Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Act 3 Scene 5 PDF

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Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare line by line analysis of Act 3 Scene 5 Summary of the entire chapter broken down into sectors to ensure greater understanding. An analysis of the summary is provided to ensure complete depth of understanding of the scene as a whole...

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Romeo and Juliet Act 3 Scene 5

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Juliet “Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day… Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.” -

Direct translation: Are you going to leave? It’s not yet that close to daytime. That was the nightingale--not the morning lark--that just made that loud, piercing cry. The nightingale sings every night on that pomegranate tree over there. Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

Juliet “It was the nightingale, and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.” -

The nightingale, as its name implies, sings throughout the night, while the lark only sings at dawn.

Romeo “It was the lark, the herald of the morn … I must be gone and live, or stay and die.” -

Direct translation: It was the lark--always a sign of morning--and not the nightingale. Look, love, see the sun streaks lacing through the severe clouds there in the east? The stars have disappeared, and the cheerful day is reaching up over the eastern mountaintops. I have to go and live or stay here and be killed.

Juliet “Yon light is not daylight; I know it, I … Therefore, stay yet; thou needst not to be gone.” -

Direct translation: That light over there isn’t daylight, I know that for sure. It must be some meteor the sun breathed this way to light a lamp for you tonight so you can see your way to Mantua. So, stay a little longer, you don’t need to leave.

Romeo “Let me be ta’en, let me be put to death … I have more care (desire) to stay, than will to go.” -

Direct translation: Let me be taken and let me be put to death--I’m happy as long as you wish it. I’ll say that grey light is not the morning, just the smallest reflection of the moon

goddess’ face. Nor is that sound the lark with its notes echoing in the heavens above us. I have more impulse to stay here than to leave.

Romeo “Cynthia’s brow” -

Allusion

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Cynthia was one of the names for the Greek goddess of the moon—hence the "pale…brow."

Juliet “It is, it is. Hie hence (hurry from here), be gone, away!... O, now be gone! More light and light it grows.” -

Direct translation: It is, it is. Go, get away from here, away! I admit it is the lark singing, sounding so out of tune and sharp in this moment. Some say that the lark has an excellent sense of rhythm and time. It’s not true, since she’s dividing us as well. Some say that the lark and the toad switched eyes. Now I wish they’d switched voices as well, since that voice is ripping us from each other’s arms, and people will be hunting you. Oh, you must go away, it’s getting more and more light!

Juliet “lark makes sweet division (music)” “…for she divideth us” -

Wordplay “division” “divideth”

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Juliet plays on the word divide when she says that the lark’s singing of a sweet “division” “divideth” her and Romeo.

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A division is a piece of music which has been made more elaborate by dividing the long notes of the song's melodic theme into several shorter notes.

Juliet “Some say the lark and loathed (hated) toad change eyes.” -

According to medieval folklore, a lark sometimes exchanged its beautiful eyes for the ugly ones of a toad.

Juliet “Hunting (chasing) thee hence (from here) with hunts -up (hunters’ reveille) to the day” -

In this metaphor, the voice of the lark is hunting, or chasing Romeo away by singing the 'hunts-up," which is a song played to wake up hunters in the morning much like a wakeup call (siren) is sounded every morning in the army.

Juliet “Art thou gone so, love, lord ay husband, friend? … Ere I again behold my Romeo!” -

Direct translation: Are you gone just like that, my love, my lord, my husband, my friend? I must hear from you every hour of every day. Every minute without Romeo will seem like a day, and I shall be very old before I see you again, my Romeo.

Romeo “I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve for sweet discourses (memories) in our time to come.” -

Direct translation: I have no doubt that we will, and all these sorrows we’re feeling now will be nostalgic memories we’ll look back on in the future.

Juliet “O God, I have an ill-divining (imagining) soul!... Either my eyesight fails or thou lookest pale.” -

Direct translation: O God, I can’t stop imagining bad things happening! I feel like I can see you in a miserable state, as if dead in the bottom of a tomb. Either my eyes are failing, or you look very pale.

Romeo “Dry (thirsty) sorrow drinks our blood” -

Imagery

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In the faint morning light, they both look pale. Romeo imagines that this is due to their sorrow, like a vampire, having drunk their blood.

