Romeo and Juliet - Act 5

Where does scene 1 take place?
Mantua. A street.

Name the people who are present in scene 1.
Romeo, Balthasar, Apothecary

What is Romeo’s mood at the beginning of scene 1?
Happy

What premonition did Romeo have during scene 1?
That Juliet found him dead (as she actually does) and kisses him alive and became an emperor.

What is an example of a metaphor in scene 1?
“My bosom’s lord sits lightly in his throne.”

What news does Balthasar bring in scene 1?
He tells Romeo that Juliet is dead.

Why does the Apothecary sell Romeo the poison, even though it is illegal to do so?
Because he is poor, and needs the money.

How much does Romeo offer to pay the Apothecary for the poison?
40 ducats (pieces of gold)

What is Romeo’s plan?
He asks Balthasar to get him ink and paper, as well as fast horses (post horses) while he goes in search of poison, so he can kill himself alongside the body of Juliet in the Capulet tomb, in Verona.

That very day he plans on riding out to Verona on his horses.

What are the dramatic purposes of scene 1?
1. To give Romeo a fairly cheerful and optimistic outlook at the beginning of the scene, so that his hopes may be dashed and his courage turned to despair by contrast.
2. To illustrate (by omission) the miscarriage of the Friar’s plans.
3. To show the immediate effect of Juliet’s ‘death’ on Romeo, and thereby to prepare us for a catastrophe ahead.

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What is an example of a simile in scene 1?
“As violently as hasty powder fired.”

How do you tell if a line is a simile?
If the line contains like, as, or than.

Where does scene 2 take place?
Friar Laurence’s cell.

Who is present in scene 2?
Friar John, Friar Laurence

What happened to Friar John so that he was unable to deliver the letter?
He was with a fellow Friar (who was visiting the sick) when city officials came by, quarantining a home he was in due to what they believed was an outbreak of the infectious plague. Consequently, Friar John was unable to leave the house, or send the letter as the officials were fearful of infection.

Now the first plan has backfired, what will Friar Laurence do now?
The Friar, crowbar at the ready, plans on going to the Capulet tomb to be there to take Juliet back to his cell upon her awakening (which is set to occur in the next three hours). While she stays with him and he looks after her, he plans on writing another letter to Romeo, informing him of what is going on so he can fetch Juliet and take her to Mantua.

Give two examples of oxymorons in scene 2.
1. “Unhappy fortune!”
2. “Poor living corse.”

What is the dramatic purpose of scene 2?
The dramatic purpose of this scene is to show how an accident of fate interfered with the successful execution of these well-laid plans.

What does Friar Laurence mean by, “poor living corse?”
He refers to Juliet, who is very much alive (but appears dead) yet locked away in a “dead man’s tomb”.

What is the LITERARY DEVICE in Romeo’s dream in scene 1?
It is a foreshadowing (in that he dies) of what happens, yet what truly occurs (he does not revive) is the opposite, so thus includes a bit of irony.

“If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep, my dreams presage some joyful news at hand.”
Romeo

“My bosom’s lord sits lightly in his throne.”
Romeo

What does “my bosom’s lord sits lightly in his throne,” mean?”
It means that Romeo’s love (bosom’s lord) sits lightly in his heart (throne).

“How sweet is love itself possessed, when but love’s shadows are so rich in joy!”
Romeo

“Her body sleeps in Capel’s monument, and her immortal part with angels lives.”
Balthasar

“Then I defy you, stars!”
Romeo

“I do beseech you, sir, have patience. Your looks are pale and wild and do import some misadventure.”
Balthasar

“O mischief, thou art swift to enter in the thoughts of desperate men!”
Romeo

“Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds, remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses were thinly scattered to make up a show.”
Romeo

Why is the apothecary’s shop closed?
It is a holiday.

“A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear as will disperse itself through all the veins.”
Romeo

“Need and oppression starveth in thy eyes.”
Romeo

What does, “there is thy gold – worse poison to men’s souls,” mean?
Gold is worse than poison as more men are “murdered” by gold than poison.

“Or, if his mind be writ, give me his letter.”
Friar Laurence

“Unhappy fortune! By my brotherhood, the letter was not nice, but full of charge.”
Friar Laurence

What is an “iron crow” and what does the person who asks for it plan to do with it?
An iron crow is a crowbar and Friar Laurence needs it so he is able to get into the Capulet tomb to be with Juliet when she wakes up.

