Romeo+and+Juliet+Discussion

toc

Here you will find a guide to the play. After each scene you will find a question. These questions are posted in the discussion tab on this page. You must respond to each question or one of your peer's responses to the question to earn credit.

Prologue
The play starts out by telling you everything in the prologue. We have two houses who have always hated one another, and through the death of their children, they came together in peace. Those deaths, tragically, were the only things capable of bringing the feuding families to a truce. As the chorus states, the play that follows it tries to explain the situation better. //__Question 1: Any guesses why Shakespeare would begin a play by telling you the end? Does it take away from the drama of the play?__//

=Act I Scene 1=

The play begins with two servants of the house of Capulet. The two talk and Gregory uses witty words to make Sampson look like an idiot – a typical male friendship, I suppose. They come across two servants of the Montague house and try to start a fight without looking like they are trying to start a fight, since they could get arrested if they started one. The fight begins quickly, and before we can think about how immature these men are, their brawl draws in even the oldest members of the Capulet and Montague houses (men who should be wielding crutches instead of swords). The Prince meanders by and throws a fit when he sees the families fighting again. //__Question 2: What does the Prince threaten to do to them if they ever fight again?__//

Members of the Montague family remain on stage after the fight, and they discuss Romeo and his current state of health. Romeo is depressed, and his parents do not know why. When Romeo saunters into view, Benvolio promises to Montague that he will find out what bothers Romeo.

Romeo, we soon find, is in a bit of an annoying, lovesick state. If you find Romeo’s words vague, melodramatic, and unmoving, you are reading his mood correctly. The patient Benvolio eventually gets Romeo to tell him who this mystery loved one is (“a woman” – so helpful), and we find that Romeo is smitten with a woman who appears to be a future Nun. Benvolio vows to find a woman beautiful enough to make Romeo forget the Nun. __//Question 3: What is your initial impression of Romeo? Use a line from the play to support your answer.//__

Act I Scene 2
Now we peek at the Capulets and our other title character—Juliet. County Paris seeks the hand of Juliet in marriage, but Capulet wants to wait two years before giving her away. //__Question 4: How old does Capulet say Juliet is? What is your reaction to knowing that she is already a potential bride?__// Capulet is in favor of Paris marrying her, and he invites Paris to a party that night, where all the beautiful women will be. Capulet expects that Paris will find Juliet the most beautiful woman in the crowd. Then, to a servant who cannot read he gives a list of people to be invited. Oops.

Romeo and Benvolio meander by, Benvolio encouraging his friend to inflict some pain upon himself that will make him forget the pain of love. The Capulet’s servant then goes to them for help, and Romeo reads the list for him, discovering as he reads that the woman he finds so beautiful, Rosaline, will be at the party. He and Benvolio decide to go to the party—Benvolio wants to show him that his nun-to-be is not so beautiful, and Romeo thinks his nun will outshine the lot. //__Question 5: What do you think is going to happen at the party?__//

Act I Scene 3
Here we meet Juliet, her mom, and her nurse first hand. The nurse, you will soon find, talks too much. In her babbling, we hear how long the nurse has been with Juliet and we discover the Nurse has a passion for bawdy humor. Somehow Lady Capulet and Juliet shut her up, and the Lady informs Juliet that Paris wants to marry her. Lady Capulet says that Paris is a good looking man, only lacking a wife to make him better looking, and the nurse adds her own not terribly helpful observations, revealing again her focus on the physical side of life. The group soon descends to the party. //__Question 6: What would your thoughts be if you were Juliet and your parents recommended a husband to you? (Guys, try to answer the question even if you have no idea.)__//

Act I Scene 4
Romeo and his crew arrive at the party wearing masks—the party is a masquerade—which is how they will get in without causing an immediate ruckus. Before entering the party, Romeo acts like a dope, saying he will not dance because he feels too sad. Mercutio chastises him, telling him not to be such a wimp, that he should fight back against love. Romeo mumbles something about a dream he had, and Mercutio erupts into a lengthy monologue about how one cannot trust dreams. The group finally goes into the party, with Romeo insisting that fate has given him a forecast of an untimely death if he enters. //__Question 7: What does Romeo’s attitude seem to be in his last lines of this scene? Quote a line or two from this part that makes you say his attitude is like this.__//

