Romeo and Juliet Group

Question:

bballgurl11
bballgurl11
Student
High School - 10th Grade

In "Romeo and Juliet," what are some clues that Romeo may have missed which indicate Juliet will wake up soon?

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Posted by bballgurl11 on Tuesday October 28, 2008 at 6:51 PM and tagged with act 5 scene 2, act 5 scene 3, characters, juliet, plot, romeo, romeo and juliet.

Answers:

  1. mwestwood
    mwestwood Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    First of all, there is dramatic irony as the audience/reader is aware that Romeo has not received the message from Friar Laurence because Friar John is prohibited from entering Mantua where Romeo hides when the health officers suspect him of having been in a house where "the infectious pestilence did reign (V,ii,l.10).  In the meantime Romeo's servant Bathasar returns from Verona where he has heard the rumors of Juliet's lying in the Capulet's tomb.

    Dismayed, Romeo curses the stars and sets out for Verona with his own poison, procured from an apothecary.  When Romeo encounters Paris at the tomb, his thoughts that Juliet is truly dead are reinforced by the fact that Paris accuses him of robbing a grave:  "And apprehend thee for a felon here (V,iii,l.69).  Yet, even though Romeo asks, "Ah, dear Juliet,/Why art thou yet so fair? (V,iii,l.102), he wonders if death keeps her pretty to taunt him:  "And that...lean abhorred monster keeps/Thee here in dark to be his paramour?"(V,iii,ll.104-105).

    Romeo's impetuous nature  has allowed him to fall in love, get married, and kill Tybalt in mere days.  True to his hasty character, Romeo is all too quick to believe that Juliet is lost to him in death.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/romeo/act-v-scene-3-summary-analysis
    http://www.enotes.com/romeo/act-v-scenes-1-2-summary-anal...
    http://www.enotes.com/romeo/character-analysis

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    Posted by mwestwood on Tuesday October 28, 2008 at 7:22 PM