Juliet “O fortune, fortune, all men call thee fickle…But send him back” -

Direct translation: Oh Fortune, they all say that you are fickle. If you are so fickle, what are you doing with my Romeo, who is well-known for his faithfulness? Be fickle, Fortune. If you are, I have some hope that you might change your mind and not keep Romeo away so long but bring him back instead.

Lady Capulet “Evermore (still) weeping for your cousin’s death? … But much of grief shows still some want (lack) of wit (judgement)” -

Direct translation: Still weeping for your cousin’s death? Would you try to wash him from the grave with tears? Even if you could, you couldn’t bring him back to life, so stop

crying. A certain amount of grief shows a large amount of love, but too much grief makes you seem stupid.

Lady Capulet “So shall you feel the loss, but not the friend which you weep for.” -

Direct translation: In that case you will feel the loss, but the friend you weep for will not.

Juliet “Yet let me weep for such a feeling (heartfelt) loss.” Lady Capulet “So shall you feel the loss, but not the friend which you weep for.” Juliet “Feeling so the loss cannot choose but ever (always) weep the friend” -

Wordplay “Feeling” “Feel”

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Juliet weeps for her feeling of loss; her heart felt the loss of Tybalt.

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Her mother takes the opportunity for a bit of wordplay, saying that although she can feel the loss, she cannot "feel" Tybalt since her weeping will not bring him back.

Juliet “Feeling so the loss cannot choose but ever (always) weep the friend” -

Direct translation: If I feel the loss so much, I can’t help but keep crying for my friend.

Juliet “Villain and he be many miles surrender (away)” -

Juliet cleverly uses a double meaning when referring to Romeo:

A) Romeo is miles away since he’s been banished from Verona. B) Romeo is far from being a villain

Juliet “And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.” -

It sounds as if Juliet is saying that Romeo is not the source of her grief.

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But the statement could also be interpreted differently – Romeo is the source of her grief, but he is not like the villain her mother has described.

Juliet “Villain and he be many miles asunder (away)…And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.” -

Direct translation: May Romeo and all villainy always be miles away. God pardon him! I do, with all my heart, even though no other man could make me grieve so much.

Juliet “Ay madam, from (beyond)… venge (avenge) my cousins death.”

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Direct translation: Yes, madam, away from the reach of my hands. I wish no one but me could avenge my cousin’s death!

Lady Caplet “Where that same banished runagate (fugitive) doth live.. and then I hope thou wilt be satisfied” -

Direct translation: And then stop weeping. I’ll send someone to Mantua where that banished criminal now lives, and they’ll give him such a powerful poison that he’ll soon keep Tybalt company. And then, I hope, you’ll be satisfied.

Juliet “Indeed, I never shall be satisfied… soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart abhors.” -

Direct translation: Indeed, I’ll never be satisfied with Romeo until I see him dead...dead is what my heart is like now on behalf of my cousin. Mother, if you could just find a servant to carry the poison, I’d fix it so that Romeo would be killed right away after drinking it.

Juliet “Indeed, I never shall be satisfied with Romeo till I behold him – dead – is my poor heart for a kinsman vexed” -

These lines yield two possible meanings:

A) (For Juliet’s mother): she will not be satisfied until she sees Romeo dead. B) (For Juliet): She will not be satisfied until she sees Romeo; her heart is dead, no longer grieving, for her kinsman Tybalt.

Juliet “Madam, if you could find out but a man … soon sleep in quiet” -

Juliet continues to use words with a double meaning:

A) For Juliet’s mother – If you can find someone to bring a poison, I will temper (arrange) it so that Romeo “sleeps in quiet” (dies). B) For Juliet – If you can find someone to bring a poison, I will temper (modify) it so that Romeo only sleeps instead of dies.

Juliet “To wreak the love I bore my cousin” -

There are 2 meanings of the verb to wreak:

A) Juliet wants to avenge (wreak) the loss of Tybalt. B) She wants to express (wreak) her love for Romeo which was like the love that she had for Tybalt.

Lady Capulet “Find thou the means… but now I’ll tell thee joyful tiding (news) girl” -

Direct translation: You find a suitable poison, and I’ll find a suitable servant. But now I have to tell you good news, girl.

Juliet “And joy comes well… your ladyship” -

Direct translation: Joy is badly needed in this time. Please, mother, what is the good news?

