ACT 4.1
This is the solution Friar Laurence gives Juliet to avoid marrying Paris.
What is drinking a sleeping potion that makes her appear dead?
Lord Capulet does this when Juliet agrees to marry Paris.
What is moving the wedding date up to the next day?
Juliet does this right before drinking the potion.
What is she says goodbye to her mother and prays?
The Capulets are busy preparing for this event.
What is Juliet’s wedding?
This is the reason the wedding turns into a funeral.
What is Juliet’s apparent death?
In this scene, Romeo learns that Juliet is dead. This character brings him the news.
Who is Balthasar?
The reason why Friar Laurence learns that his letter to Romeo was never delivered.
What is the plague (or quarantine)?
The reason Romeo drinks poison at the Capulet tomb.
What is, he thinks Juliet is dead?
Friar Laurence gives Juliet the potion as part of a plan to reunite her with this character.
Who is Romeo?
When Juliet returns home and pretends to agree to the marriage, her father is so pleased he does this.
What is moves the wedding to Wednesday?
One of Juliet’s fears is that she will wake up alone in the tomb and go mad because of this.
What is seeing the dead bodies of her ancestors?
This literary device is used when the Capulets joyfully prepare for the wedding, unaware of Juliet's true condition.
What is dramatic irony?
When Juliet is found "dead," Friar Laurence says this event should now be used for a funeral instead of a wedding.
What is the wedding preparations?
Romeo plans to do this immediately after hearing about Juliet’s death.
What is to buy poison and go to Juliet’s tomb?
Friar Laurence send this person to deliver the letter to Romeo while exiled in Mantua.
Who is Friar John?
This happens when Paris confronts Romeo at Juliet’s tomb.
What is they fight, and Romeo kills Paris?
Juliet threatens to do this if Friar Laurence cannot help her escape marriage to Paris.
What is kill herself?
Juliet uses this strategy to convince her father that she is now obedient and ready to marry Paris.
What is pretending to repent and agree?
Juliet experiences internal conflict about whether the potion might be poison because of this person’s possible motives.
Who is Friar Laurence?
The joyful tone of the Capulets preparing for the wedding contrasts sharply with the tragedy that follows, emphasizing this kind of irony.
What is situational irony?
Capulet compares Juliet’s death to this natural element, symbolizing her sudden and lifeless stillness.
What is frost on a flower?
He dreams that Juliet found him dead and brought him back to life with a kiss.
Who is Romeo?
This scene reveals the reason Romeo never learns of Friar Laurence’s plan.
What is Friar John being quarantined and unable to deliver the letter?
She stabs herself with Romeo’s dagger after finding him dead.
Who is Juliet?
In Act 4, Scene 1, Juliet says she'd rather "be chained with roaring bears" than marry Paris—this line uses hyperbole and alludes to this theme common in classical tragedy.
What is the theme of a heroine’s willingness to face death over dishonor?
In this scene, Capulet refers to Paris as “my son,” which shows this character trait developing more strongly.
What is Capulet’s eagerness to solidify the marriage alliance?
Juliet envisions waking alone in the tomb and playing with her ancestors’ bones, which foreshadows this future event.
What is her actual death inside the Capulet tomb?
Shakespeare uses fast-paced, chaotic dialogue and commands in this scene to heighten this aspect of the narrative.
What is dramatic tension before the tragedy is revealed?
Capulet personifies death by calling it his “son-in-law” and saying death has done this to Juliet.
What is married her?
Juliet alludes to this classical figure when she declares she’d rather leap from a tower than marry Paris, invoking the mythological idea of tragic female defiance.
Who is Hero (from the myth of Hero and Leander)?
Capulet uses personification when he says “the city is much bound to him,” speaking of Friar Laurence, and attributing this human trait to the city.
What is gratitude?
Juliet personifies death as this kind of being when she fears waking to find “loathsome smells” and “shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth.”
What is a malevolent force or tormentor?
Capulet calls for instruments to play, referencing this Roman god of festivities—ironically just before tragedy strikes.
Who is Bacchus?
Friar Laurence uses the moment of Juliet’s “death” to lecture the family on the sin of valuing earthly things too much, reinforcing this theme.
What is the theme of the consequences of pride and materialism?