While some may debate over the true climax of Romeo & Juliet, my understanding is that the true climax occurs in the last act, Act V, when Romeo rushes to the side of what he believes is his now-deceased bride.
We the readers know that Juliet is not dead at this point--she is simply in a deep sleep brought on by a tincture given to her by the Friar, to fake her death to avoid her marriage to Paris.
The news of this plot was sent to Romeo, but the message boy did not reach Romeo in time. As far as Romeo knew, his love had passed away.
He wanted to be at her side in the end--for she had become his whole world, his only focus. He was so obsessed with his Juliet that he poisoned himself there on the spot, because he believed that a life in a world without Juliet was a life not worth living.
Dreadfully, sadly, as the poison works its' way through his system, our Sleeping Beauty begins to wake up, only to find that her Knight in Shining Armor has fatally poisoned himself just moments before her awakening.
This is an intense and tragic scene, with much build up and a great deal of emotion--grief, love, loss, confusion. So, just as Romeo could not live in a world without Juliet, Juliet cannot live in a world without Romeo. She takes his knife from his side and stabs it into her heart, falling upon the body of her love, dying for him as he died for her.
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