Romeo & Juliet Act 3 Summary
from Sparknotes.com
SCENE i
As they walk in the street under the boiling sun, Benvolio suggests to Mercutio that they go indoors,
fearing that a brawl will be unavoidable should they encounter Capulet men. Mercutio replies that
Benvolio has as quick a temper as any man in Italy, and should not criticize others for their short fuses.
Tybalt enters with a group of cronies. He approaches Benvolio and Mercutio and asks to speak with
one of them. Annoyed, Mercutio begins to taunt and provoke him. Romeo enters. Tybalt turns his
attention from Mercutio to Romeo, and calls Romeo a villain. Romeo, now secretly married to Juliet
and thus Tybalt’s kinsman, refuses to be angered by Tybalt’s verbal attack. Tybalt commands Romeo
to draw his sword. Romeo protests that he has good reason to love Tybalt, and does not wish to fight
him. He asks that until Tybalt knows the reason for this love, he put aside his sword. Mercutio angrily
draws his sword and declares with biting wit that if Romeo will not fight Tybalt, he will. Mercutio and
Tybalt begin to fight. Romeo, attempting to restore peace, throws himself between the combatants.
Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm, and as Mercutio falls, Tybalt and his men hurry away.
Mercutio dies, cursing both the Montagues and the Capulets: “A plague o’ both your houses”
(3.1.87), and still pouring forth his wild witticisms: “Ask for me tomorrow, and / you shall find me a
grave man” (3.1.93–94). Enraged, Romeo declares that his love for Juliet has made him effeminate,
and that he should have fought Tybalt in Mercutio’s place. When Tybalt, still angry, storms back onto
the scene, Romeo draws his sword. They fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt. Benvolio urges Romeo to run; a
group of citizens outraged at the recurring street fights is approaching. Romeo, shocked at what has
happened, cries “O, I am fortune’s fool!” and flees (3.1.131).
The Prince enters, accompanied by many citizens, and the Montagues and Capulets. Benvolio tells
the Prince the story of the brawl, emphasizing Romeo’s attempt to keep the peace, but Lady
Capulet, Tybalt’s aunt, cries that Benvolio is lying to protect the Montagues. She demands Romeo’s
life. Prince Escalus chooses instead to exile Romeo from Verona. He declares that should Romeo be
found within the city, he will be killed.
SCENCE ii
In Capulet’s house, Juliet longs for night to fall so that Romeo will come to her “untalked of and
unseen” (3.2.7). Suddenly the Nurse rushes in with news of the fight between Romeo and Tybalt. But
the Nurse is so distraught, she stumbles over the words, making it sound as if Romeo is dead. Juliet
assumes Romeo has killed himself, and she resigns to die herself. The Nurse then begins to moan
about Tybalt’s death, and Juliet briefly fears that both Romeo and Tybalt are dead. When the story is
at last straight and Juliet understands that Romeo has killed Tybalt and been sentenced to exile, she
curses nature that it should put “the spirit of a fiend” in Romeo’s “sweet flesh” (3.2.81–82). The Nurse
echoes Juliet and curses Romeo’s name, but Juliet denounces her for criticizing her husband, and
adds that she regrets faulting him herself. Juliet claims that Romeo’s banishment is worse than ten
thousand slain Tybalts. She laments that she will die without a wedding night, a maiden-widow. The
Nurse assures her, however, that she knows where Romeo is hiding, and will see to it that Romeo
comes to her for their wedding night. Juliet gives the Nurse a ring to give to Romeo as a token of her
love.
SCENE iii
In Friar Lawrence’s cell, Romeo is overcome with grief, and wonders what sentence the Prince has
decreed. Friar Lawrence tells him he is lucky: the Prince has only banished him. Romeo claims that
banishment is a penalty far worse than death, since he will have to live, but without Juliet. The friar
tries to counsel Romeo but the youth is so unhappy that he will have none of it. Romeo falls to the
floor. The Nurse arrives, and Romeo desperately asks her for news of Juliet. He assumes that Juliet now
thinks of him as a murderer and threatens to stab himself. Friar Lawrence stops him and scolds him for
being unmanly. He explains that Romeo has much to be grateful for: he and Juliet are both alive,