Act V

Act V, Scene i “Bad” News Arrives (Thursday afternoon)

Act V, Scene i Act V begins in Mantua where Romeo Montague has taken refuge after being exiled by the Prince. (1) Romeo is in a very pleasant, happy mood as he sits and thinks of his dear love Juliet. Romeo’s feelings are created by (2) a dream he has had regarding Juliet (she finds him dead and kisses him back to life, and then they live happily ever after). During his soliloquy, Romeo’s servant, Balthasar, arrives bringing news from Verona…

Act V, Scene i (cont.) Romeo begs Balthasar to provide news from his home. Balthasar then tells Romeo that Juliet is dead; he saw her lying in the Capulet crypt (this is an example of…). Romeo’s mood changes dramatically once he hears this. He demands that Balthasar make preparations for his return to Verona. After Balthasar leaves, (3) Romeo seeks out an apothecary to sell him a lethal poison, so he may kill himself and join Juliet when he gets to her in Verona. (3) It is only because the apothecary is poor that this happens.

Message Undelivered (Friday LATE at Night) Act V, Scene ii Message Undelivered (Friday LATE at Night)

Act V, Scene ii In Friar Lawrence’s cell, Friar John, the man who was to bring message of the plan to Romeo, returns. Friar Lawrence asks him how Romeo is and if Romeo has sent him a letter. The following reply is one of impending doom. Friar John was unable to get the message to Romeo because (1) while seeking out another friar to go with him, the authorities stopped both men, believing they had been infected with a disease (plague) and quarantined them (2) in Verona. (3) Friar Lawrence beings to “freak out” because Juliet will be awake in three hours and Romeo will not be there to get her. (4) Friar Lawrence decides to write Romeo again and go to get Juliet from the crypt and keep her in his cell until Romeo arrives.

THE END (Friday Early Morning) Act V, Scene iii THE END (Friday Early Morning)

Act V, Scene iii In the churchyard near the Capulet tomb, Count Paris and his servant enter carrying flowers and a torch (it is nighttime). (1) Paris asks his servant to keep watch while he weeps for and talks to Juliet, his would be wife (she is still sealed within her tomb). A line from the text in this scene seems to insinuate that (2) Paris did in fact love Juliet (find and add the line). As Paris weeps, a whistle from his servant tells him that someone else has arrived; he hides in the darkness as Romeo and Balthasar arrive carrying a torch and a crowbar.

Act V, Scene iii (cont.) Romeo tells Balthasar that he is entering the tomb to (3) look at Juliet (proof that she is dead) and get a ring from her that she gave to him. Romeo also tells Balthasar that he is not to interrupt what is about to happen. If he does pry into Romeo’s doings, (4) Romeo will rip his limbs off and spread them about the churchyard. After Balthasar “leaves” the scene, Romeo begins to pry open the tomb. It is then that Paris confronts him. Initially, Romeo tells Paris to leave him be, that he will not fight him. Paris refuses to budge, for (5) Romeo is a condemned criminal he believes will defile the tomb of his love.

Act V, Scene iii (cont.) Paris then fights and is slain by Romeo. Before he dies, (6) Paris asks to be buried beside Juliet. Romeo then enters the crypt, lying Paris on the ground near Juliet. Upon seeing her (7) Romeo states that she looks untouched by death, still but with red lips. After mourning the loss of his wife, (8) Romeo takes his last embrace and pledges his love to Juliet by drinking the poison and kissing her as he dies. The Friar enters immediately afterward as Juliet awakes. (9) Her first question to the Friar is the whereabouts of Romeo.

Act V, Scene iii (cont.) The Friar responds by saying that (10)“a power greater than we” has thwarted their plans for happiness. Seeing that all is lost, (11) the Friar attempts to take Juliet to a convent to live among nuns. She refuses to leave, and the Friar runs away for the watch is coming. With the Friar gone and (12) the watch coming to get her, (13) Juliet attempts to get poison from Romeo’s lips by kissing him. It does not work. Hurried to her end, (14) Juliet stabs herself with Romeo’s knife. The watchmen arrive soon after to find her (15) warm and newly dead, a surprise since she has been buried for two days.

Act V, Scene iii (cont.) Moments later, Balthasar and the Friar are rounded up by the watch. Prince Escalus and the Capulets arrive and try to figure out what has occurred. (16) The Friar solves most of the mystery by summarizing what has been happening. (17) The holy man seems sad but does not seem repentant for what has happened (it was fate’s plan). This seems odd because (18) he was the one who could have at least saved Juliet. Lord Montague enters; (19) his wife has recently died from grief over Romeo’s banishment. He finds his son dead, his legacy ended.

Act V, Scene iii (cont.) The Prince then admonishes both fathers for (20) the deaths caused by their hatred and feuding. (21) Lord Capulet and Lord Montague then agree to cease their fighting and erect a monument to their children; (22) this is ironic because…