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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 3Scene 3
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"deadly level"
Language
Act 3,
Scene 3
Lines 98-104

An explanation of the phrase “deadly level” in Act 3, Scene 3 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Nurse

O, she says nothing, sir, but weeps and weeps;
And now falls on her bed; and then starts up,
And Tybalt calls; and then on Romeo cries,                  
And then down falls again.

Romeo

                                             As if that name,
Shot from the deadly level of a gun,
Did murder her, as that name's cursèd hand
Murdered her kinsman. O tell me, friar, tell me,

At a distance, a gun, like a cannon, must be aimed up so the shot travels in an arch. But from very close distance, the gun is pointed straight, or level, at the target. A gun is all the more deadly from so short a range, hence the phrase "deadly level."