ACT IV - Scene III Practice Quiz — Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: ACT IV - Scene III
Where does Act IV, Scene 3 take place?
The scene takes place in Juliet's bedchamber in the Capulet house on the night before her planned wedding to Count Paris.
What excuse does Juliet give the Nurse for wanting to be alone?
Juliet tells the Nurse she needs to say many prayers ("orisons") to atone for her sins and ask heaven to smile upon her.
How does Juliet convince Lady Capulet to leave?
Juliet tells her mother that she and the Nurse have already selected everything needed for the wedding, and suggests the Nurse stay with Lady Capulet to help with the sudden preparations.
What is the significance of Juliet's line "Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again"?
The line signals Juliet's awareness that she may never see her family again. It carries tragic dramatic irony, as she will indeed never speak to them while conscious again.
What physical sensation does Juliet describe at the start of her soliloquy?
She describes "a faint cold fear" that thrills through her veins and "almost freezes up the heat of life," conveying her terror through visceral physical imagery.
Why does Juliet briefly consider calling the Nurse back?
She is overwhelmed by fear and wants comfort, but immediately rejects the idea, deciding "My dismal scene I needs must act alone."
What is Juliet's first fear about the potion?
She fears the potion might not work at all, which would mean she has to marry Count Paris the following morning.
What does Juliet do after expressing her first fear?
She lays down a dagger beside her as a backup plan, saying "No, No! This shall forbid it. Lie thou there," indicating she will kill herself rather than marry Paris.
Why does Juliet suspect the Friar might have given her poison?
She worries the Friar may want to kill her to hide the fact that he secretly married her to Romeo, which would dishonor him if the Paris marriage went forward.
How does Juliet resolve her suspicion about the Friar?
She reasons that he has "still been tried a holy man" and decides she will not entertain such a negative thought about him.
What does Juliet fear will happen if she wakes too early in the tomb?
She fears she will suffocate in the vault, whose "foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in," and die strangled before Romeo arrives to rescue her.
What gruesome images does Juliet conjure about the Capulet tomb?
She imagines the bones of her ancestors packed together, the festering body of Tybalt in his shroud, loathsome smells, and spirits that haunt the vault at night.
What is the mandrake allusion in the soliloquy?
Juliet refers to "shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth, / That living mortals, hearing them, run mad." This alludes to the medieval belief that the mandrake root screamed when uprooted, causing madness or death.
What is Juliet's most extreme fear about waking in the tomb?
She fears she will go mad and "madly play with my forefathers' joints" and use "some great kinsman's bone / As with a club dash out my desp'rate brains."
What vision does Juliet have near the end of her soliloquy?
She has a hallucination of Tybalt's ghost seeking out Romeo to avenge his death, seeing the ghost searching for the man who killed him.
What are Juliet's final words before drinking the potion?
She says "Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee," transforming the act of drinking the potion into a toast and declaration of love.
What happens to Juliet after she drinks the potion?
She falls upon her bed within the curtains, appearing to be dead. The stage direction reads: "She [drinks and] falls upon her bed within the curtains."
What type of speech is Juliet's main address in this scene?
It is a soliloquy—a speech delivered by a character alone on stage, revealing their innermost thoughts directly to the audience.
How does dramatic irony function in this scene?
Juliet's fears about waking in the tomb prove tragically prophetic—she does wake in the vault in Act V, but finds Romeo dead beside her rather than alive to rescue her.
What does apostrophe mean as a literary device, and how does Juliet use it?
Apostrophe is directly addressing an absent person, abstract idea, or object. Juliet uses it when she addresses Tybalt's ghost ("Stay, Tybalt, stay!") and when she addresses the absent Romeo.
How does this scene demonstrate Juliet's character growth?
Juliet has transformed from an obedient, sheltered girl into a woman capable of deceiving her family, facing her deepest fears alone, and taking decisive action—all for the sake of her love for Romeo.