1) Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished from Verona, while Juliet learns she must marry Paris. 2) Friar Laurence devises a plan for Romeo and Juliet to reunite by having Juliet fake her death so they can flee to Mantua together. 3) However, a miscommunication results in both Romeo and Juliet dying for real, bringing the two feuding families together in grief over the tragic deaths of the star-crossed lovers.

1. Act III: Banishment
Central Issue:
romantic love
versus family
loyalty
Theme: love as a
brutal emotion,
leading to
defiance of family,
religion, & society

2. Act 3, Scene 1
• Mercutio and
• Tybalt has been
Benvolio are looking to fight with
walking around Romeo.
Verona. • Tybalt starts an
• Benvolio warns argument with
Mercutio.
that the Capulets
are around and
looking to start a
fight (peacemaker)

3. • Romeo arrives in a
happy mood.
• No one else knows that Tybalt: Romeo, the hate I bear thee can
he’s just married Juliet. afford
No better term than this,--thou art a villain.
• Tybalt starts arguing
with him.
• Romeo does not want
to fight Tybalt because
he married Juliet.
– Mercutio doesn’t know
about Romeo’s reason for Romeo & Tybalt
not wanting to fight.
– Mercutio stands in for Romeo to Tybalt: I do protest, I never injured
thee,
Romeo in the fight which But love thee better than thou canst devise,
leads to fateful problems. Till thou shalt know the reason of my love:
And so, good Capulet,--which name I tender
As dearly as my own,--be satisfied.

4. • As Romeo tries to Mercutio to Romeo: Why the
break up the fight, devil came you between us?
I was hurt under your arm.
Tybalt murders
Mercutio.
• Tybalt and his men
run away.
• While Mercutio is
dying he curses
both families
“I am hurt.
A plague o'
both your Mercutio
houses!”

5. Act III, scene 1
• Irate that he has allowed his love for
Juliet to make him “effeminate,” Romeo
savagely avenges Mercutio’s death.
• Recognizing what he has done -
murdered his wife’s cousin - Romeo
blames his actions on fate:
– “I am fortune’s fool” (3.1.134).
• (Remember his ominous dream?)

6. Fate
• Fate = Destiny • Are the events in
– An inevitable Act 3 and even
outcome based on earlier in the play a
“the stars” or set result of FATE or
circumstances ACTIONS?
– Romeo and Juliet – Do Romeo and
are “ill-fated” from Juliet have control
the beginning as over their lives, or
“star-crossed has FATE already
lovers” decided their
outcome?

7. 1. The Prince
arrives and
demands to
know who
started this.
2. Benvolio tells
the Prince
exactly what
happened
(honest)

8. 3. Lady Capulet:
– Believes that
Romeo killed
Tybalt
– She calls Benvolio
a liar since he is a
Montague and
doesn’t believe
Tybalt killed
Mercutio.
Furious
– She demands
Lady Capulet
Romeo’s death
since he killed
Tybalt.

9. 4. Lord Montague
– says Romeo is not at
fault
– Romeo only did what
the law would have
done in killing Tybalt.
5. The Prince
– doesn’t have Romeo
killed
Lord & Lady – he banishes Romeo
Montague from Verona
– if Romeo returns, he
will be executed.

10. Act III, scene 2
Juliet: Give me my Romeo; and, when he
• Juliet’s soliloquy: shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so
fine
– She impatiently That all the world will be in love with night
awaits Romeo,
who will come to
her in secret, so
they may
consummate their
marriage.
– At this point she is
not aware of the
murder Romeo
committed.

11. Act III, scene 2
• Juliet’s nurse relates to Juliet to Nurse: What storm is this that
blows so contrary?
Is Romeo slaughter'd, and is Tybalt
her the sad news about dead?
My dear-loved cousin, and my dearer
Tybalt at the hands of lord?
Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the
general doom!
Romeo. For who is living, if those two are gone?
• At first Juliet is angry with
Romeo, then elated that
he is alive, and finally
suicidal because she
fears she cannot live
without him.

12. Act 3, Scene 2
• Juliet
– is inconsolable
because Romeo is
banished.
– She says Romeo’s
banishment is worse
than death.
– Juliet wants to die a
virgin since Romeo
cannot be with her.
• Nurse
Juliet: Come, cords, come, nurse; I'll – goes to find Romeo
to my wedding-bed; and bring him to Juliet.
And death, not Romeo, take my – she will give Romeo a
maidenhead!
ring from Juliet

13. • Romeo hides in Romeo: Is death mis-term'd: calling death
Friar Laurence’s banishment,
Thou cutt'st my head off with a golden axe,
room. And smilest upon the stroke that murders
me.
• Romeo says that
banishment is
worse than death.
• Friar Laurence
scolds Romeo for
thinking
banishment is
death; Depressed Romeo
– but he can’t get Both Romeo and Juliet
Romeo to listen. prefer death to life without
one another.

