The resolution of the play comes when Prince Escalus arrives at the scene of Romeo's and Juliet's deaths. He confirms that Friar Lawrence has told the truth about the relationship between the two young people, and he reads of Romeo's plan to come to Juliet's tomb and drink poison so that he could remain with her in death. The Prince addresses Lords Capulet and Montague, pointing out how their hatred for one another killed the very people they love the most: their children. Capulet and Montague finally put their feud behind them, and Montague even offers to "raise [Juliet's] statue in pure gold," leading Capulet to allow Romeo to be buried with Juliet. The Prince has the final word in the play, symbolizing the return to order and the end of the chaos that was caused by families' mutual hatred. It is "glooming," but at least it is "peace." Justice will now rule, and "Some shall be pardoned, and some punished" for their roles in the sad tale of Romeo and Juliet.

Thanks to the prologue at the beginning of the play, the audience knows that Romeo and Juliet will die, but the fact that neither Romeo nor Juliet knows makes the resolution of the play all the more touching and tragic.

At the end of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, Romeo mistakenly receives a message that Juliet has died, and the friar's message about her plan to fake her death does not reach him. Romeo is so grief-stricken he decides that he must die as well. When Romeo arrives at the tomb where the Capulets have placed Juliet, the audience knows that Juliet is actually alive, but Romeo does not. He swallows the poison he bought for this purpose and dies moments before Juliet regains consciousness. She sees his dead body upon waking, and she is so overwhelmed with the loss of Romeo that she kills herself with Romeo's dagger. Moments later, the Capulets and Montague arrive with the Prince.

The young lovers of Verona die needlessly, an event which leads their warring families to resolve their problems. The Capulets and Montagues even go as far as to agree to erect statues of their children in Verona to mark the new peace.