The purpose of this soliloquy is to help the audience understand Juliet’s uneasiness about going through with her plan. In this excerpt, Juliet expresses her fears and doubts about the potion given to her by the friar. She contemplates the possibility of it being a poison intended to kill her, which highlights her anxiety and uncertainty about the drastic measure she is considering in order to avoid marrying Paris.
Read the excerpt from Juliet’s soliloquy in Act IV, scene iii of Romeo and Juliet.
What if this mixture do not work at all?
Shall I be married then to-morrow morning?
No, no; this shall forbid it: lie thou there. [Laying down a dagger.]
What if it be a poison, which the friar
Subtly hath minister’d to have me dead,
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour’d
Because he married me before to Romeo?
I fear it is: and yet, methinks, it should not,
For he hath still been tried a holy man.
I will not entertain so bad a thought.
The purpose of this soliloquy is to help the audience understand
Juliet’s shame at disgracing her family and Paris.
Juliet’s confusion about whether Romeo loves her.
Juliet’s anger at the friar for marrying her to Romeo.
Juliet’s uneasiness about going through with her plan.
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