Transcript Act III: Banishment

Act III: Banishment
Central Issue:
romantic love
versus family
loyalty
Theme: love as a
brutal emotion,
leading to
defiance of family,
religion, & society
Act III: terms
• Soliloquy: a speech made to the
audience, when a character is alone on
stage
• Aside: a remark made to the audience,
unheard by the other characters on
stage
• Purpose: reveal what a character is
really like
Act III, scene 1
• Mercutio baits Tybalt who’s looking to duel
Romeo.
• Romeo arrives but will not duel Tybalt
because he is now his kinsman through
marriage.
– “I never injured thee, but love thee
better than thou canst devise
[understand] . . .” (3.1.67-68).
Act III, scene 1
• Tybalt is unaware of the marriage, so he
rejects Romeo’s peace offering.
• Mercutio steps in to duel Tybalt.
• As Romeo tries to break up the fight,
Tybalt murders Mercutio.
Act III, scene 1
• As he is dying,
Mercurtio curses
both the warring
families, offering:
– “Ask for me
tomorrow and
you shall find me
a grave man”
(3.1.96-97).
Act III, scene 1
• Irate that he has allowed his love for
Juliet to make him “effeminate,” Romeo
savagely avenges Mercutio’s death.
• Recognizing what he has done murdered his wife’s cousin - Romeo
blames his actions on fate:
– “I am fortune’s fool” (3.1.134).
• (Remember his ominous dream?)
Act III, scene 1
• The Prince arrives on the bloody scene
and banishes Romeo from Verona, a
penalty much less severe than he
decreed.
• If Romeo is found in the city, he’ll be
shot.
Act III, scene 2
• Juliet’s soliloquy:
– She impatiently
awaits Romeo,
who will come to
her in secret, so
they may
consummate their
marriage.
– At this point she is
not aware of the
murder Romeo
committed.
Act III, scene 2
• Juliet’s nurse relates to her the sad
news about Tybalt at the hands of
Romeo.
• At first Juliet is angry with Romeo, then
elated that he is alive, and finally
suicidal because she fears she cannot
live without him.
Act III, scene 2
• The nurse assures her that Romeo, who
is hiding in Friar Lawrence’s cell, will be
with her tonight.
• Juliet asks Nurse to take a ring to
Romeo, as a symbol of her undying love
for him.
– Notice that Juliet sees no middle ground in
her life. She lives with Romeo, or she will
take her life.
Act III, scene 3
• Friar Lawrence explains to Romeo that
the Prince has banished him from
Verona for murdering Tybalt, an act of
mercy.
• Romeo views banishment as a
punishment exceedingly worse than
death.
Act III, scene 3
• Juliet’s nurse arrives at Friar’s cell.
• Romeo is so sickened by his actions murdering Tybalt and destroying his
marriage - that he attempts suicide.
• Friar scolds him for his rash, weak
response, chiding him to stop whining
and to act like a man.
Act III, scene 3
– Notice that Romeo, too, sees no middle ground in
his life. He lives with Juliet, or he will take his life.
• Friar reveals his plan to Romeo and
Nurse:
– Romeo will sneak to Juliet’s room
tonight, consummate their marriage,
then escape to Mantua, until their
marriage can be made public.
• Nurse gives Romeo the wedding ring from
Juliet. His spirits lift.
Act III, scene 4
• Lord Capulet asks his wife to let Juliet
know that she’ll be marrying Paris on
Thursday morning. It’s currently
Monday evening.
– Ironic: On Sunday, Lord Capulet denied
Paris’ request to marry Juliet because she
was too young.
Act III, scene 5
• It is dawn. Romeo and Juliet have
spent their first night together as a
married couple.
• Juliet is reluctant to let Romeo go to
Mantua, teasing him that the dawn’s
light is actually the light from a meteor
shower lighting the night sky.
Act III, scene 5
• Romeo replies, “I must be gone and
lives, or stay and die” (3.5.11).
• As he departs Juliet has a premonition,
“Methinks I see thee . . . as one dead in
the bottom of a tomb” (3.5.55-56).
– Ironically, this is last time the two will see
each other alive.
Act III, scene 5
• As Romeo sneaks away, Lady Capulet
enters Juliet’s room.
• She brings news that Thursday Paris
will make Juliet a joyful bride.
• Juliet rejects this, instead telling her
mother that if she marries, it will be
Romeo, her enemy, not Paris, she will
take for a husband.
Act III, scene 5
• Upon hearing this,
Lord Capulet swears
that if Juliet refuses
this secure marriage
to Paris:
– “. . . you [Juliet] shall
not house with me . .
. hang, beg, starve in
the streets, for, by
my soul, I’ll ne’er
acknowledge thee”
(3.5.190-195).
Act III, scene 5
• Juliet appeals to her mother for help,
but Lady Capulet replies,
– “Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee”
(3.5.205).
• Next Juliet appeals to her Nurse, who
advises her to take the secure option
and marry Paris.
Act III, scene 5
• Desperate, Juliet pretends to
go to Friar Lawrence to
make her confession.
• In her closing soliloquy Juliet
reveals her thoughts:
– She no longer trusts her
nurse and will not confide
in her again.
– She’ll seek advise from
Friar Lawrence.
– If he can not help her,
she can always take her
life.
Purpose
• Shakespeare has moved Juliet from childhood
into adulthood, both sexually and socially.
• She’s exerting her independence from her
nurse and her parents - central issue: romantic
love versus family loyalty.
• He reminds his audience of an Elizabethan
woman’s dependency on a man for acceptance
in society.
Purpose
• Once again, Shakespeare foreshadows the
young couple’s suicides.
• He continues to portray the destruction, pain
and death Romeo and Juliet’s impulsive,
passionate love has brought, leaving them
little joy.
• Finally, he has embroiled the teens in adult
conflicts without the benefit of compassionate
adults to guide them.