ROMEO AND JULIET ACT 3 - STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS
Act 3, Scenes 1-2
Act 3, Scenes 3-4
Act 3, Scene 5
- List all the characters who, knowingly or unknowingly, have aided in the rapidly approaching destruction of the lovers. Make sure you also mention in what way they aided and abetted the tragedy. Think about character flaws as well as simple action.
- Shakespeare has created three distinct personalities in the characters of Tybalt, Mercutio, and Benvolio. List each, a few of their character traits, and their relationships with others in the play.
- Why doesn’t the Prince carry out his own threat and “shed blood for blood,” putting Romeo to death?
- How does this further the ultimate tragedy?
- What is so ironic about the death of Mercutio and Romeo’s involvement in it?
- Romeo feels he has failed Mercutio, allowing his marriage to make him effeminate. He then replaces his effeminate values of love with the masculine values of honor and revenge. Explain what this means and how it is revealed through the action and what is going through Romeo’s mind.
- As Juliet waits for Romeo to come to her, she makes many allusions (references to other works of literature such as mythology or history). Pick out the major one and explain the reference and the link to the particular moment.
Act 3, Scenes 3-4
- In what way is Romeo’s attempted suicide another example of his impulsiveness?
- How does the Nurse react to the news of death and banishment?
- How does the Friar react to the same news?
- Do you think Friar Lawrence is feeling guilty or at all responsible for what has happened?
- How is Juliet’s father’s dialogue between he and Paris an expression of patriarchal values of that society?
- List one example of dramatic irony in this scene (where the audience knows something the characters do not) and explain why it is ironic.
Act 3, Scene 5
- Describe the role of the Nurse in Juliet’s life thus far and how it changes in this scene.
- How does this change in their relationship allow Juliet to change as a woman?
- How has the relationship between Juliet and her parents changed from Act I when her mother broached the subject of marriage to Paris?
- Have the parents changed in their relationship to Juliet?
- In what ways does Juliet seem more mature than when we first met her?