Lady Capulet “Well, well, thou hast a careful (concerned) …nor I looked not for.” -

Well, you have a thoughtful father, child. Your father, to alleviate your grief, has arranged a joyful day for you, which neither you nor I anticipated.

Lady Capulet “Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn… Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride.” -

Indeed, my child, it’s next Thursday in the early morning, when Count Paris, the gallant, young, and noble gentleman, will make you a happy bride at Saint Peter’s Church.

Juliet “Now, by Saint Peter’s Church… Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!” -

I swear on the Church of Saint Peter and Peter himself, too, he will not make me a happy bride there. I’m amazed at this haste, that I have to get married before he’s even come to woo me, the man who wants to be my husband. Please, mother, tell my lord and father that I won’t marry yet, and when I do I’d rather marry Romeo, whom you know I hate, than marry Paris. What incredible news indeed!

Capulet “When the sun sets, the earth doth drizzle dew; byu for the sunset … Have you delivered to her our decree?” -

Direct translation: When the sun sets there’s a drizzle of dew, but my nephew’s death, the sunset of his life, has caused a downpour. What is it now, are you some kind of water pipe, girl? What, are you still crying? In your little body there’s a storm with a boat, a sea, and a wind. Your eyes are like the sea ebbing and flowing with tears, your body is like a boat sailing through the tears, and your violent sighing is like storm winds that threaten to overpower your body as if it were a ship in a tempest. What about it, wife? Have you told her about my decision?

Capulet “Soft (wait), take me with you, take me with you, wife… So worthy a gentleman to be her bridegroom?” -

Direct translation: What! Hold on, wife, hold on. What is this? She refuses? Isn’t she grateful for us? Isn’t she proud of her family? Doesn’t she count herself blessed, unworthy as she is, that we found such a worthy gentleman to be her husband?

Juliet “Not proud you have, but thankful that you have… but thankful even for hate that is meant (as) love.” -

Direct translation: I’m not proud that you’ve done this, but I’m thankful. I can’t be proud of something I can’t stand, but I can be thankful for anything if it was done with good intentions.

Capulet “How, how, how, how, chopped-logic! What is this?... You tallow face (useless coward)!” -

Direct translation: What is this twisted logic! What is this? You’re proud and you thank us and yet you’re ungrateful and you can’t be proud? You spoiled brat, don’t give me any more of these thanks or this pride. Just get yourself ready for next Thursday to go marry Paris at Saint Peter’s Church, or I’ll drag you there, tied to a wooden frame. Curse you, you weak wretch, you piece of dead weight, you pale faced girl!

Capulet “But fettle (dress up) your fine joints” -

Metaphor

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To fettle means to groom a horse.

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This metaphor reflects the authority which Lord Capulet thinks he rightly should have over a daughter.

Capulet “Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.” -

A hurdle was a frame to which a traitor was tied and drawn through the streets on his way to his execution.

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To Capulet, Juliet is a traitor disobeying his commands.

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To Juliet, going to the church to be married would be like going to her execution.

Capulet “Hang thee, young baggage. Disobedient wretch! … Out on her, hilding (good for nothing)!” -

Direct translation: Damn you, useless girl! Disobedient wretch! I’ll tell you what. Get yourself to the church on Thursday or never look me in the face again. Don’t speak to me, don’t reply, don’t answer. I feel like I could hit you. My wife, we thought we had been meagerly blessed having just this one child, but now I see that this one alone is too much, and we’re cursed to have her. Curse you, you beast!

Capulet “Out on her, hilding (good for nothing)!” -

Metaphor

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A hilding is a useless, broken down horse, which continues the horse metaphor Capulet started with the word "fettle."

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This is the first instance of “hilding” being used as an insult to describe a useless woman.

Capulet “Gods bread, it makes me mad… I am too young I pray you pardon me.” -

Direct translation: I swear on the Holy Communion, this makes me mad. All day and night, in work and play, time after time, alone and in company, my goal has always been to have her married. And now I’ve provided a gentleman from a good family, with a lovely estate, who is young and well brought up, full to bursting with honor and as goodlooking as you could imagine. And then after all of that to have a wretched, blubbering fool, like a whiny baby, look at her good luck and say “I won’t get married, I’m not in love, I’m too young, sorry, forgive me.”

