In the poem Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Juliet’s mindset at the beginning of act IV is sad, which advanced the plot by setting the stage for the actions she will take and thus demonstrates the overall theme that love is a powerful force that overrules all other values and emotions. For example, when Paris says, “Poor soul, thy face is much abused with tears.” This quote shows that she had recently been crying prior to going to Friar Laurence. Most commonly, crying is associated with sadness. Love drove her to consider unorthodox and harmful options. For example, when Friar said, “If, rather than to marry County, Paris Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself.” This shows that in her grief Juliet was willing to experience death because she was without her Romeo. Her sadness drove her to do rash, harsh, and inhumane actions to stay with her love. Her love was passionate towards Romeo. Juliet said, “What if it be poison?”This shows that against her better judgment she took the sleeping potion, even though she thought it could be poisoned. This once again shows how powerful of a force that love can be. Overall, Juliet’s love for Romeo was filled with passion and borderline violence when she decided to experience death for him.