Act I Scene 5
Welcome to the party. Capulet struts around trying to make everyone dance as he reminisces about the days when he was attractive and cool. Apparently, he is no longer either—maybe we should have a contest to see who can draw the best Capulet. Anyway, Romeo swoons at a woman who is NOT the fair Rosaline, and when he speaks, Tybalt recognizes him as a Montague. Tybalt wants to turn the dance into a swordfight, but Capulet commands him to chill out. Eventually, Tybalt submits and storms away. //__Question 8: As Tybalt submits, what does he vow to do?(Quote the line and paraphrase its meaning.) Is Tybalt someone you would want as a new classmate at CDO? Why or why not?__//

Romeo manages to dance with Juliet, and his pickup lines are smoother than we might have thought him capable of after watching him swoon over a nun. Apparently, the style of the dance required dancing partners to touch their palms together, and that gave Romeo the opportunity to praise Juliet’s beauty, calling her a shrine and a saint. Even if you smirk at his wooing words, you have to admit they’re better than “Was you father an alien? Because there's nothing else like you on earth!” His words are so good, in fact, that Juliet lets him kiss her, twice! And they do not yet know each other’s names. Before the end of the scene, as the party breaks up, Romeo finds out Juliet is a Capulet and Juliet discovers Romeo is a Montague. //__Question 9: Evaluate the first meeting of these two lovers. Is it worthy? Did it lack anything?__//

=Act II Chorus=

The chorus enters again and emphasizes the stakes. Romeo has a new love, and that is of the enemy. This love, the chorus points out, may not go as easily as a love normally would. Note the chorus emphasizing words like passion and extremities.

Act II Scene 1
After the party, Romeo decides to risk returning to the Capulet house to see Juliet. As his friends Mercutio and Benvolio come upon him, he hides himself. The friends see him run away and figure that he had gone home. Mercutio tries to summon Romeo from hiding by “conjuring” him with Rosaline’s name—basically he teases Rosaline to try to draw Romeo out. He makes some lude jokes and Benvolio convinces him that they have no reason to search for a man who does not want to be found.

Act II Scene 2
This is the famous balcony scene. Keep in mind as you read that Juliet does not notice Romeo until after line 50. When Romeo first sees Juliet at her window, he speaks long about her virtues, comparing her to the sun and her eyes to stars. When Juliet begins to speak, Romeo compares her voice to that of an angel. //__Question 10: Hyperbole is when writers use exaggeration to enhance their point. Where does Romeo use hyperbole? What are they?__//

With Romeo listening silently and undiscovered, Juliet then laments the pettiness of a name, since it is the only thing that prevents her and Romeo from being together. (The word “wherefore” means “why.”) At the end of her speech, Romeo reveals himself suddenly, yelling out an offer to disown his name. Initially disturbed by his presence, Juliet soon realizes that it is Romeo creeping around her bedroom window. She then worries over his safety (her family would kill him if they found him) while he speaks grandly about how he cares only about her. Juliet then takes the discussion to the point—she cannot play hard to get because he has already heard her swoon over him, which worries her because he might think her flippant for being won over so easily. Since she has nothing else to hide, she asks him to get to the point as well and say what he thinks of her. He begins to swear by things so she will believe him, but she asks him to state it simply. In the argument, she decides that things are moving too quickly and she tries to say good-bye. //__Question 11: When she thinks things are moving too quickly, to what does she compare the “contract”?__//

In the wake of Juliet’s attempt to say good-bye, the Nurse calls. Juliet disappears, and when she reappears she tells Romeo that if he loves her, he should propose marriage the next day—much slower than before, don’t you think? From here, the nurse continues to call and Juliet keeps running in and out of her room. The scene resembles the vain attempts of a sad, young couple to hang up the phone: “Okay, you hang up. – No, you hang up. – I’m not hanging up until you do. – But I love you too much to hang up! – I love you too! – Oh, let’s just fall asleep while we’re on the phone! – What a great idea!”

//__Question 12: This is a very famous scene of romantic courtship. What are your impressions?__//

Act II Scene 3
The Friar becomes a very important character, and we meet him as he speaks eloquently about many of the play’s themes, including the nature of virtue and vice. The plants of which he speaks also play a part later.

