Romeo and Juliet - Act 3

1) What causes the fatal sword fight between Mercutio and Tybalt? How is Mercutio killed?

2) Why does Romeo kill Tybalt?

3) Now the young lovers are in serious trouble. What does Juliet threaten in Scene 2, after hearing of Romeo's banishment?

4)What is the friar's plan to help them in Scence 3?

5) By the end of Scene 4, a new complication has come up. What plans do Juliet's parents reveal that they have made for her?

Shaping Interpretation

6) Romeo's killing of Tybalt is the turning point of the play- the point when something happens that will turn the action toward either a happy ending or tragic one. What actions does the killing set in motion, with possible tragic consequences?

7) We already know that the play ends in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Their willingness to die comes as no surprise to us, because we have been forewarned. Point out the instances in this act where each young person mentions this willingness to die if they are separated.

8)How does the nurse offend Juliet in this act and cease to be her friend? How does this development add to the tragedy of the events that follow?

9)What have the events of this act revealed to you about the characters of Romeo and Juliet? Describe how the young lovers are changing. What hard lessons are they learning about life?

10) By the end of Act III, we have reached the highest point of suspense. Suspense causes us to ask questions to wonder anxiously "What will happen next?" write down the questions you are asking at the end of Act III.