“Poor living corse, closed in a dead man’s tomb!”
Friar Laurence

“Now must I to the monument alone. Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake.”
Friar Laurence

WHOM is being spoken to? “Now must I to the monument alone. Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake.”
Himself/no one

Where does scene 3 take place?
A churchyard; in it a monument belonging to the Capulets.

Who is present in scene 3?
Paris, Paris’s page, Romeo, Balthasar, Lord Montague, Lady Capulet, Lord Capulet, Friar Laurence, Juliet, Prince, Chief Watchman, Second Watchman, Third Watchman

What is Paris doing at the beginning of scene 3?
Placing flowers on the tomb.

What does Paris tell his page to do?
Hide behind a nearby yew tree and whistle when something approaches.

“Under yond yew tree lay thee all along, holding thy ear close to the hollow ground.”
Paris

“So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread but thou shalt hear it. Whistle then to me, as signal that thou hearest something approach.”
Paris

“I am almost afraid to stand alone here in the churchyard; yet I will adventure.”
Page

WHOM is being spoken to? “I am almost afraid to stand alone here in the churchyard; yet I will adventure.”
The audience (it is an aside)

“Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew (O woe! Thy canopy is dust and stones), which with sweet water nightly I will dew; or, wanting that, with tears distilled by moans.”
Paris

“The obsequies that I for thee will keep nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.”
Paris

What does Romeo tell Balthasar to do in scene 3, as they stand in the churchyard?
To take his letter to his father in the morning and to leave. If he returns to pry, Romeo will kill him/seriously injure him.

What is Romeo’s explanation for coming to Juliet’s tomb?
To collect a ring from her finger and to behold her face.

“Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.”
Romeo

“Hold, take this letter. Early in the morning see thou deliver it to my lord and father.”
Romeo

“Whate’er thou hearest of seest, stand all aloof and do not interrupt me in my course.”
Romeo

“Why I descend into this bed of death is partly to behold my lady’s face, but chiefly to take thence from her dead finger a precious ring – a ring that I must use in dear employment.”
Romeo

“The time and my intents are savage-wild, more fierce and more inexorable far than empty tigers or the roaring sea.”
Romeo

“Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death, gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth, thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open, and in despite I’ll cram thee with more food.”
Romeo

Explain this quote: “Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death, gorged with the dearest morsel of the earth, thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open, and in despite I’ll cram thee with more food.”
Romeo is comparing the Capulet tomb’s door to a mouth of a great creature. He says that it has already eaten the “dearest morsel” of the earth, which is Juliet. When he opens the door, the mouth’s “rotten jaws” open and by entering and dying with Juliet, Romeo says he is feeding the mouth more food.

“This is that banished haughty Montague that murd’red my love’s cousin – with which such grief it is supposed the fair creature died.”
Paris

How does Paris think Juliet died?
He thinks she died of grief over Tybalt’s death.

What does Paris think Romeo will do?
Desecrate the Capulet tomb and/or the bodies inside.

Stop thy unhallowed toil, vile Montague! Can vengeance be pursued further than death? Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee.”
Paris

“Good gentle youth, tempt not a desp’rate man. Fly hence and leave me. Think upon these gone; let them affright thee.”
Romeo

“I beseech thee, youth, put not another sin upon my head by urging me to fury.”
Romeo

“O, I am slain! If thou be merciful, open the tomb, lay me with Juliet.”
Paris

“For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light.”
Romeo

“How oft when men are at the point of death have they been merry! Which their keepers call a lightning before death. O, how may I call this a lightning? O my love! my wife!”
Romeo

“Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath no power yet upon thy beauty. Thou art not conquered. Beauty’s ensign yet is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, and death’s pale flag is not advanced there.”
Romeo

“O, what more favour can I do to thee than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain to sunder his that was thine enemy?”
Romeo

“Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe that unsubstantial Death is amorous and that the lean abhorred monster keeps thee here in dark to be his paramour?”
Romeo

“Here, here I will remain with worms that are thy chambermaids. O, here will I set up my ever lasting rest and share the yoke of inauspicious stars from this world-wearied flesh.”
Romeo

