William Shakespeare’s love story Romeo and Juliet remains the archetype for the tragic love story with its main themes continually resurfacing in a vast number of contemporary stories and plays. One of the most powerful scenes in the play is Romeo and Juliet’s last night together before he is to be exiled from Verona, under the punishment of death on his return. The following paper explores the dialog between Romeo and Juliet in this scene (Act 3, Scene 5) with a particular focus on the structure of the language used, the scenes dramatic structure the thematic importance of the scene in the context of the play as a whole. A particular area of focus this paper examines is the interrelated notion of separation and abandonment, particularly in regards to Juliet’s character, which manifests itself throughout Act 3.
Act 3 Scene 5 represents an important turning point in the play as it is the last time the start crossed lovers spend time together prior to the tragic conclusion of the play. The scene is set in Juliet’s bed chamber just as the morning is beginning to break. Knowing this is the last night Romeo will ever be in Verona, Juliet open the dialog with a denial that the morning has come by reference to the singing of the larks being that of the nightingale:
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"Critical Commentary: Romeo and Juliet Act 3, Scene 5".
2 It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
3 That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear;
5 Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.
This sets the milieu for the entire scene as one of defiance, denial and disbelief that the two lovers are about to be separated indefinably through the law of Verona. The metaphoric use of the song birds of night and day (the lark and the nightingale respectively) are used throughout this section. One example of this is Juliet’s superimposing her dire situation as a comparison between the shielded ugliness of the lark which represents a metaphoric exploration of the lover’s situation. On Line 31 Juliet states, “Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes,” As with many of Shakespeare’s plays, the eyes remain a truth point on which an individual, or in this case a lark is to be judged. By placing the eyes of a toad in the lark, Juliet’s line transforms the imagery of the larks song, commonly associated as something pleasant and beautiful to represent the loathed situation the couple find themselves in.
Another point to make is that it is the intervention of the law that frustrates the lovers and throughout this scene this is highly significant in relation to death and specifically the stark forced choice that is presented to Romeo. Line 24 and 25 sum up this position and state:
24 Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so.
25 How is’t, my soul? let’s talk; it is not day.
Thematically, the scene is heavily invested in the lover’s separation and consequently Juliet’s abandonment. As line 24 and 25 show, Romeos realisation of the unwanted realities morning brings is comparable to his death. For Romeo, being forced for Juliet’s arms is akin to his death as he is faced with losing what he holds most precious.
As Collins notes in his article, the theme of the abandonment of Juliet (all be it imposed on Romeo by the law) continues throughout scene 5 in relation to her parents and nurse who in Juliet’s greatest hour of need all dissolve away leaving her alone and distraught (p. 255); particularly as she is later informed of her planned marriage to Paris. As a final note, on Romeo’s exit there is a premonition of sorts which tragically comes into being at the end of the play, the lines in question are:
54 O God, I have an ill-divining soul!
55 Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,
56 As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.
There are two interesting interrelated points that the above lines invoke in the audience; the first is that the premonition of sorts that the next time they meet will be in death. As becomes clear in the final scene of the play, the backdrop is that of a tomb. Related to this foresight of death is the use of word used in lines 57 – 59 which contain a dual meaning in relation to death and the characters distraught at bluing forced apart; the lines read:
57 Either my eyesight fails, or thou look’st pale.
58 And trust me, love, in my eye so do you:
59 Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!
What is particularly notable here is the duality in the imagery of paleness which is invoked in the reader. Paleness can refer to death, the paleness associated with the dead body, or paleness in the living, such as receiving bad news or when a person goes into shock. Indeed, this imagery of the draining of the blood (be it in death or in distress) is used by Shakespeare in line 59.
In conclusion, the thematic in Romeo and Juliet relating to Act 3 scene 5 remains a turning point in the play as it is the last instance that loves flourishes between the two lovers. The wording and dramatic implication of this scene is achieved through the use of complex metaphorical analogies. The further implication to the theme of abandonment, particularly in the case of Juliet, can be read as a form of social commentary on the position of the women within society and the parental abandonment she undergoes (Appelbaum, 1997, p.262).
- Appelbaum, R. (1997). “Standing to the Wall”: The Presures of Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare Quarterly. 48(3) 251-272
- Collins, M. J. For World and Stage: An approach to Teaching Shakespeare. Shakespeare Quarterly. 41(2), 251-261
Shakespeare, W. (2000) Romeo and Juliet, ed. Jill L. Levenson (Oxford: OUP)