Romeo arrives early and talks excitedly about the past night. Eventually, the Friar gets the story out of him, even as he chides Romeo for changing his mind so drastically and quickly. The Friar does consent to marry Romeo and Juliet, hoping that the marriage might bring peace between the feuding families. //__Question 13: The Friar is a voice of wisdom in Romeo and Juliet. Search through this scene and find two wise statements.__//

Act II Scene 4
Some of you will find the chatter of Mercutio confusing at parts, but do not despair! Shakespeare loves word play and wit, and he fills Mercutio’s lines with both of these things. If you get tangled and confused at the details of Mercutio’s lines, move on.

This scene begins with Romeo’s friends discussing two things: how much they dislike Rosaline for tormenting him, and how Tybalt has challenged Romeo (which means challenged to a duel). Mercutio fears that Romeo’s lovesickness makes him unfit to fight, and in an outburst proliferated with dueling lingo, he describes Tybalt’s precise and detailed style of swordsmanship.

Romeo enters and he and Mercutio taunt each other with a massive outpouring of word play, where each character tries to respond to the other’s quips with words that mean more than one thing. It is, in a sense, a friendly duel, using words instead of swords. Mercutio eventually observes with joy that he likes this Romeo much better than his lovesick counterpart.

The nurse enters with her fellow servant and she quickly becomes the butt of Mercutio’s jesting, which gets a bit crude. The nurse acts offended, but as you have found, the nurse acts a lot of things. In her conversation with Romeo, a lot of excess chatter emerges, but eventually the main message gets across—that if Juliet comes to Friar Laurence’s cell this afternoon, they will marry. //__Question 14: What do you think about Mercutio? What kind of a guy is he? Find one line from this scene that helps you explain what he is like.__//

Act II Scene 5
In Juliet’s room, the lady waits anxiously for the nurse, who has made a quick errand into a long affair. A few themes emerge in Juliet’s speech at the beginning of the scene (and then get reinforced throughout the scene)—a contrast between youth and the aged, and Juliet’s inability to wait. The nurse enters and acts like a twit, withholding the one tidbit of information Juliet wants to hear. Does this fit with the notions you developed about the nurse in the last scene? The nurse does give the information, eventually. Then, the nurse determines to get a ladder, which will allow Romeo to climb into Juliet’s room that night—because they will be married then and will do what married people do. //__Question 15: What of this nurse? Try to describe her character – include two descriptive words, and try to explain why you choose those words. Include a line from the scene to show what you mean.__//

Act II Scene 6
The wedding takes place in secret, with only the Friar present. Romeo states boldly that whatever sorrow will come into his life, it will fade after he gets one minute with Juliet. (Note: title characters in Shakespeare’s plays should avoid such bold statements. It seems they always regret them.) In response to Romeo’s declaration, the Friar makes more wise statements about moving too quickly and violently. Juliet arrives, and after some loving words, the three go off stage to marry the lovers. //__Question 16: What’s the hurry? Why do you think Romeo and Juliet have been in such a hurry to marry? Should they have been in such a hurry?__//

=Act III Scene 1=

This scene begins with Mercutio and Benvolio taunting each other about who is the bigger hothead. Mercutio lists a bunch of petty reasons he says Benvolio used to begin past fights. We suspect he is not telling the truth (Benvolio was the one who tried to break up that battle between the servants), and when Tybalt walks in Mercutio quickly reveals himself to be the hothead, as he immediately challenges Tybalt to fight. Tybalt is looking for Romeo, however (remember, Tybalt is still bitter about Romeo showing up at the party), and as soon as Romeo walks in, he calls him a villain—not exactly the kindest greeting. Romeo responds with lovey-dovey talk, because Tybalt is his new cousin-in-law, though Tybalt does not know it. Mercutio fumes at Romeo’s seeming wimpy-ness and draws his own sword against Tybalt. Romeo begs Benvolio to help him stop the ensuing fight, and as he attempts to pull Mercutio away, Tybalt stabs Mercutio. //__Question 17: Tybalt’s blow seems like poor sportsmanship. What do you think? Does he have a right to stab Mercutio, since they are trying to kill each other? Or does the sneaky blow make Tybalt a miserable cretin?__//

