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Romeo and Juliet, Act III
Answer the following using complete sentences
Scene i
1. Why does Benvolio want to go inside?
2. Of what does Mercutio accuse Benvolio and why is this an ironic accusation?
3. How does Mercutio challenge Tybalt in lines 36—37, and how does Tybalt answer him?
4. What is Tybalt’s problem with Mercutio in line 41?
5. Explain Mercutio’s pun in lines 42-45.
6. Paraphrase Romeo’s answer to Tybalt’s challenge in lines 64-69.
7. What does the stage direction under line 85 mean?
8. Why does Mercutio say “A plague a both your houses” in line 86, and why is this an ironic statement?
9. What happens to Mercutio and who is responsible?
10. What happens to Tybalt and who is responsible?
11. What does Benvolio tell Romeo to do in lines126-129?
12. What does Lady Capulet accuse Benvolio of in lines 170-171, and what does she say really happened?
13. What is the Prince’s pronouncement for Romeo in line 181?
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Romeo and Juliet, Act III
Answer the following using complete sentences
Scene ii
1. What is Juliet waiting for as she speaks her soliloquy in lines 1-30?
2. Identify one allusion, one simile, one metaphor, and one personification from the soliloquy. Then choose
one of the four, and explain it. (four points)
3. Why is the nurse upset, and what does Juliet initially think has happened?
4. Quote the lines where the nurse finally tells Juliet what exactly has happened. Include the line numbers in
parenthesis.
5. What is Juliet’s initial reaction? Interpret the lines 81-82 “When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend/In
mortal paradise of such sweet flesh?”
6. Quote Juliet’s reaction to the Nurse’s line “Shame come to Romeo!” What does she mean when she says,
“Upon his brow is shame ashamed to sit”
7. What does Juliet decide has happened in lines 100-101? How accurate is her deduction?
8. What does Juliet say is worse than everyone’s death in lines 121-127?
9. What does Juliet threaten to do in lines 135-137?
10. What does the Nurse do to talk her out of it in lines 138-139? Where is Romeo?
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Romeo and Juliet, Act III
Answer the following using complete sentences.
Scene iii
1. What does Friar Lawrence mean when he says, “Affliction is enamored of thy parts,/and thou are wedded
to calamity.”
2. What does Friar Lawrence tell Romeo in lines 10-11?
3. What is Romeo’s reaction in lines 12-14?
4. What does Friar Lawrence think of Romeo’s reaction in lines 24-28?
5. Paraphrase Romeo’s speech in lines 29-35. What has more honorable state than Romeo due to his
banishment? (2 points)
6. Who knocks at the door?
7. What state does Nurse tell Romeo that Juliet is in(lines 99-102)?
8. What does Romeo try to do to himself in between line 108? (stage direction)
9. How does Friar Lawrence tell Romeo he is acting in lines 110-113?
10. What does Friar Lawrence tell Romeo that he will do to Juliet if he kills himself in lines 116-118?
11. What Does the Friar say Romeo has to be happy about in lines 135-140?
12. What plan of action does Friar Lawrence give Romeo in lines 146-154?
13. What does Friar Lawrence tell the Nurse to do?
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Romeo and Juliet, Act III
Answer the following using complete sentences.
Scene iv
1. What plan do Capulet, Lady Capulet, and Paris come up with for Juliet, and why does Capulet say it is
necessary?
Scene v
1. What finally makes Romeo leave Juliet’s side in line 39-40?
2. The conversation between Juliet and Lady Capulet is fraught with verbal/ dramatic irony, meaning that the
audience knows the true meaning of Juliet’s double-speak, and Lady Capulet does not. Quote two examples
between lines 81-103 where Juliet is talking in such a way that her mother thinks she hates Romeo, but the
audience knows she really loves him. Include the line numbers in parenthesis behind the quoted lines. (2
points)
3. What is Juliet’s reaction to her mother’s news in line 117?
4. Explain the extended metaphor that Capulet uses in lines 127-139. Why is he afraid for Juliet?
5. Explain the foreshadowing in lines 140-141. Is Lady Capulet saying something here she may regret later?
6. What does Capulet mean when he says, “Soft, take me with you, take me with you, wife.”
7. Juliet answers her father with a paradox in lines 147-149. Identify the paradox and explain what Juliet
means by using it. (2 points)
8. What does Capulet threaten to do to Juliet in lines 154-158?
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9. What ultimatum does Capulet give Juliet in lines 190-197?
Romeo and Juliet, Act III
10. What is the Nurse’s advice to Juliet in lines 214-227?
11. What does Juliet tell the Nurse she is going to do in lines 231-235?
12. How has the relationship between Juliet and the Nurse changed in lines 241-242?
13. What does Juliet say she will do if she cannot find a solution to her problems in line 244?
Following are three free-write prompts. You can write them on the back of this paper or on a separate sheet.
Write a brief paragraph (6-8 sentences) about each prompt, then choose one to expand to at least 400 words.
The brief paragraph can be part of the expanded free-write. (5 points)
Is it ever right to physically fight, and how do you avoid a fight when someone won’t leave you alone? Could
Romeo have solved his problem with Tybalt any other way, even after Tybalt killed Mercutio? If you were in
Romeo’s place, would you have killed Tybalt, or would you have done something else? (5 points)
Do authorities get too involved in the “fight culture” and should society just let “boys be boys” and physically
fight to settle disputes? When should someone step into a fight to stop it? How responsible is Mercutio for
his own death? Was he right to blame the feud between the Montagues and Capulets for his death? “A
plague a both your houses. I am sped.” (5 points)