Questions and Answers

1. ROMEO AND JULIET
ACT V
Miss Riddell
March 2019

2. SCENE ONE
1. DESCRIBE THE DREAM THAT ROMEO HAS
JUST HAD AT THE BEGINNING OF SCENE 1?
 He says he dreamed that he was dead when Juliet found his body. She
kissed him and breathed life into him. He arose and became an
emperor. This dream foreshadows the actual events later in the act,
when Juliet will kiss Romeo’s just-deceased lips.

3. 2. WHO BRINGS NEWS FROM VERONA?
WHAT IS THE NEWS?
 Romeo’s servant/friend Balthasar.
 He brings the mistaken news of Juliet’s death to Romeo.

4. 3. WRITE DOWN THREE ODD THINGS ROMEO
NOTICED IN THE APOTHECARY SHOP.
a) The man himself was frail and miserable looking.
b) His shop sold many odd things, including a stuffed alligator, weird-
shaped fish, dusty seeds, and rose petals that might once have been
used to make perfume.
c) He had some empty shelves and containers.

5. 4. WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO GET POISON IN
MANTUA?
 It is illegal to sell poison in Mantua.

6. WHY DOES ROMEO BELIEVE THIS
APOTHECARY WILL SELL HIM SOME DESPITE
THIS?
 Romeo believe the apothecary will sell some to him because the man is
very poor and looks like he’s starving to death.

7. SCENE TWO
1. IN SCENE 2, WHAT IS FRIAR JOHN’S
EXCUSE FOR NOT HAVING DELIVERED THE
LETTER TO ROMEO?
 He stopped to help someone who was sick and then was quarantined
in the house and not allowed to go to Mantua.

8. 2. WHAT IS FRIAR LAURENCE’S PLAN OF
ACTION ONCE HE REALIZES ROMEO HASN’T
RECEIVED HIS LETTER?
 He’ll send another letter to inform Romeo of what’s been happening
with Juliet.
 In the meantime, the Friar will go gather Juliet from the tomb; she’s set
to wake up soon and he doesn’t want her in that creepy place alone
and scared.

9. SCENE THREE
1. WHO IS THE FIRST PERSON TO ARRIVE AT
JULIET’S TOMB IN SCENE 3?
 Paris is the first person at the tomb.

10. WHY IS HE THERE?
 He’s come to privately grieve over his dead fiancée and leave flowers
over her corpse.

11. 2. EXPLAIN PARIS’ LOGIC IN THINKING THAT
ROMEO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR JULIET KILLING
HERSELF.
 He believes that Juliet died from the grief she felt over Tybalt’s slaying.

12. 3. DID PARIS LOVE JULIET?
 Paris could not have loved Juliet because he never really got to talk to
her or know her. The same, however, could be said of Romeo.

13.  Paris did love Juliet, in a way. He’s upset about her death and has
come at night to grieve alone. He also dies defending Juliet and the
Capulet family honor. Even if you don’t like Paris, you have to respect
that he tries to do the right thing.

14. 4. ROMEO COMMENTS THAT JULIET LOOKS
JUST AS BEAUTIFUL IN DEATH AS SHE DID IN
LIFE, WITH ROSES IN HER CHEEKS AND LIPS.
HE DOESN’T REALIZE THAT THE “DEATH” IS
JUST A POTION THAT’S WEARING OFF.
INSTEAD, WHY DOES HE FIGURE JULIET IS
STILL SO BEAUTIFUL?.
 He says that Death must want Juliet to be his lover, so he’s keeping her
beauty intact

15. 5. DOES JULIET WAKE UP JUST BEFORE
ROMEO DIES OR JUST AFTER?
 She wakes up just after he dies.

16. 6. WHO IS PRESENT WHEN JULIET AWAKENS?
WHY DOESN’T THIS PERSON STAY?
 The Friar is there when Juliet
awakens.
 He doesn’t want to stay
because he hears people
approaching and he knows
he’ll be in trouble for his
role in the misadventure. He
runs away and leaves Juliet
by herself in the tomb.

17. 7. WHY DOES JULIET KISS ROMEO’S LIPS
EVEN AFTER HE ALREADY DIED?
 She spots the vial of poison and hopes there’s enough poison left on
his lips to allow her to die, as well.

18. 8. JULIET SAYS, “THY LIPS ARE WARM!” THIS
IS, QUITE ARGUABLY, ONE OF THE SADDEST
LINES IN THE ENTIRE PLAY. WHY ARE THESE
FOUR LITTLE WORDS SO MEANINGFUL?
 They missed each other by mere minutes, perhaps seconds. The plan
was so close to working out, but tragedy resulted instead.

19. 9. HOW DOES JULIET KILL HERSELF?
 She stabs herself in the chest with Romeo’s knife.

20. 10. WHICH TWO CHARACTERS ARE DETAINED
BY THE WATCHMEN AFTER JULIET’S DEATH?
 The watchmen catch both Balthasar and Friar Laurence. Both are
brought back to the tomb to explain themselves.

21. 11. WHO ELSE DIED TONIGHT? HOW DO
WE FIND OUT?
 Lady Montague also died earlier this evening.
 Lord Montague tells everyone at the Capulet tomb that grief over Romeo’s
banishment led to his wife’s heart stopping.

22. 12. HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED IN THIS PLAY?
LIST THEIR NAMES IN ORDER OF THEIR
DEATHS.
Six people died:
1. Mercutio
2. Tybalt
3. Lady Montague
4. Paris
5. Romeo
6. Juliet

23. 13. REWRITE THE FINAL SIX LINES OF
THE PLAY IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
A glooming peace this morning with it brings.
The sun for sorrow will not show his head.
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardoned, and some punished,
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.