Injured, Mercutio cannot resist additional word-play (can you find the famous pun?). He’s not happy with Romeo for getting in the way during the fight, and he’s less happy about the feuding between the Capulets and Montagues leading to his own death—so he curses both houses. Romeo speaks in soliloquy shortly and reflects upon what just happened: Mercutio was not of either feuding house—he was a close friend of the Prince—and he was killed defending Romeo. And Romeo (in his words) was acting womanly and wimpy for Juliet’s sake. Before he can evaluate the situation further, Romeo learns that Mercutio has died, and Tybalt re-enters the stage. Romeo yells out in anger and the two fight, with Tybalt dying.

Romeo flees, slowly realizing that his new strategy of passionate revenge was not such a good one. Representatives of each family and the Prince soon enter and Benvolio explains what happened. Each family demands that the other receive greater punishment, but the Prince is fuming because his “blood” (Mercutio) was killed. He banishes Romeo from the kingdom and fines each family an astronomical amount. //__Question 18: Romeo kills Tybalt. Is he an idiot for risking his new marriage in a silly fight? Was he thinking or acting out of passion? Find a line from him that supports your answer. What do you think Juliet will say when she finds out what happened?__//

Act III Scene 2
Once again, we hear Juliet impatient. This time, in her soliloquy, she is impatient for, and excited about, the coming of night, when she and her new husband will consummate their marriage. (That is, they’ll sleep together for the first time.) The Nurse enters and throws down the cords that she was going to use to tie a ladder for Romeo to climb to Juliet’s room. She shows herself, again, to be a lousy messenger by screaming “Dead” and “Romeo” without explanation. In a process unnecessarily painful for Juliet, the Nurse conveys, somehow, what happened with Tybalt and with Romeo.

Juliet then throws some questions to heaven about Romeo, wondering how he could seem so wonderful and actually be so bad. //__Question 19: Examine this outburst from Juliet (lines 73-85). How many examples of oxymoron can you find? What are they? An oxymoron is when you stick two antonyms together to describe one thing—pleasurable pain.__// When the Nurse joins in by insulting Romeo, Juliet rebukes her and herself for having chided her husband.

In Juliet’s next speech, the new bride reasons out her feelings and tries to comprehend the situation. First she works through forgiving Romeo for killing Tybalt; then, she begins to comprehend how terrible it is that Romeo has been banished. She vows to weep over this sadness while her family weeps over Tybalt’s death. The Nurse goes to find Romeo and Juliet asks her to bring a ring to him.

Act III Scene 3
Romeo has been hiding at the Friar’s cell, and when the Friar tells Romeo that he has been banished, the young groom reacts dramatically, declaring banishment worse than death. The Friar, not impressed with Romeo’s emotional fit, chastises him for not being grateful at the Prince’s merciful punishment. Romeo then speaks at length about how even mice have it better than him, since they can look upon Juliet’s face. The Friar, ever patient with Romeo’s petulance, tries to tell Romeo that the situation is not as bad as it seems. Romeo essentially tells him, in lines 64-70, that the Friar cannot understand and should keep his mouth shut. //__Question 20: What do you think about the angry attitude that Romeo shows to the Friar here? Quote one bad thing Romeo says, and then consider these questions: Is it forgivable, given his desperate situation? Or is he overreacting with the same passion that put him in this situation?__//

The Nurse enters and after Romeo hears about Juliet’s state, he holds a knife to himself. The Friar erupts at this action and scolds Romeo for behaving like a womanly beast. He says Romeo has shamed not only himself but also his wife. He then lays out all the things that Romeo should be grateful for, including Juliet’s love, his surviving the duel with Tybalt, and the Prince’s merciful penalty. He points out to Romeo that happiness has pursued him, and he has ignored it like a jerk. The Friar then takes to action, declaring that Romeo will go to Juliet that night. Then he would have Romeo go to Mantua until he can return with greater happiness than ever. He tells the Nurse to prepare Juliet and the Capulet house. //__Question 21: You have seen the original plan—to get together for a night and then have Romeo hide out far away for an unknown amount of time. a. Do you think that Romeo and Juliet will be able to go through with this plan? b. If you were Romeo or Juliet, would this plan be acceptable to you? Would you change the plan? How?__//

Act III Scene 4
Remember Paris? He reenters the play at the least opportune time. Here, Capulet and his wife have stayed up late chumming with Paris, and they decide that he should marry Juliet quickly. Confident that Juliet will bend to her father’s will, Capulet finalizes the wedding day for Thursday, three days from the present. Lady Capulet is to go to Juliet to tell her the news. Won’t she be excited?

