Act 4 Scene 1 Flashcards
Briefly describe the events that have caused Juliet to be so desperate
Juliette has been secretly married to Romeo. She after learns that a rich, influential Count Paris has requested to marry her. Her father, attracted by Paris’s wealth and influence, insists that she marries him. He threatens to turn her out of the house if she refuses. In Elizabethan England, a girl in a position would have been expected to obey her father.
What does she mean by ‘walk in thievish ways’ and ‘a charnelhouse’?
Juliet is prepared to walk along roads where thieves are known to operate, or to spend a night in a room in a church where the bones from old graves are stored.
Discuss why in lines 81 to 85(‘Or hide me…. in his shroud “) are a disturbing prediction of things to come
After Juliet drinks the potion, she’ll be placed in the family tomb alongside a number of dead men in their shroud. Later, she worries she might wake up too soon and go crazy before the friar comes. In the end, she’s alone in the tomb with Romeo’s body.
Briefly summarise Friar Lawrence’s description of the effects of the potion (lines 95 to 101)
Juliet will fall asleep. Her pulse will appear to stop. Her body will become cold and she will stop breathing. The color in her face will fade to an ashen gray color and her limbs will become stiff as if she were dead.
What figure of speech is employed in line 101(‘Like Death… day of life’)? Explain and comment on the effectiveness of the image
Personification. He’s comparing death to a shopkeeper closing his store at the end of the day. When her eyelids close, it’s similar to shutters being pulled down over a window. Just as the shop reopens the next day, her seeming death would also be temporary.
What is Friar Lawrence’s plan?
The plan is as follows. Juliet will be found in the death-like coma in the morning of the wedding and carried on an open funeral bed to the family tomb. The friar will send a messenger to Romeo to tell him of the plan. Romeo will come in secret to Verona to join the friar and watch Juliet’s awakening. Romeo will then take her with him back to Mantua.
According to the Friar, what is the one thing that could spoil the plan
The Friar is concerned that Juliet may become afraid at the last minute and not take the potion.
What is Juliet’s reaction to his suggestion
Juliete eagerly tells him to give her the drug. She’s not afraid. Ironically, and quite naturally, she does express her fears just before she takes the drugs.
Briefly describe how Friar Lawrence’s plans how wrong
The messenger trying to reach Romeo gets stuck in a plague-infected house and can’t leave. So, he never gets to Romeo. Meanwhile, Balthazar rushes to tell Romeo about Juliet’s death. Romeo hurries to Verona and poisons himself before the friar can reach the tomb to stop him.
To what degree are the adult characters in the play responsible for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet? Discuss
The friar and the nurse are both guilty of arranging the marriage of the couple without the knowledge or permission of the parents. The nurse betrays Juliet on the night before her proposed marriage to Paris by telling her to marry Paris. The parents and both families are guilty since it is their ongoing senseless feud that is the main cause of the tragedy. Capulet in particular is to blame for forcing Juliet to marry Paris against her will.