14. Nurse: Stand up, stand up; stand, and you be a
man:
For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand;
• Nurse arrives,
tells Romeo “to
be a man” and
stop crying.
• Romeo
threatens to kill
himself with a
Nurse & “womanish dagger he finds
Romeo”
on the floor

15. Act 3, Scene 3
• Friar Laurence comes up
with a plan:
– After the Capulets are
asleep, Romeo will go
to Juliet’s room for
their wedding night.
– Romeo is to leave
before dawn and to go
Mantua and
– Romeo is to wait in
Mantua until he hears Friar Laurence
from Friar Laurence via
letter.

16. Act 3, Scene 3
• Friar Laurence will publish
Romeo & Juliet’s marriage at
the “right time”
• Friar believes the
Montagues and Capulets
will reconcile due to the
marriage
• Friar feels the Prince will
be overjoyed at the
reconciliation between
families
• Friar thinks Romeo will be
pardoned by the prince. Friar Laurence &
• Then, the prince will allow Nurse
Romeo to live in Verona.
• And everyone will live
happily ever after.

17. Act III, scene 4
• Lord Capulet asks his wife to let Juliet
know that she’ll be marrying Paris on
Thursday morning. It’s currently
Monday evening.
– Ironic: On Sunday, Lord Capulet denied
Paris’ request to marry Juliet because she
was too young.

18. Act 3, Scene 4
• Romeo is upstairs with
Juliet at the Capulet’s.
– Paris comes over to see how
Juliet is doing
– Juliet’s parents believe that
she is grieving for Tybalt’s
death.
– To cheer Juliet up, her
parents decide that she’ll
marry Paris in 3 days
(Thursday)

19. Act 3, Scene 5
• Dawn/ early morning in
Juliet’s bedroom
• Juliet tries to convince
Romeo that is still night
so that he won’t leave.
• Romeo says he’ll stay
and let her family kill him.
One night with Juliet is
all he needs.
• Eventually Romeo leaves Juliet & her Romeo
for Mantua.

20. • Juliet imagines that she
sees Romeo lying dead
in a tomb
FORESHADOWING
Juliet (to Romeo): O God,
I have an ill-divining soul!
Methinks I see thee, now
thou art below,
As one dead in the
bottom of a tomb:
Either my eyesight fails,
or thou look'st pale.

21. Ironically, this is
last time the two
will see each other
alive.

22. • Marriage to Paris
– Lady Capulet tells Juliet
that she gets to marry Paris
on Thursday morning!
– Juliet refuses to marry
Paris.
• She tells her mother it is
because Paris never
courted her & the
marriage is too quick.
– She says she would rather
marry her enemy Romeo!
Juliet’s begs her mother to
DRAMATIC IRONY
not force her to
marry Paris

23. “Hang thee, young
baggage! disobedient
• Lord Capulet
wretch!
I tell thee what: get
orders her to
thee to church o'
Thursday,
marry Paris or
Or never after look me
in the face:”
he’ll disown
her.
• His honor is
more important
than his
daughter’s
Controlling Lord Capulet
happiness.
and Juliet

24. • After Juliet’s parents
leave her room:
– Juliet panics because
she is already married.
– Nurse tells her that
Romeo is as good as
dead since he has been
banished.
– Nurse thinks that she
should marry Paris.
– The Nurse’s comment Nurse: I think it best you married with the
about Romeo and Paris county.
O, he's a lovely gentleman!
severs her relationship Romeo's a dishclout to him:
with Juliet.

25. Juliet: I'll to the friar, to know his
remedy: • Juliet realizes that the
If all else fail, myself have power to
die. Nurse won’t help her.
• She pretends to go
along with the plan to
marry Paris.
• After the Nurse leaves,
she speaks ill of her:
“a most wicked fiend”.
• She leaves to go to
confession at Friar
Laurence’s.
• If he won’t help, she
Juliet & Nurse will kill herself

26. Purpose
• Shakespeare has moved Juliet from childhood
into adulthood, both sexually and socially.
• She’s exerting her independence from her
nurse and her parents - central issue: romantic
love versus family loyalty.
• He reminds his audience of an Elizabethan
woman’s dependency on a man for acceptance
in society.

27. Purpose
• Once again, Shakespeare foreshadows the
young couple’s suicides.
• He continues to portray the destruction, pain
and death Romeo and Juliet’s impulsive,
passionate love has brought, leaving them
little joy.
• The teens encounter adult conflicts without
the benefit of compassionate adults to guide
them.