulet planning a wedding for Juliet. But what if, as they were planning the wedding, the Duke of Milan attacks Verona, and all able-bodied men, including Paris, join in the defence. Let's say that the Milanese are defeated but Paris dies. What then? Possibly the exiled Romeo joins the army in disguise and is such a hero he is pardoned. Or maybe in the scuffle Juliet sneaks away and flees to Mantua. Or maybe she is kidnapped by a Mantuan who takes her to Mantua where he is challenged and killed by Romeo. Or maybe there is no war, but the friar, instead of thinking of some herbal solution to Juliet's problem, has her pretend to become a nun, then sneak off to Mantua, where she and Romeo live together in love and poverty. Or maybe the friar advises Juliet to go through with the form of the marriage to Paris, but she gives him the knock-out potion instead of taking it herself. Then he is believed to be dead, and Juliet, now a wealthy widow, moves to Mantua, where she meets up with Romeo, and they marry "officially" this time. The Friar arranges to have Paris conveyed to Sicily by Friar John, disguised as a plague victim. Maybe he has another potion which induces amnesia. As you see, there are no limits. These are fairly tame suggestions. How about this one? Romeo and Juliet are abducted by time-travelling aliens who relocate them to twentifirst century New York City. A real deus ex UFO ending.

Answer 2

In an alternate ending to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the feud between the Montagues and Capulets is resolved peacefully, allowing Romeo and Juliet to openly marry and live happily ever after. The families come to realize that their feud has caused unnecessary tragedy and decide to put an end to the cycle of violence.