NAME _____________________________________ Total Points: ________/ 87 points

Romeo & Juliet

Study Questions and Analysis for Act 3

You will need your packet every day in class. Points will be totaled once we finish the act. Anything included in
this packet or any other act packet may be on a test. You should be able to identify the speaker, describe the
circumstances, and interpret or paraphrase a quotation if it is in this packet.

Act 3 Scene 1 (Holt: 845 - 852)

Create a schedule of events from the beginning of Act 2, scene 6 to the end of Act 3, scene 1. What happened
when? Were events separated by seconds? Minutes? Hours? What time of day did each event occur?
Time Act/S Event
c
12pm 2.5 The nurse tells Juliet to meet Romeo at Friar Lawrence’s cell to be married.

Important Lines from 3.1

Read the lines in the left column, explain them in your own words on the right.

3.1.58-63
Tybalt: Tybalt:
Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford
No better term than this: thou art a villain
Romeo:
Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage Romeo:
To such a greeting. Villain am I none.
Therefore farewell. I see thou know’st me
not.
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 Romeo:

3.1.85-87
Romeo:
…the Prince expressly hath
Forbid bandying in Verona streets.
Hold, Tybalt! Good Mercutio!
Mercutio:
3.1.87
Mercutio:
A plague o’ both your houses!

3.1.123-128 Romeo:
Romeo: ... Mercutio’s soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company.
Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.

Tybalt: Tybalt:
Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him
here
Shalt with him hence.

3.1.145-184
Lady Capulet: … Prince, as thou art true, Lady Capulet:
For blood of ours shed blood of Montague.
…
Prince: Romeo slew him; he slew Mercutio.
… Prince:

Montague:
No Romeo, Prince, he was Mercutio’s
friend; Montague:
His fault conclude but what the law should
end,
The life of Tybalt.
Prince: And for that offence
Immediately we do exile him hence.
Prince:

(Act 3 Scene 1 continued)

1. Why do you think Tybalt approaches Mercutio and Benvolio and wants a “word” with one of them (line 37)?

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2. Mercutio tries to provoke Tybalt to fight (lines 38 - 39). Why doesn’t Tybalt want to fight him (line 54)?

3. Explain the dramatic irony when Romeo tells Tybalt, “Good Capulet – which name I tender as dearly as my
own – be satisfied.”

4. Why does Romeo’s answer to Tybalt’s insults upset Mercutio? What does he think Romeo is doing (line 71)?

5. Even when he is dying, Mercutio continues to joke and to make puns. Rewrite his pun from line 94-95

6. Explain Mercutio’s pun.

7. After Mercutio dies, why does Romeo decide to kill Tybalt instead of accepting Mercutio’s death as an
unfortunate accident?

8. What does Romeo mean when he says, “Oh, I am fortune’s fool!”?

9. What reason does the Prince give for his decision to banish Romeo?

Total: _____ / 27

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Act 3 Scene 2 (Holt: p.853)
Annotate the following soliloquy. (3 pts)
JULIET
Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Toward Phoebus' lodging. Such a wagoner
As Phaeton would whip you to the west
And bring in cloudy night immediately.
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,
That runaways' eyes may wink, and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalked of and unseen.
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties, or, if love be blind,
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match
Played for a pair of stainless maidenhoods.
Hood my unmanned blood bating in my cheeks,
With thy black mantle, till strange love, grow bold,
Think true love acted simple modesty.
Come, night. Come, Romeo. Come, thou day in night,
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow upon a raven’s back.
Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-browed night,
Give me my Romeo. And when I shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
Oh, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possessed it, and though I am sold,
Not yet enjoyed. So tedious is this day
As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child that hath new robes
And may not wear them.

1. Mark all the references to light/day and dark/night.

2. Which predominates?
3. Explain the allusions to “Phoebus’ lodging” and “Phaeton” in reference to the light/dark image.

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4. Explain the importance of line 22, “Take him and cut him out in little stars.”

5. In lines 36 – 69 the nurse confuses Juliet as she tells Juliet of the fight. What misconception does Juliet make?

6. Reread line 73. When Juliet receives news of Tybalt’s death, what is her first reaction?

7. Summarize Juliet’s lines from 74 – 85 in your own words.

8. Which literary device does she use most?

9. When the nurse agrees with Juliet, Juliet has a different reaction to Romeo’s killing of Tybalt. Explain.

10. How does the scene end?

Total ____ / 12

Act 3 Scene 3 (Holt: 858 - 863)

1. Rewrite line 12.
2. What is Romeo’s reaction when he learns that he has been banished?

3. From the beginning of the play, Romeo acts impulsively. In what way is he still impulsive in this scene (lines
103-108)?

4. Rewrite one of Friar Laurence’s lines that demonstrates how he feels about Romeo’s behavior.

5. Friar Laurence tells Romeo to count his blessings. What are they (line 135-145)? (3 pts)

6. Explain Friar Laurence’s plan (lines 146-154). (3 points)

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 Total: ____ / 10

Act 3 Scene 4 & 5 (Holt: 863 - 873)

1. How does Lord Capulet react to Tybalt’s death?
2. What new plan does Lord Capulet decide on by the end of scene 4?

3. When Romeo and Juliet awake, they are sad that they will soon be separated again. Explain their lines in your
own words: (2 pts)
Romeo: More light and light; more dark and dark our woes.

Juliet: Then, window, let day in, and let life out.

4. Rewrite 54 – 57.

5. What is significant about Juliet’s lines?

6. Lady Capulet misunderstands Juliet’s sadness, and Juliet does not want her to know what has happened with
Romeo. What does Juliet say about Tybalt and Romeo to keep the truth from her mother (lines 84-103)?

7. What is Juliet’s response when she is told the news that she is to marry Paris (lines 117-124)?

8. What is her mother’s reaction to Juliet’s response (line 125 and lines 140-141)?

9. What is Lord Capulet’s response to Juliet’s refusal to marry Paris?

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10. Rewrite one of Capulet’s lines that supports your answer for #9.

11. What does the Nurse advise Juliet to do (lines 215-227)? What is her reasoning? (2 pts)

12. After the Nurse leaves and Juliet is alone, what does Juliet decide to do (lines 243-244)?

Total ____ / 14

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Short Answer Response
How has Juliet changed over the course of the play?
Write a 2 chunk paragraph, including one quotation that demonstrates Juliet’s character at the
beginning of the play and one quotation that demonstrates Juliet at the end of Act 3.

_____/ 24 pts.