Act 4, Scenes 1-3: A Dangerous Plan

Prompt D
In Scene 1, Juliet says, "'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife Shall play the umpire." Basically, what she is saying is that her knife will became the umpire between her problems. In short, Juliet is threatening to kill herself as a last resort, in the event that the Friar has no other plans. This shows just how devoted Juliet is to Romeo and how much she doesn't want to marry Paris. Killing herself is one of the only ways Juliet thinks she can take control of her life back. This demonstration of the lengths Juliet will go in order to prevent the marriage shows she will probably be open to the Friar's plan involving the potion.

Prompt G
Juliet

Oh how things are spiraling out of my control! There seems to be no stopping these terrible events! I absolutely do not want to marry County Paris, no matter what I have said to my parents. Romeo is my only true love, and this will always be so. I cannot allow myself to be married to someone else behind Romeo's back. County Paris's only redeeming quality seems to be his wealth and social position; I see nothing good in him. There is nobody in the whole world I would rather marry than Romeo.

However, many of these events seem to be out of my control. I talked with the Friar, and we have a plan, but if this plan fails, the only way to take back control of my life will be with this bloody knife. I do not want to die and leave Romeo, but I would rather die than marry Paris. I dearly hope this potion works and that our plan does as well, because otherwise I may have no choice but to use that knife.