“Arms, take your last embrace! and lips, O you the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death!”
Romeo

“Come, bitter conduct; come, unsavoury guide! Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark!”
Romeo

“O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.”
Romeo

“Bliss be upon you! Tell me, good my friend, what torch is yond that vainly lends his light to grubs and eyeless skulls?”
Friar Laurence

“As I did sleep under the yew tree here, I dreamt my master and another fought, and that my master slew him.”
Balthasar

Explain this quote: “As I did sleep under the yew tree here, I dreamt my master and another fought, and that my master slew him.”
Balthasar might have believed it to be a dream, or he might have said what happened like this to avoid admitting he defied his master’s orders.

“Alack, alack, what blood is this which stains the stony entrance of this sepulchre? Which means these masterless and gory swords to lie discoloured by this place of peace?”
Friar Laurence

“Ah, what an unkind hour is guilty of this lamentable chance! The lady stirs.”
Friar Laurence

“I do remember well where I should be, and there I am. Where is my Romeo?”
Juliet

“I hear some noise. Lady, come from that nest of death, contagion and unnatural sleep. A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents. Come, come away.”
Friar Laurence

“Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead. And Paris too. Come, I’ll dispose of thee among a sisterhood of holy nuns.”
Friar Laurence

“Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.”
Juliet

“What’s here? A cup, closed in my true love’s hand? Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end. O churl! Drunk all, and left no friendly drop to help me after? I will kiss thy lips. Haply some poison yet doth hang on them to make me die with a restorative.”
Juliet

“Thy lips are warm!”
Juliet

“Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger! This is thy sheath! There rust, and let me die.”
Juliet

“The ground is bloody. Search about the churchyard. Go, some of you; whoe’er you find attach.”
Chief Watchman

“Pitiful sight! Here lies the County slain; and Juliet bleeding, warm, and newly dead, who here hath lain this two days buried.”
Chief Watchman

“We see the ground whereon these woes do lie, but the true ground of all these piteous woes we cannot without circumstance descry.”
Chief Watchman

“What misadventure is so early up, that calls our person from our morning rest?”
The Prince

“Alas, my liege, my wife is dead to-night! Grief of my son’s exile hath stopped her breath. What further woe conspires against mine age?”
Lord Montague

“O thou untaught! What manners is in this, to press before thy father to a grave?”
Lord Montague

“Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while, till we can clear the ambiguities and know their spring, their head, their true descent.”
The Prince

“And then will I be general of your woes and lead you even to death. Meantime forbear, and let mischance be slave to patience. Bring forth the parties of suspicion.”
The Prince

Explain this quote: “Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while, till we can clear the ambiguities and know their spring, their head, their true descent.”
This quote includes metaphors such as “spring”, “head”, and “descent”, which refers to a stream flowing down from its source, standing for the beginning and the sequence of “these ambiguities”.

“And here I stand, both to impeach and purge myself condemned and myself excused.”
Friar Laurence

Explain this quote: “And here I stand, both to impeach and purge myself condemned and myself excused.”
The Friar acknowledges that he can be accused of being the cause of these deaths (his condemnation), but not that it was his intention (that is his excuse).

Does the Friar recount the tale of what occurred to Romeo and Juliet accurately?
Yes

What is the Prince’s verdict towards Friar Laurence and Balthasar?
He exonerates them.

“All this I know, and to the marriage her nurse is privy; and if aught in this miscarried by my fault, let my old life be sacrificed, some hour before his time, unto the rigour of severest law.”
Friar Laurence

“This letter doth make good the friar’s words, their course of love, the tidings of her death.”
The Prince

“See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, that heaven finds means to kill your joys with love. And I, for winking at your discords too, have lost a brace of kinsmen.”
The Prince

“All are punished.”
The Prince

What do Lord Capulet and Lord Montague do now that both their children are dead and they have been duly chastised by the Prince?
They shake hands, end the feud, and talk of building statues for the other’s child.

