Romeo and Juliet

Who speaks the prologue? the chorus, may be a single actor speaking
Whats the purpose of the prologue? to explain the background of the storyneeded because there were so many people in the audience; it helps them follow the two hour performace
Whats is unusual about Romeo and Juliet’s prologue? It tells you that they both die at the end; you are told the ending ahead of time
Why does he tell us what happens at the end of the play? So you root for Romeo and Juliet and their death isn’t such a shock; it makes the action in the play more intense
In what form is the prologue? Shakespearean Sonnet, Iambic Pentameter
What subjectss are established in the prologue? Tragedy, Romance, death, love, tension, fighting between families, tragic love… forbidden love
How does Shakespeare start the play so that he gains the attention of the “groundlings?” He tells you that the families don’t like each other (you expect conflict)
Describe Benvolio’s personality: calm, pretty peaceful, and reluctant to fight but has to be loyal to his family
Describe Tybalt’s personality: aggressive, likes to fight, likes trouble, and provocative
Explain the tone of the Prince’s speech when he speaks after the fight Disappointed, bold, blunt
Petrarchan Lover someone who is in love with the idea of being in love
Romeo’s attitude when he is first introduced: sad and distraught and depressed – self absorbed, doesn’t even know about the fight
Oxymorons pairs of contradictory wordsexample: jumbo shrimp (today) loving hate (Shakespeare)
Romeo speaks with Oxymorons to Benvolio, how does Romeo feel about love? cray, chaotic, hurtful
Unrequited Love to love someone that doesn’t love you backPrefix tip: un = not
Why does Benvolio suggests that Romeo goes with him to the Capulet ball with him? He wants Romeo to find a prettier girl “make his swan look a crow”
Why does Lord Capulet feel uneasy about Juliet marrying Paris? she is young, the only child he has left, and he thinks shs isn’t ready
On what condition will Lord Capulet agree to Juliet’s marriage with Paris? If Juliet loves Paris, he may marry her.
Why does Romeo go to the party? He still loves (lusts) Rosaline and wants to see her
When Romeo and Juliet fal in love at the dance, what is coincidental in this scene? What theme is being developed? Romeo and Juliet are from rivaling families. “star crossed lovers”
What is the nurse’s relationship with Juliet? She is more of Juliet’s mother figure since her real mother is distant and cold
Describe the nurse’s personality: jittery, quirky, naughty, crude, nosey, humorous
What is the nurse’s one wish for Juliet and why? She wants to see Juliet marry becuase it is the last child she will nurse. She loves her like her own.
What does Juliet say when her mother asks how she feels about getting married? She doesn’t want to get maried anytime soon and she hasn’t really thought about it yet (she’s 13)
Conceit (extended metaphor) an extended, exaggerated comparison or metaphor between two unlike things
What does Lady Capulet see in Paris that would make him a good match for Juliet? What is Lady Capulet’s attitude toward love and marriage? Paris was well put together because he was noble, he was a count (royalty), and he is very handsome. At this time period, parents are supposed to pick your future spouse because they want to be high up in society and stay high up within their reputation (improve social status).
Soliloquy a speech delivered while the speaker is alone, calculated to inform the audience of what is passing in the character’s mind
What does Romeo compare Juliet to when he is talking to himself outside her window? why? He compares her to a dove among crows (most beautiful girl ever)
How does Romeo’s speech to himself about Juliet compare to how he spoke about Rosaline? He is already more in love with Juliet than he ever was with Rosaline, more emotion with Juliet and only positive feelings of love; with Rosaline he felt mostly lust and was sick with rejection (negative love)
Why does Lord Capulet keep Tybalt from fighting Romeo? He says that Romeo is supposed to be a good young man and if a fight was started, the prince would kill both families.
When Romeo amd Juliet speak to each other about kissing, their words form a sonnet and they say what? They needed to kiss to take his sin away (from loving Rosaline) and it symbolizes his new reborn love. They kiss again because Romeo has to his sin off of her lips.
Dramatic Irony when the audience knows something the characters do not
What is an example of dramatic irony when Romeo and Juliet first fall in love? Romeo and Juliet have already fallen in love and their families are rivals.
Why does Romeo compare Juliet to the sun? Because Juliet is a bright, pure, wholesome, and beautiful girl and everything revolves around the sun, as Romeo now revolves around the sun; you also need to sun to stay alive, so he can’t live without her.
Why does Romeo want the sun to kill the envious moon? Rosaline is like the moon goddess who is supposed to be forever alone and Juliet is like the sun; Romeo wants to forget about Rosaline.
Wy does Romeo compare Juliet’s eyes to the stars? why is this an example for foreshadowing? because they are bright and beautifu and this is an example of foreshadowing because Romeo and Juliet are star-crossed lovers.
What is Juliet’s attitude toward the feud that has separated the two families? She disagrees with it since she thinks it is just a name, and she knows that the Montagues are just the same as Capulets example: Romeo. She says a name is just a name.
What are Juliet’s fears? she won’t be able to marry Romeo, she is also afraid that if Romeo was found while he was in the brush outside her window, that he would be killed.
Friar Laurence speaks to himself about nature and mankind, what does he say? how love makes things sweet and beautiful (love cures all), foreshadows that he thinks that their love will end the family’s feud.
What does Romeo want from the Friar? he wants the Friar to wed him and Juliet.
What is Friar Laurence’s reaction to hearing of Romeo’s new love? The Friar is very surprised and disappointed that he got over Rosaline so easily after Romeo said that he was in love with her (lectures).
Why does the Friar agree to wed Romeo and Juliet? love is love and thats that, he also thinks tis forbidden love may cause the families to find peace
Malapropisms an inappropriateness of speech resulting from the use of one word for another which resembles it
What malapropism does the nurse use? what does this show? She meant to say ‘may I have conference with Romeo’ but she confidence, and this shows that she’s uneducated
What message does Romeo urge the nurse to give to Juliet? he wants to marry Juliet and meet him in the church in the Friar’s cell. He also wanted the nurse to tell Juliet that he loves her.
Juliet is very impatient to hear news from Romeo. What images does she use in her soliloquy to express this? she says that the nurse is weak and crippled and Juliet could move faster than the sun moving back shadows. If the nurse was younger than she would be swift as a ball, but since she isn’t young, she is heavy as led.
Why does the Nurse agree to help Juliet marry Romeo? She just wants Juliet to be happy
The Friar warns Romeo again about something. What is it? He says that they’re moving too fast and something bad may come of it
How much do the lovers say their love has grown? Juliet says that their love has grown so much that she can’t even state half of the love she has for him.
How many people know of the marriage? only two other people besides Romeo and Juliet know (the Friar and the nurse)
Sonnet, Shakespearean 14 lines with 4 quatrains, 1 coupletABAB,CDCD,EFEF,GG (rhyme scheme)10 syllables each linefollows iambic pentameter (5 iambs – two syllable sets, each like a heart beat)
September 11, 2019