Analysis of Act Five, Scene 3

Question 1

Why does Balthasar remain in the graveyard?

Answer 1

Balthasar remain in the graveyard because he is worried about Romeo’s intentions.

Question 2

Who is the first person to die in Act 5, Scene 3?
How do they die?

Answer 2

The first person to die in Act 5, Scene 3 is Paris. Romeo kills him in a fight.

Question 3

Why does Juliet say she’ll “be brief” when she is about to stab herself?

Answer 3

Juliet is “brief” because she hears the watch coming and does not want to be discovered.

Question 4

How does Paris’s grief for Juliet compare to Romeo’s grief in this scene?

Answer 4

Paris’s grief for Juliet is solemn and respectful. He brings flowers and promises to sprinkle perfumed water on her grave each night. In contrast, Romeo’s grief is desperate and unconventional. He breaks into Juliet’s tomb and disturbs her corpse.

Question 5

What effect does Romeo’s description of Juliet in the tomb have on the audience?

Answer 5

Romeo describes Juliet as looking as if she were alive, e.g. “Thou art not conquered.” This emphasises the dramatic irony of the scene to the audience, who know that she is alive — they are desperate for him to see that his words are truer than he thinks.

Question 6

Explain the similarities between Romeo’s soliloquy in Act 5, Scene 3 and the soliloquy that Juliet gives in Act 4, Scene 3.

Answer 6

• Both soliloquies use
  gruesome language. Juliet
  imagines wanting to
  “dash out” her “desp’rate
  brains” and Romeo refers
  to Tybalt’s “bloody sheet”.
  This language emphasises
  how horrible the tomb is.
• They toast each other
  using similar language
  (“Here’s”) in the last line
  of each soliloquy, which
  shows they are thinking
  of each other and
  working to be reunited.

Question 7

Who leads the watchmen to the tomb?
A. Friar Lawrence
B. the Prince
C. Paris’s page
D. Capulet

Answer 7

C. Paris’s page calls the watch and leads them to the tomb

Question 8

What does Balthasar give to the Prince which supports the Friar’s story?

Answer 8

Balthasar provides a letter that Romeo has written to Montague. It backs up the Friar’s story about Romeo and Juliet’s marriage.

Question 9

Give an example which tells you that the Capulets and the Montagues make peace at the end of the play.

Answer 9

Capulet and Montague shake hands. Montague also promises to raise a gold statue of Juliet and Capulet says he’ll make one of Romeo.

Question 10

Why do you think that Shakespeare has so many characters on stage for the final scene?

Answer 10

Shakespeare has many characters on stage for the final scene to show that many people were affected by Romeo and Juliet’s deaths. It also shows the confusion and chaos that their deaths have caused.

Question 11

Friar Lawrence recaps events that the audience has already seen. What effect does this have?

Answer 11

• Friar Lawrence’s recap
  slows down the pace of
  the play. This contrasts
  with the fast pace of the
  rest of the play and
  signals that it’s drawing to
  a close.
• Friar Lawrence’s recap
  means that all the secrets
  are told and all the
  characters now know
  everything. As a results,
  the peace between the
  Capulets and the
  Montagues seems better
  informed and more likely
  to succeed, ending the
  play on a hopeful note.