“O brother Montague, give me thy hand. This is my daughter’s jointure, for no more can I demand.”
Lord Capulet

“For I will raise her statue in pure gold, that whiles Verona by that name is known, there shall no figure at such rate beset as that of true and faithful Juliet.”
Lord Montague

“As rich shall Romeo’s by his lady lie – poor sacrifices of our enmity!”
Lord Capulet

“A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for sorrow will not show his head.”
The Prince

“Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things; some shall never be pardoned, and some punished…”
The Prince

“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”
The Prince

What are the dramatic purposes of scene 3?
1. It provides the solution of the plot, or the denouement of the entire play.
2. It brings about four deaths.
3. It brings all the other participants – except the nurse – on stage for the final curtain calls.
4. It is a melodramatic, terrifying, ghastly, horrific, and picturesque scene.
5. It contains the moral, or post-script.
6. It contains a concise resume, in Friar Laurence’s terminal speech, of all of the events leading up to the catastrophic conclusion.
7. It provides ‘catharsis’ or emotional purification and relief, according to the Aristotelian criteria of tragedy.

Who dies in scene 3?
Paris, Romeo, Juliet, Lady Montague

Why and how does Lady Montague die?
Of grief due to Romeo’s exile.

“Come, go, good Juliet. I dare no longer stay.”
Friar Laurence

“Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua’s law is death to any he that utters them.”
Apothecary

WHOM is being spoken to? “Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness and dearest to die?
Apothecary

What LITERARY DEVICE is present in this quote? “I dreamt my lady came and found me dead.”
Foreshadowing (because Romeo does die and Juliet finds him lying next to her in the Capulet tomb).

Who does Romeo write his letter to?
His father, Lord Montague

What LITERARY DEVICE is present in this quote? “That unsubstantial Death is amorous, and that the lean abhorred monster keeps thee here in dark to be his paramour?”
Personification

What LITERARY DEVICE is present in this quote? “Death, that hath sucked thy honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.”
Personification

What LITERARY DEVICE is present in this quote? “The sun for sorrow will not show his head.”
Personification

What is an example of dramatic irony in act 5 scene 3?
Romeo looks at Juliet’s body and thinks she looks as though she were alive – rosy cheeks, etc. but does not piece together that she actually is alive, while the audience has known all along she has been alive.

“The obsequies that I for thee will keep, nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.”
Paris

“Whate’er thou hearest or seest, stand all aloof and do not interrupt me in my course.”
Romeo

“By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint and strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs.”
Romeo

“So shalt thou show me friendship. Take thou that.” What is “that”?
A gold coin.

“Live, and be prosperous; and farewell, good fellow.”
Romeo

“For all this same, I’ll hide me hereabout. His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt.”
Balthasar

“By heaven, I love thee better than myself. Stay not, be gone. Live, and hereafter say a madman’s mercy bid thee run away.”
Romeo

“I do defy thy conjuration and apprehend thee for a felon here.”
Paris

“O Lord, they fight! I will go call the watch.”
Page

“What said my man when my betossed soul did not attend him as we rode? I think he told me Paris should have married Juliet, to think it was so?”
Romeo

“O, give me thy hand, one writ with me in sour misfortune’s book!”
Romeo

“How oft when men are at the point of death have they been merry! Which their keepers call a lightning before death. O, how may I call this a lightning?”
Romeo

“For fear of that I still will stay with thee and never from this pallet of dim night depart again.”
Romeo

“Tell me, good my friend, what torch is yond that vainly lends his light to grubs and eyeless skulls? As I discern, it burneth in the Capels’ monument.”
Friar Laurence

“My master knows not but I am gone hence, and fearfully did menace me with death if I did stay to look on his intents.”
Balthasar

“Fear comes upon me. O, much I fear some ill unthrifty thing.”
Friar Laurence

“Romeo! O, pale! Who else? What, Paris too? And steeped in blood? Ah, what an unkind hour is guilty of this lamentable chance!”
Friar Laurence

“Come from that nest of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep. A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents.”
Friar Laurence

“O me! This sight of death is as a bell that warns my old age to a sepulchre.”
Lady Capulet

“This dagger hath mista’en, for, lo, his house is empty on the back of Montague, and it missheathed in my daughter’s bosom!”
Lord Capulet

What does “winking at your discords” mean?
The Prince had closed his eyes to the feud that was taking place between the Montagues and Capulets and did not interfere as he should have.

Cite this page

Romeo and Juliet - Act 5. (2019, Jan 30). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/romeo-and-juliet-act-5/

Romeo and Juliet - Act 5
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