English Literature

• Scene 1


  • Balthasar arrives to Romeo from Verona to tell him that Juliet is dead
  • Romeo goes to an apothecary where he buys poison to kill himself at Juliet's side
• Scene 2


  • Friar Lawrence speaks to Friar John - it is revealed that he never delivered the letter to Romeo as he was quarantined due to the plague
  • Friar Lawrence goes to Juliet himself
• Scene 3


  • Romeo arrives at Juliet's tomb and kills Paris who tries to stop him
  • Romeo drinks the poison
  • Friar Lawrence arrives as Juliet wakes up but she refuses to go with him and stabs herself
  • The Friar explains what happened and Capulet and Montague make up
• "Is it even so? then I defy you, stars!"


  Scene 1

  Romeo says he will defy fate and overcome destiny
• "Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night."


  Scene 1

  Romeo says he will kill himself at Juliet's side
• "Put this in any liquid thing you will, And drink it off; and, if you had the

  strength Of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight."


  Scene 1

  The apothecary talks of the strength of the poison and how quickly it works
• "tempt not a desperate man"


  Scene 3

  Romeo responds to Paris' death threat saying that he is desperate to die
• "The letter was not nice but full of charge Of dear import, and the neglecting it May do much danger."


  Scene 2

  Friar Lawrence informs Friar John of the dire consequences of the letter not being delivered
• "beauty's ensign yet Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, And death's pale flag is not advanced there."


  Scene 3

  Romeo focuses on Juliet's beauty instead of her personality - typical for men at the time. The red in her cheeks and lips also implies that she's already recovering from the potion
• "Here's to my love! O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die."


  Scene 3

  Romeo kisses Juliet before he dies and almost toasts the poison to Juliet before drinking it
• "O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die."


  Scene 3

  Juliet makes a sudden and impulsive decision to kill herself with Romeo's dagger. She is decisive which would not have been considered 'womanly' and acts quickly so no one can stop her. By saying the dagger is 'happy' it shows her desperation to die
• "A glooming peace this morning with it

  brings… Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished: For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."


  Scene 3

  The Prince concludes the play, he reverses typical gender roles. He emphasises the importance of forgiveness and punishment whilst reflecting on Romeo and Juliet's tragic story