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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 5Scene 3
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"unkind"
Language
Act 5,
Scene 3
Lines 140-146

An explanation of the multiple meanings of “unkind” in Act 5, Scene 3 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Friar Laurence

Alack, alack, what blood is this, which stains               
The stony entrance of this sepulchre?
What mean these masterless and gory swords
To lie discolored by this place of peace?
[Enters the tomb]
Romeo! O, pale! Who else? What, Paris too?
And steeped in blood? Ah, what an unkind hour
Is guilty of this lamentable chance!
  • "Unkind" can mean "cruel," which is how we use it today.
  • But in this case, it also means "unnatural," or contrary to the normal nature of things. In this case, the hour is unkind because of the deaths that Friar Laurence has witnessed.