Juliet dies by stabbing herself with a dagger.
_Here’s the text from the play that recounts the events leading up to Juliet’s death:_
> Romeo: Then I defy you, stars.
> Thou know'st my lodging: get me ink and paper,
> And hire posthorses; I'll be gone tonight.
> Juliet: I must hear from thee every day of the hour,
> For in a minute there are many days:
> O, by this count I shall be much in years
> Ere I again behold my Romeo!
> Romeo: Farewell! I will omit no opportunity
> That may convey my greetings, love, to thee.
> Juliet: O, think'st thou we shall ever meet again?
> Romeo: I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve
> For sweet discourses in our time to come.
> Juliet: O God, I have an ill-divining soul!
> Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,
> As one dead in the bottom of a tomb:
> Either my eyesight fails or thou look'st pale.
> Romeo: And trust me, love, in my eye so do you:
> Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!
_Exit Romeo_
> Juliet: Art thou gone so? My love, my lord, my friend!
> I must hear from thee every day in the hour,
> Or else I’ll die tomorrow! (3.5.55-80)
Juliet goes to the Friar’s cell, hoping that he will have a solution to her problem—that she is married to Romeo but her family wants her to marry Paris. He gives her a potion that will make her appear dead for 42 hours, and instructs her to send a message to Romeo so he can meet her at the tomb. But then things don’t go according to plan: Romeo is given the wrong information and thinks Juliet is actually dead, so he takes poison and dies when he sees her in the tomb. When Juliet wakes, she finds Romeo dead, and stabs herself with his dagger.
Why does Juliet die?
Juliet dies because she cannot live without Romeo. When she sees that he is dead, she feels that her life is no longer worth living. She is so overcome with grief and despair that she takes her own life.
_Here’s a passage that shows Juliet’s intense grief and despair upon finding Romeo dead:_
> JULIET
> Where is my lord? Where is my Romeo?
> Friar Laurence (showing her Romeo's body)
> There, dead, laid in thy tomb.
> Juliet
> I am afraid, being in night, all this is but a dream,
> Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.
_When Juliet realizes Romeo is dead, she says she will poison herself:_
> Yea, noise? Then I'll be brief. O happy dagger!
> This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die. (5.3.168-70)