Romeo and Juliet Act 3 Scene 4 and 5 Date: Objectives Finish Act 3 Scene 4 and 5 See Juliet’s father, Lord Capulet, arrange her marriage to Paris. By the end of the class, students should have a deeper understanding of the event’s leading to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Warm –up – write the quote, answer the questions “O God, I have an ill-divining soul! Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low As one dead in the bottom of a tomb” We know from the first minutes of the play that Romeo and Juliet will die. They, now more than ever, keep talking about this bad feeling and images of their deaths. Our question this thus: Imagine you know a secret; a very important secret about how someone will do at something they are extremely excited about doing. How would you feel? List some emotions? This is how an audience would feel at this play.

Today’s Reading Act 3 Scene 4 1.52 – 1.54 Lord Capulet and Paris discuss Juliet’s marriage. Her father thinks that she is sad about Tybalt and that marrying Paris will make her happy. Scene 5 1.54 – 2.07 Romeo and Juliet have just had their wedding night. He prepares to leave for Mantua (another city) and they are sad. Her mother sees Juliet crying and assumes it is about Tybalt’s death. When she says she doesn’t want to marry Paris, Lord Capulet gets extremely angry and abusive. The Nurse gives bad advise so Juliet turns to the Friar who has a bad idea. Audiobook at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYDFQL_LfeY

Notes – Act 3 Scene 4 Lord Capulet is a proud man. He is the head of his family and has such a position in the community that a relative of the Prince is interested in his daughter. The “desperate tender” he makes about Juliet to Paris is an offer or promise that she will be obedient and marry who her father tells her to marry. This would have been normal in the 1300’s when the play is set or 1500’s when it was written. This pride and deal will explain why he gets so angry when Juliet thinks for herself. Juliet has not told her parents about marrying Romeo. They believe she is sad because her cousin died and they see no reason not to marry her off.

Notes – Act 3 Scene 5 As Romeo leaves Juliet, she fears she will never see him again. She remarks that she can see the future and that Romeo is dead. Much like the Friar and Romeo, Lady Capulet expects the news she is about to give Juliet will be happy news. For Juliet, nothing could be worse now than marrying Paris. She protests strongly. Lord Capulet threatens to have nothing more to do with his daughter if she does not marry Paris. While very aggressive and abusive, he believes he is doing what is best for Juliet by marrying her to a rich, handsome and undeniably nice guy. Juliet hates the Nurse’s advise to marry Paris as well (Bigamy) and forget Romeo. Tricking everyone, she asks to see Friar Laurence to confess her sins. Her final line refers to possible suicide “If all else fail, myself have power to die”.

Exercises In pairs, discuss the following. Imagine your parents were approached by a rich person who wanted to marry you. This person is in their 20’s, is nice, attractive and genuinely wants to take care of you. They also have so much money that neither you nor your family ever have to worry about money again. The one thing is that you don’t really like the person. Would you agree to marry them? Why or why not?

Exercise In pairs, write and perform the following scenario. One person gets the other person a gift and expects that they will love the gift. The other person hates the gift and tries to refuse it. The first person threatens the other if he does not take it. The second person agrees and comes up with a way to get rid of it.

Questions – Point, “reference”, explain. Why does Juliet not want it to be sunrise at the start of the scene? “And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart”. There are two meanings when Juliet says this about Romeo to her mother. What are they? How does Lord Capulet react to Juliet’s decision not to marry Paris. How does Juliet feel about the Nurse at the end of the scene?

Cooldown Question Imagine you are responsible for a younger person. They want to do something that you know will hurt them. Do you warn them or let them learn from the experience? Why or why not?