Elle Wilson

Block 6
Miss Kennedy
April 5 2023

Discussion Leader: Act 3, Scene 3 - Scene 4

Summary:
Scene three begins in Friar Lawrence's cell where he and Romeo are discussing the prince's
punishment for the death of Tybalt. Friar Lawrence explains that the prince has been merciful by
banishing Romeo from Verona instead of sentencing him to death. Romeo does not take this
news well and says that having to live away from Juliet is not being merciful. He continues by
saying that being banished from Verona is like being vanished from his world which is death. He
continues on talking about how terrible it is going to be not being able to see Juliet and how Friar
Lawrence wouldnt understand since he is not in Romeo's situation. Friar Lawrence calls Romeo
foolish and ungrateful for acting this way when what he did could have rightfully been punished
with death to which aggravates Romeo even more. Interpreting this dispute is the nurse knocking
on the door, she comes to inform Romeo that Juliet won't stop weeping just as he was doing then.
Friar Lawrence says a really long line of advice to Romeo that he should stop crying, go to Juliet
that night, then stay out of the city until announcing their marriage. Scene four takes place in the
Capulet house and follows a conversation between Paris, Lady Capulet and Capulet about Juliet's
marriage. They discuss how difficult it is to talk about marriage to Juliet with Tybalt's death
being so recent but that they will discuss it soon and encourage her to marry Paris in the days
following.

Analysis:
● I think that this scene shows how Romeo struggles to process his emotions and ends up
responding irrationally, impulsively, and dramatically.

● Juliet is grieving the loss of her cousin and also processing the fact that Romeo was the
one who killed him but seems to be handling her emotions in a much more contained and
mature way than Romeo is. This feeds into the theme of gender roles and how in Romeo
and Juliets relationship, Romeo tends to have most of the typical female traits.

● Romeo seems to forget the fact that he put himself into this situation through his own
impulsive decision of killing Tybalt.

● I find it ironic that Romeo talks about how bad life would be without Juliet and how he
would rather be dead but never does he think about how Juliet would respond.
 ● There is a lot of foreshadowing in these scenes when referring to the death of the two
lovers.

● I love how we know that Juliet is already married, however we read through Capulet and
Lady Capulet planning her wedding to Paris.

● In the wedding scene we can observe a strong change of mind from Capulet. When
speaking about Juliet's marriage to Paris in earlier scenes he was not very enthusiastic nor
did he put the decision in his hands. In this scene Capulet says that Juliet will decide
whatever he says she will and he seems very involved in the marriage.

● There are some lines in this scene that connect to the theme religion. These lines include
references to heaven.

● A lot of lines reference time and highlight the speed at which these scenes have been
moving and how much has happened within a couple days.

Quotes:
"In what vile part of this anatomy doth my name lodge? Tell me, that I may sack the hateful
mansion." (3.3.106-107)
-This quote was said by Romeo to Friar Lawrence but also in response to something the nurse
said.
- I chose this quote because it adds to Romeo's hatred for the families feud the how he wished his
last name was not Montague. He blames his name rather than his own actions. This ties into
multiple similar lines Romeo has said before about how he hates his last name and wishes it was
not his name.

"Ha, banishment! Be merciful, say “death,” for exile hath more terror in his look, much more
than death. Do not say “banishment.” (3.3.11-14)
- Said by Romeo to Friar Lawrence
- I chose this because it shows how much he values being close to Juliet and how being without
her would be just as bad as death =dramatic
Question:
Do you side with Friar Lawrence or with Romeo over whether or not being banished was a
worse punishment than death?