Romeo and Juliet, ACT IV - Scene III quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What excuse does Juliet give for wanting to be left alone on the night before her wedding?

   • She is feeling ill and needs rest
   • She wants to write a letter to Romeo
   • She needs to finish her wedding dress
   • Correct answer: She needs to say many prayers

   Juliet tells the Nurse she needs "many orisons / To move the heavens to smile upon my state," using prayer as a believable cover for her true plan to drink the potion.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Juliet lay beside her before drinking the potion?

   • A rosary
   • A portrait of Romeo
   • Correct answer: A dagger
   • A letter to Romeo

   Juliet lays down a dagger as a backup plan, saying "No, No! This shall forbid it. Lie thou there," indicating she will kill herself rather than be forced to marry Paris if the potion fails.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Why does Juliet briefly suspect Friar Laurence may have given her poison instead of a sleeping potion?

   • To punish her for disobeying her parents
   • Correct answer: To hide his role in secretly marrying her to Romeo
   • Because he has always secretly hated the Capulet family
   • Because he wants to claim the Capulet fortune

   Juliet fears the Friar might want her dead "Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour'd / Because he married me before to Romeo," worrying he may need to cover up his involvement.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How does Juliet resolve her doubt about whether the Friar has poisoned her?

   • Correct answer: She reasons that he has always been known as a holy man
   • She calls the Nurse back to examine the potion
   • She prays to heaven for a sign of the Friar's honesty
   • She tests a few drops of the potion before drinking it all

   Juliet reassures herself by remembering that the Friar "hath still been tried a holy man" and decides she "will not entertain so bad a thought."

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5. 5

   Question 5. What does Juliet fear she might do if she goes mad in the tomb?

   • Correct answer: Play with her ancestors' bones and dash out her own brains
   • Cry out for Romeo and alert the Capulet servants
   • Break open the tomb door and wander the streets
   • Stab herself with the dagger she placed beside her

   In her most extreme fear, Juliet imagines she will "madly play with my forefathers' joints" and use "some great kinsman's bone / As with a club dash out my desp'rate brains."

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6. 6

   Question 6. Whose ghost does Juliet see in a vision near the end of her soliloquy?

   • Romeo's ghost
   • Correct answer: Tybalt's ghost
   • Mercutio's ghost
   • Her grandfather's ghost

   Juliet sees "my cousin's ghost / Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body / Upon a rapier's point," a vision of the slain Tybalt searching for vengeance against Romeo.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What are Juliet's final words before she drinks the potion?

   • "My dismal scene I needs must act alone."
   • "Stay, Tybalt, stay!"
   • Correct answer: "Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee."
   • "Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again."

   Juliet's last words before drinking are a toast to Romeo, transforming an act of desperation into a declaration of love and commitment.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • Juliet tells the Nurse the real reason she wants to be alone.

     Didn't happen

     Juliet deceives both the Nurse and Lady Capulet, telling them she needs to pray rather than revealing her plan to drink the sleeping potion. This deception shows how completely her loyalty has shifted to Romeo.

   • Juliet drinks the potion and falls upon her bed.

     Happened

     The stage direction confirms: "She [drinks and] falls upon her bed within the curtains." Despite her many fears, Juliet ultimately summons the courage to drink the potion.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does the word "orisons" mean as Juliet uses it in this scene?

   • Medicines
   • Ornaments
   • Opinions
   • Correct answer: Prayers

   Juliet tells the Nurse she needs "many orisons / To move the heavens to smile upon my state." Orisons is an archaic word for prayers or devotional supplications.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does "conceit" mean in Juliet's line "The horrible conceit of death and night"?

    • Correct answer: An idea or mental image
    • Vanity or excessive pride
    • A deceitful lie or trick
    • Agreement or consent

    In Elizabethan English, "conceit" meant an idea, thought, or mental image—especially an elaborate or fanciful one. This differs from the modern meaning of excessive pride or vanity.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What are "mandrakes" and why does Juliet reference them?

    • Mythical dragons believed to guard ancient tombs
    • Evil spirits believed to haunt crypts and cause madness
    • Ominous birds whose cries were said to foretell death
    • Correct answer: Plants believed to shriek when uprooted, causing madness

    Juliet fears hearing "shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth, / That living mortals, hearing them, run mad." Mandrakes are plants with forked roots resembling the human form; medieval legend held their uprooting produced fatal or maddening screams.

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