Act III Scene 5
In Juliet’s room, she and Romeo are parting after a little couple-time. They exchange passionate talk, wishing they could stay together and dreading the separation to come. As Romeo leaves, they have an odd forethought that things will go badly, but they can do nothing about it, so Romeo leaves. This marks the last time Romeo and Juliet talk to one another.

Lady Capulet comes to the room and the mother and daughter discuss Tybalt’s death. The Lady says some awful things about Romeo, and since no one knows about the marriage, Juliet has to play along. The Lady soon announces the coming wedding, which Juliet refuses. Papa Capulet enters soon afterwards, and when Juliet tells him “No, thanks” to the Paris marriage, he goes ballistic, calling his daughter all kinds of things. //__Question: 22: What are some of the things that he calls his daughter? Quote a couple.__// The Nurse steps in and he blasts her as well. His anger capitalizes in this threat: marry Paris Thursday or move out of the house to beg in the streets.

Juliet begs to her mother for some new plan, but her mother backs up her father. She then begs the Nurse for some word of comfort—she could use some good news at this point. The Nurse, being the helpful woman that she has always proved to be, advises Juliet to marry Paris, since he’s so good looking and since Romeo is banished and all. Juliet gets rid of her quickly and determines to stay away from the Nurse from now on. She is going to Friar’s cell to form a plan or to kill herself. //__Question 23: What are your emotional reactions to some of these character—Juliet’s mom, dad, and nurse. How do you feel about each of them? Rank them in order of how much you hate them—use lines from the text to help explain why you rank them the way you do.__//

=Act IV Scene 1=

This scene is set in the Friar’s chambers, and as it begins, he has just learned from Paris about the coming wedding. The Friar expresses his doubts about the wedding, mentioning that Paris does not even know how Juliet feels about it. Paris explains to him that the family believes a social occasion and getting married is just what Juliet needs to get over the death of Tybalt, which she is still crying about. Juliet enters and in the conversation with Paris and he tries to get her to tell him that she loves him. She manages not to say that and we feel the awkwardness of Paris’s claim upon Juliet, knowing that she is already married to someone else. Paris soon leaves so that Juliet may have confession time with the Friar.

The Friar immediately expresses sympathy for Juliet’s situation, but Juliet is in no mood for sympathy. She tells the Friar that unless he can offer a solution to the problem, she will kill herself with the knife she has in her hand. Calling for her to slow down, the Friar hints that he has a dangerous solution, but that if she is really willing to kill herself over the situation, she is likely willing to carry out the plan. He says he will tell her his plan if she is willing. Juliet responds with a gory list of things she would rather do than marry Paris. The list is almost exhaustive, but she left off “I would rather dive into a swimming pool filled with double edge razor blades.”

Friar then explains his plan: 1. Act like she’s willing to get married; 2. Make sure she sleeps in her room alone tomorrow night (the night before the wedding); 3. Drink the special vial of stuff (probably tastes worse than cough medicine); 4. The stuff will make her look dead for 42 hours (even stops her blood—yes, this is fiction); 5. The family will bury her in the family’s grave right away, where, 6. Romeo will come to her after the Friar sends him word of the plan, and, 7. They run to Mantua happily, if she does not get scared and fail to drink the stuff. Juliet grabs the vial of potion and the Friar vows to send word to Romeo.

//__Question 24: The Friar suggests a daring and possibly psychotic plan. Do you think Juliet is courageous enough to attempt it? Or is she overreacting and without a wiser idea? What is the weak point in the plan (what could go wrong?)__//

Act IV Scene 2
Capulet issues orders for the wedding and reception and Juliet walks in acting repentant for her attitude. Papa Capulet gets so excited that he moves the wedding to tomorrow (Wednesday instead of Thursday). What is it with these people always rushing everything? Get a grip! Juliet tries to get the Nurse to come help her prepare tonight, which would have left her alone the next night. But since Papa moves the wedding, Juliet instead has her mom and the Nurse in her room when she wants to be alone to take her potion. Dad says he will plan the details of the wedding day—every girl’s dream.

