Moment 8: Juliet's fake death

Question 1

“O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, / From off the battlements of yonder tower.” (Juliet, 4.1)

Answer 1

The imagery of suicide foreshadows her actual death, reinforcing the play’s tragic inevitability. Shakespeare presents Juliet’s love as extreme and all-consuming, mirroring Romeo’s earlier impulsive declarations.

Juliet’s desperation highlights the restrictive nature of patriarchal society in Elizabethan England

Question 2

“A thing like death to chide away this shame, / That cop’st with death himself to ’scape from it.” (Friar Laurence, 4.1)

Answer 2

The Friar’s plan relies on using a “thing like death” to avoid dishonor, illustrating the Renaissance belief that social shame was worse than death itself. His language is paradoxical, as he manipulates death to preserve Juliet’s life.

The Friar’s potion reflects the Renaissance fascination with herbal medicine and its potential dangers.

Question 3

“And in this rage, with some great kinsman’s bone, / As with a club, dash out my desperate brains?” (Juliet, 4.3)

Answer 3

Juliet imagines waking up in the tomb and, in her madness, using a dead relative’s bones to kill herself. This grotesque imagery reveals her descent into hysteria, highlighting the psychological cost of her choices. Shakespeare blurs the line between reality and horror, showing how Juliet is trapped both physically and mentally.

Question 4

“Death lies on her like an untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.” (Capulet, 4.5)

Answer 4

Capulet’s simile compares Juliet’s “death” to a frost killing a young flower, emphasizing her innocence and untimely demise. This moment also reflects the Renaissance belief that youth and beauty were fleeting, as Juliet is taken by “death” at the height of her vitality.