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What is an example of a soliloquy in Act IV of Romeo and Juliet?

A soliloquy is a long speech in which a character expresses his or her thoughts out loud while alone on stage. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, there are three important soliloquies, including Friar Lawrence's discussion of the nature of plants and herbs in Act II, Scene 3 and Romeo's final statement of his love for Juliet inside Capulet's tomb in Act V, Scene 3. The best soliloquy of the tragedy, however, is probably Juliet's expression of her fears about taking the friar's potion in Act IV, Scene 3. Shakespeare's soliloquies often portray a character who is poised on the edge of action and is deliberating the pros and cons of that action.


At first, Juliet debates whether she should call the Nurse in for comfort. Rejecting that idea, she becomes fearful that the potion will not work and that she will have to marry Count Paris, but she is carrying a dagger which she claims she would use on herself rather than be married a second time. Next, she fears the friar's plan is a way to get rid of her before anyone finds out he already married Romeo and Juliet. The Friar would be "dishonored" if he performed another marriage. She's also afraid that she might wake up too soon and that Romeo would not have arrived to take her away. She concocts several nightmarish scenarios with "loathsome smells" and "shrieks like mandrakes." She pictures herself alone in the tomb where she would "madly play with my forefather's joints." She thinks that maybe Tybalt's ghost will rise and go looking for Romeo, and she screams for him to "stay." Finally, she musters enough courage to drink from the vial and falls on her bed, ending the soliloquy as the friar's potion takes effect.

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