Act IV Scene 3
Juliet successfully rids herself of her mom and the Nurse. Then she speaks an eloquent and frightening soliloquy contemplating her next act. She confronts each of her fears concerning the plan, and we wonder if the Friar could be right—might Juliet not have the courage to act out her plan? //__Question 25: You should understand most of this soliloquy. What are some of the things she fears? Name at least three.__// At the end of her talk, where it gets a little more difficult to understand, she seems to have worked herself into a frenzy. She pictures Tybalt’s ghost seeking Romeo to kill him, and crying out to Romeo, she drinks the vial and drops to her bed.

Act IV Scene 4
This scene is a snapshot of the hustle and bustle, with Papa Capulet giving orders and arranging the wedding. He eventually asks the Nurse to waken Juliet.

Act IV Scene 5
Juliet sleeps in one of those beds with curtains, so the Nurse yells obnoxious things to her to wake her up. Not surprisingly, the Nurse makes sexual references, which is particularly sickening if we recall that the Nurse knows that Juliet is already married. She looks in eventually and discovers Juliet seemingly dead. The family soon enters and they all yell and lament Juliet’s death.

The Friar and Paris enter next and the lamenting continues, with each person taking a moment to express the loss. Each person seems to want to outdo the others with these very dramatic outbursts. Note the painfully ineloquent outburst from the Nurse. How did this woman ever get hired? The Friar hushes them with words of wisdom, pointing out that Heaven is a good place to be and also moving them towards the funeral details sooner (strategic, dontchathink?). He also gets in one last dig on the behavior of the family, suggesting that the bad event may have occurred as punishment to them. //Question 26: Assuming that Juliet’s potion worked and that she is actually “asleep,” we have an interesting perspective of everything the Friar says. What kind of irony are we experiencing here? Explain how it is irony and quote a line to show what you mean. (Dramatic, Situational, Verbal)//

The scene moves into an odd stretch where the servant Peter almost brawls with the musicians, who were packing to go before he requested a song. It’s another war of wit, and the musicians eventually decide to stick around.

=Act V Scene 1=

Romeo recaps his dream to us: he was dead and Juliet revived him with her kiss. The dream makes him happy and he thinks it forecasts good things. Remember, Shakespearean title characters should not say things like that. On cue, then, his servant enters and Romeo happily asks how everyone is doing. The servant tells him everything is going well, since Juliet now rests with the angels. “Hmm,” you’re thinking, “Why didn’t Romeo already know this? Didn’t the Friar’s messenger tell him?” Apparently not, since the servant thinks Juliet is dead and Romeo knows no better. //__Question 27: Why didn’t the Friar alert Romeo? Do you think it was due to negligence on the part of the Friar? Why didn’t the wise Friar foresee Romeo flipping out when he learned of Juliet’s death?__//

Not surprisingly, Romeo gets upset at the news of Juliet’s death. The servant tries to slow him down, perceiving that Romeo looks wild—seems to fit into that passionate nature, right? Romeo sends his servant to prepare him for the trip, and in soliloquy he vows to lie with Juliet tonight, which implies that he wants to kill himself. He remembers seeing an apothecary (a seller of potions) who seemed to be down on his luck and would likely be as willing as anyone to sell Romeo a deadly poison.

