The Theme in the Work
Death grows throughout the play. In scene 1 of Act III, Mercutio and Tybalt die. In scene 2 of Act III, Juliet concludes that the word banished weighs more than the death of her cousin, and in scene 3 of Act III Romeo sees in exile a punishment worse than death and draws his sword against himself.
In scene 1 of Act IV, Juliet threatens to kill herself and accepts the potion that will make her seem dead. In scene 5 of Act IV, Capulet says that Death is his son-in-law and his heir, in lament over a death that is only appearance.
In scene 1 of Act V, Romeo buys poison. In scene 2 of Act V, Friar Laurence calls Juliet a poor living corpse shut in a dead man's tomb. In scene 3 of Act V, Paris and Romeo die, Juliet wakes and kills herself, and the peace between the families is made over the bodies.
Death also serves as the measure of everything that hurts or delights. In scene 6 of Act II, before the wedding, Romeo tells the friar that no pain cancels the joy of a minute with Juliet, and that death can do its worst, so long as he can call Juliet his. In scene 5 of Act III, taking leave of Romeo, Juliet says she sees him as dead at the bottom of a tomb, and, begging her mother to postpone the wedding, asks that the marriage bed be made in the dark tomb where Tybalt lies. In scene 3 of Act IV, before drinking the potion, she imagines waking in the crypt among the bones of her ancestors, with Tybalt still fresh in his shroud.
In scene 3 of Act V, Romeo speaks of death as a lover who keeps Juliet in the dark, and says he will stay with her, among the worms that are her maids, so that death will not take her. Juliet, on waking, refuses the friar's offer to take her to a convent and kills herself. Montague and Capulet, before the two bodies, join hands and promise golden statues for their children.
Death appears as appearance before it appears as fact: Capulet's lament over his sleeping daughter and the friar's potion turn mourning into a rehearsal. When death comes for real, in Act V, it is the argument the families had not accepted from any other word.
Where It Appears
- Scene 1 of Act III: Mercutio is wounded under Romeo's arm and dies; Romeo kills Tybalt and flees, and the Prince banishes him instead of condemning him to death.
- Scene 2 of Act III: On learning that Tybalt has died and Romeo has been banished, Juliet curses Romeo, repents at once, and concludes that the word banished weighs more than the death of her cousin.
- Scene 3 of Act III: Friar Laurence tells Romeo that the Prince has banished him; Romeo sees in exile a punishment worse than death and, when the Nurse brings news of Juliet, draws his sword against himself.
- Scene 1 of Act IV: In the friar's cell, Juliet threatens to kill herself, and when Friar Laurence proposes a potion that will make her seem dead for forty-two hours, she accepts.
- Scene 5 of Act IV: The Nurse finds Juliet motionless and Capulet finds her cold and says that Death is his son-in-law, but she only seems dead from the effect of the potion.
- Scene 1 of Act V: In Mantua, Romeo receives from Balthasar the news that Juliet has died and convinces a wretched apothecary, with gold, to sell him poison, despite the law that punishes such a sale with death.
- Scene 2 of Act V: On learning from Friar John that the letter came back without reaching Romeo, Laurence asks for a crowbar and goes alone to the tomb, where Juliet will wake in a few hours.
- Scene 3 of Act V: In the Capulet tomb, Paris dies fighting Romeo, Romeo drinks the poison after kissing Juliet, and she wakes and kills herself with his dagger.
Passages
Juliet, to the friar:
Be not so long to speak. I long to die, / If what thou speak’st speak not of remedy.(IV.1)
Capulet, before his daughter who seems dead:
Death is my son-in-law, death is my heir(IV.5)
Laurence, on the way to the tomb:
Poor living corse, clos’d in a dead man’s tomb.(V.2)