Saturday, May 12, 2012

How does Romeo respond when Juliet says in line 16, “Therefore stay yet: thou need’st not to be gone” in Act III, Scene 5?

Act III, Scene 5 is the morning after Romeo and Juliet's honeymoon night and the aftermath of the tragic events in Scene 1 in which Mercutio and Tybalt are killed. When Romeo prepares to leave, Juliet declares that it is the nightingale, symbol of the night, singing outside her window and that they still have time to be together. Romeo disagrees, identifying the bird as the "lark, herald of the morn." When Juliet insists that it was the nightingale and that Romeo should stay, Romeo counters by saying, "Let me taken, let me be put to death./ I am content, so thou wilt have it so." He is referring to the fact that if he is caught in Verona he will be put to death because he killed Tybalt. Essentially, Romeo is indicating that he would just as soon die as part company with Juliet. His words echo previous references to his death: in Act I, Scene 4, when he talks about a dream which seems to forecast his death; in Act II, Scene 6, he says he would be happy to die after he and Juliet are married; and finally in Act III, Scene 3, he complains to Friar Laurence that he would rather die than not be in Verona with Juliet.

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