Scene three begins outside of the Capulet tomb with Paris coming to mourn the loss of his bride. He tells his servant to give him some privacy. Then Romeo shows up. Romeo asks Paris to leave because he doesn't want to hurt him, and he won't be stopped, but Paris refuses. He thinks because Romeo is a Montague that he is there to do damage to the monument. Romeo is forced to stab Paris who, before he dies, asks to be put next to Juliet. Romeo does drag him into the tomb because he doesn't want anyone to notice the body. Like Paris, Romeo tells his servant Balthasar to leave him alone. He lies and says he is there to take Juliet's wedding ring off her finger, but Balthasar knows better and stays nearby. Romeo goes into the tomb and looks at Juliet. He is astounded by how beautiful she looks, not knowing that she is minutes away from waking up. He gives her a last kiss, drinks his poison, and dies.

     Friar Laurence arrives thinking he will need to break into the tomb to rescue Juliet, but finds that it has already been opened. Balthasar emerges from the shadows and tells Friar Laurence that he fell asleep, but he thought he heard Romeo fight someone before he entered. Friar Laurence goes inside to find both Paris and Romeo dead. At that moment, Juliet awakens, knowing that the plan was for Romeo to be there waiting for her. Friar Laurence tries to keep her attention away from the dead bodies, but she quickly sees what has happened. Friar Laurence offers to sneak her away and let her live out her life as a nun, but she is not interested. A noise is heard outside, and Friar Laurence exits, so Juliet tries to kiss Romeo's lips to suck off the poison. When that doesn't work, she takes Romeo's dagger and stabs herself.

     More people arrive, and they decide they need to find the Capulets and the Montagues. The Prince arrives and demands an explanation. The Capulets are shocked to find their daughter, who they thought was already dead, freshly bleeding. Lord Montague joins in and says that his wife is dead due to grief over Romeo's banishment before finding out that his son is dead too. Friar Laurence then steps up and explains the entire story, including the secret marriage, the potion, and the undelivered letter. He takes the blame for what happened. Balthasar confirms what he knows of Romeo's plan and delivers a letter that Romeo wanted given to his father after he died. Paris's servant tells how Romeo killed Paris. After hearing the story, Capulet offers his hand to Montague in peace. In addition, he wants to give him a large sum of money as a sign of friendship. Montague agrees to take that money and build a gold statue of Juliet to honor her. The Prince tells them how their fighting has led to the deaths of their only children and ends with the famous lines "For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."