1. Literary Elements – Act III
Romeo & Juliet
Literary Elements – Act III

2. Act 3, Scene 1
“The day is hot, the Capulets abroad, /And, if we meet, we shall not ‘scape a brawl …”
Foreshadowing
Mercutio lectures Benvolio about quarrelling
Irony
Romeo to Tybalt: “I do protest I never injured thee, / But love thee better than though canst devise …”
Dramatic Irony
“…you shall find me a grave man.”
pun

3. Act 3, Scene 1 (cont.) “A plague o’ both / your houses!” Foreshadowing
Tybalt’s death
Climax / Turning Point
“My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding”
Irony

4. Act 3, Scene 2
“Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds ….” Juliet’s speech while she waits alone for Nurse
Soliloquy
Juliet thinks Nurse is saying that Romeo is dead
Dramatic Irony
“…I…”, “…eye…”, “…ay…
Pun
“Beautiful tyrant! Fiend angelical! Dove-feathered raven!
Wolvish-ravening lamb!”
Oxymoron

5. Act 3, Scene 3 “…For exile hath more terror in his look…”
Personification
“O deadly sin! O rude unthankfulness!”
Apostrophe
“flies may do this but I from this must fly …”
Pun

6. Act 3, Scene 4
Between scenes 3 and 4, Romeo visits Juliet’s room. During the same time, Lord Capulet plans Juliet’s marriage to Paris.
Dramatic Irony

7. Act 3, Scene 5
“…and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountaintops.”
Personification
“…Cynthia’s brow…”
Allusion
“O Fortune, Fortune! All men call thee fickle.”
Apostrophe

8. Act 3, Scene 5 (cont.)
“Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom
of a tomb.”
Foreshadowing
“Evermore weeping for your cousin’s death?”
Dramatic Irony
Juliet speaks to herself about Romeo while Lady Capulet is present:
Aside
“…I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear it shall be Romeo,
whom you know I hate…”
Verbal Irony