Romeo and Juliet Study QuestionsAct III

Scene 1:

  1. How does Shakespeare “set the stage” by having the characters tell us what the weather is like?
  1. What clues are in the dialogue of Mercutio that reveals he really does want to fight?
  1. What is the greatest dramatic irony that occurs in scene 1?
  1. What is the turning point in this scene?
  1. What details in Benvolio’s speech tell us what Romeo is doing and how he is feeling after this second death?
  1. Why does Romeo say he is “fortune’s fool”?

Scene 2:

  1. What lines does Juliet say that foreshadows Romeo’s death? Explain
  1. What oxymoron’s, or pairs of opposites, does Juliet use to express her momentary feeling that Romeo has betrayed her?
  1. How does the Nurse think about these events and where does she place the blame?
  1. How does Shakespeare use the rope ladder as an ironic symbol that the plot has turned from romance to tragedy?

Scene 3:

  1. How does the Friar remind the audience that Romeo seems fated for ill fortune in the opening lines of scene 3?
  1. How does Shakespeare use personification to signal the turning point of the plot from romance to tragedy?
  1. What is the double meaning of the word “without” in line 17 of scene 3?
  1. Why are Romeo and Juliet feeling increasing isolated?
  1. How does Shakespeare create a growing feeling of tension in scene 3?
  1. What future events are devised by the Friar and the Nurse in this scene?
  1. What advice does the Friar give Romeo about his situation? Do you believe he is being helpful?
  1. What does the Friar state he will do to try to help the lovers?

Scene 4:

  1. What is Lord Capulet’s response to Paris’s marriage proposal and what are the arrangements that are made?
  1. How does Lord Capulet interpret the fact that Juliet has shut herself in her room in scene 4?
  1. What is the intense dramatic irony at the beginning of scene 4?

Scene 5:

  1. What are images of darkness and light found in Romeo’s and Juliet’s dialogue in scene 5?
  1. What dialogue between Juliet and Lady Capulet in scene 5 reveals further understanding of their relationship? Explain.
  1. How does Juliet, although being sarcastic, still make a reasonable protest to her mother?
  1. What metaphor does Lord Capulet describes in elaborate detail and to what he is making the comparison?
  1. What are some of the insulting statements and specific threats that Lord Capulet makes to Juliet?
  1. What is the Nurse’s “comfort” and advice to Juliet?
  1. What is inferred in the last lines of Juliet’s speech in scene 5?