The apothecary enters and Romeo requests a deadly potion. When the apothecary resists, pointing out that he could be arrested and killed for selling it, Romeo counters that he is too poor to refuse. Taking the deadly drink, Romeo observes that gold is a worse poison, as it destroys men’s souls. He then rushes off to Juliet’s grave to die. //__Question 28: You can feel the bad things coming – a. predict what will happen. b. What might happen to intervene and stop bad things from happening?__//

Act V Scene 2
Though we know it did not reach Romeo on time, we now discover that the Friar had sent his letter to him by a messenger. A fellow friar, John, arrives and our Friar, Laurence, asks about Romeo. He obviously expects to hear some great news, but Friar John tells him that the letter did not get there (should’ve gone with FedEx). He had been with some sick people and the authorities locked him up, thinking he was contagious. John hands Friar Laurence’s letter back to him, having never delivered it. Friar Laurence laments the bad news and immediately asks for an iron crowbar. Why a crowbar? Juliet will awake within the next three hours and she will be alone in a tomb. The Friar goes to her, assuming he can hide her until he can send word to Romeo. (But we know Romeo is already on the way—Shakespeare has dropped a bowl of dramatic irony and it’s running everywhere!)

Act V Scene 3
This is it. The love affair comes to this final tragic scene. The entire scene takes place at the Capulets’ tomb, at night. Paris enters and asks his page to stand guard while he mourns. The frightened page moves away and we listen to Paris’s words of dedication. He says he “strew” her bed with flowers, which here means the bed of dirt where her body now lies. He vows to cry over her grave nightly (“with sweet water nightly I will dew”), and in case he is not sad enough to cry, he will at least moan over it. What a man. His page whistles that someone is approaching, and Paris hides to see who comes.

Romeo enters, giving businesslike instructions to his own page, Balthasar, about opening the tomb. He tells Balthasar he wants to get a ring from Juliet’s finger (this is only an excuse to get himself alone with the body) and that Balthasar should stand back if he does not want Romeo to kill him. Romeo gives Balthasar a large purse of money to thank him, and Balthasar chooses to hide nearby, because he suspects Romeo’s intentions.

Romeo then speaks to the tomb using digestive imagery, and he pries open its “jaws.” Paris, thinking that Romeo is trying to do something vile to the bodies of Juliet and Tybalt, jumps out and challenges him with his sword. Romeo warns him to leave, calling Paris “youth,” and urging him not to mess with a madman. Paris does, however, and they fight. Paris falls quickly, but not before his page runs off for help. Romeo then talks for a long time and says many soul-wrenching things. //__Question 29: As you read this soliloquy, compare the sadness of Romeo’s language to what you read recently from Paris. a. Who seems sadder about Juliet’s death? Why? Quote a line to show what you mean. b. How do you view Romeo’s love now, compared to early in the play when he seems to love any pretty face? What has changed?__// When Romeo discovers whom he has killed, he pities Paris, enhancing his sad mood. He then carries Paris’s body into the tomb. His soliloquy focuses first on Juliet’s beauty: death has not taken it away from her yet (dramatic irony here). Then he turns to Tybalt: he points out that he is avenging Tybalt by killing himself. He next returns to the subject of Juliet’s beauty: has death kept her beautiful to take her as his lover (personification)? To ensure against that, Romeo says he will kill himself and stay with her. He then prepares himself to die, declaring the tomb his new home. He says goodbye to all his body parts, grabs a kiss, and takes the potion, discovering that it works quickly.

Friar Laurence enters the graveyard area, bumping into Balthasar, who tells him that Romeo is at the Capulet’s tomb. Friar rightly fears what has happened, and on his way in he sees the marks left when Paris and Romeo fought, though he does not understand what has happened until he sees Romeo and Paris lying dead inside the tomb. Juliet stirs immediately, asking the Friar where Romeo is. The Friar tells her he is dead and urges her to flee so he can put her in a nunnery. Juliet orders him away, and she speaks to Romeo’s body, wondering why he did not save any poison for her. She kisses his still-warm lips and stabs herself with his dagger.

Paris’s page enters with the watchman, who counts the dead, which includes Juliet, newly dead, though dead for two days—very mysterious. Everyone soon enters. When Montague enters, he begins to get angry, but the Prince demands that everyone stay calm until they understand what happened—note the line, “let mischance be slave to patience.” Remarkably, the families wait and actually act with patience.

The Friar recounts the tragic tale for the families, and Balthasar hands over the note that Romeo had written to his father. Everyone’s stories confirm the Friar’s story, and the Prince scolds the families and himself for allowing the events to happen. The families declare a peace, with Montague vowing to build a statue of Juliet. The Prince points out how sad the story is, and the play is finished. //__Question 30: What is your feeling at the end of this story? Who is to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?__//