Capulet “Graze where you will, you shall not house with me… I’ll not be forsworn (break my promise)” -

Direct translation: Well, if you won’t get married, I’ll pardon you. Go make your way as you wish, but you won’t live under my roof. Think about it. Consider it carefully. I’m not a joking man. Thursday is coming soon--put your hand on your heart and take my advice. If you want to be my child, I’ll give you away to Paris in marriage. If you won’t marry him, get hanged, beg, starve, go die in the streets, for I swear on my soul I’ll never acknowledge you again, nor will I permit any family to help you. Trust that I will keep my word. I won’t go back on this promise.

Juliet “Or to dispraise my lord with the same tongue… if all else fail, myself have power to die.” -

Direct translation: Is it more sinful to tell me to break my marriage vows or to speak ill of Romeo like that when she’s praised him beyond comparison so many thousands of times? Go, my former advisor, you and my inner thoughts will be separated from now on. I’ll go to the friar to see if he has a solution. If all else fails, I still have the power to end my own life.

Summary and Notes ✓ Romeo and Juliet walk out onto Juliet’s balcony after having spent the night together. ✓ It is nearly morning, and Romeo is preparing to leave. ✓ Juliet insists that day has not yet broken, and Romeo should stay a while longer, but he insists that “night’s candles are burnt out,” and it is time for him to make haste unless he wants to be killed. ✓ Juliet, realizing that what Romeo says is true, has a change of heart and begins urging him to hurry to Mantua before he’s caught. ✓ Romeo looks out on the dawn and laments that as “more light” breaks, his and Juliet’s troubles grow “dark[er.]” ✓ The nurse enters and announces that Lady Capulet is on her way to Juliet’s room. Juliet states that as the window “let[s] day in,” it “let[s] life out.”

Notes -

This passage represents Shakespeare’s overturn of common preconceptions about day and night, light and dark.

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While day and light are usually purifying, happy symbols, within the world of the play, the dawning sun is garish, draining, and loathed because it represents the end of Romeo and Juliet’s time together—and the threat of being discovered by their families in the harsh light of day.

✓ After a kiss farewell, Romeo climbs down the rope ladder. ✓ Juliet calls after him, worried that it will be years before they see one another again. ✓ Romeo insists that he will send her greetings as often as he can, and says he believes in his heart they’ll be together again soon.

✓ Juliet, looking down the ladder at Romeo, says she’s having a terrible premonition— ✓ Romeo is so far below her it’s as if he’s “dead in the bottom of a tomb.” ✓ Romeo begs Juliet not to worry, then takes his leave. Notes -

Juliet’s forewarning as she looks down the ladder at Romeo hearkens back to Romeo’s significant dream the night before the Capulet ball.

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Both of them know, on some level, that they are pawns of fate—and perhaps even sense that their love is doomed—but choose to ignore their instincts.

✓ Lady Capulet calls out to Juliet and asks how she’s doing. ✓ Juliet says she’s feeling poorly. ✓ Lady Capulet tells Juliet that it’s time to stop crying for Tybalt. ✓ Juliet says she can’t help but weep, and Lady Capulet then suggests that Juliet weep not because Tybalt is dead—since her tears won’t do him any good in the grave—but because the “villain” who killed him, Romeo, still lives. ✓ Juliet, putting on an act, says she wishes she could avenge Tybalt’s death. ✓ Lady Capulet says that a plan to do just that is already in motion—she is planning on sending instructions and poison to a friend who lives in Mantua, ordering the man to kill ✓ Romeo on sight. Juliet says she wishes she could mix the poison herself. Notes -

Juliet knows that if her parents find out about her love for Romeo, her already-miserable situation will only get worse.

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She chooses to let her mother believe she’s crying over Tybalt, and to play up her hatred of Romeo to throw her mother off.

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Her violent speech about Romeo contradicts her intense love for him.

✓ Lady Capulet tells Juliet that it’s time to talk of nicer things—she has some good news for her daughter. ✓ Juliet asks what the news is. Lady Capulet says that in order to help Juliet feel better, her father has “sorted out a sudden day of joy,” and arranged for her to be married to Paris on Thursday morning.

✓ Juliet says she doesn’t want to marry Paris—she would, she says, marry her sworn enemy Romeo before him. ✓ Capulet and the nurse enter, and Capulet asks why Juliet is still crying—surely, he says, he...