| Summarize the penalties that the Prince of Verona states that people feuding in the streets of Verona will face | death |
| Explain how Tybalt and Benvolio are shown as foils. | Benvolio likes peace and tries to be a nice guy, and Tybalt has a short temper and pulls his sword quickly |
| Explain how the Nurse and Lady Capulet are shown as foils | Lady Capulet is very serious, formal, polite, and strict, while the nurse is funny, crude, casual, and pretty laid back |
| Explain how Romeo and Mercutio are shown as foils | Romeo is more of a lover and Mercutio is more of a fighter. Romeo sees love as passionate and strong, but Mercutio sees it as meaningless |
| Summarize the initial meeting between Romeo and Juliet | Romeo sneaks into Capulet’s party, and he sees Juliet and thinks she is gorgeous. Romeo wants to talk to her, and as soon as he does he flirts with her and they kiss |
| Paraphrase AND summarize Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech | Mercutio claims that Queen Mab has brought Romeo dreams, and he calls Romeo an idiot and that his dreams about Rosaline are crazy. Mercutio says that Queen Mab is irrelevant. |
| Describe Tybalt’s reaction to Romeo’s presence at the party—and why that is so important (think plot diagram) | Tybalt gets extremely angry, and he addresses it with Capulet who doesn’t care, which makes Tybalt even angrier. This anger ultimately leads up to him fighting Romeo and Mercutio, and in this big fight, Mercutio and Tybalt die |
| Explain the symbolic meaning in Romeo’s jumping the wall to enter the Capulet orchard | It represents Romeo leaving his family, rules, and immaturity to be with Juliet |
| At the party, describe the metaphors used in Romeo’s speech about Juliet | He says she teaches the torches how to burn, saying she’s attractive and he uses quotes saying she is like a light in the dark |
| Explain the contrast in Romeo’s metaphors in describing Juliet as opposed to those used to describe Rosaline | He compares Juliet to the sun, and Rosaline to the moon, and he was saying that he used to think the moon was so beautiful, but now that he sees how beautiful the sun was, he realizes that the moon is so dull and dark |
| Explain how Mercutio dies and how Tybalt dies | Tybalt came to the Montagues in attempt to fight Romeo, but when Romeo refuses, Mercutio pull his sword, and Tybalt stabs Mercutio when Romeo steps between the two. Romeo throws Mercutio onto Tybalt’s sword. Romeo gets so mad that Tybalt killed Mercutio, that Romeo fights him and ends up killing him |
| Summarize Friar Laurence’s plans for Romeo to deal with his banishment | go to Juliet and comfort her, go to mantua, wait a while for time to pass, families make peace, I will try to make everything ok and invite you back, while you are in Mantua, we will tell you everything about Juliet with a messenger |
| Lord Capulet’s attitude toward Juliet undergoes several changes throughout the play; explain the changes from Paris’s initial request for Juliet’s hand in marriage to Juliet’s refusal to the play’s end | Firstly, he loved Juliet, and she was sort of like daddy’s little girl, but then when he begins to arrange her marriage to Paris, they started to drift apart. When Capulet brought the proposal of Paris and her marrying, Juliet refused, which made Capulet extremely angry. He told her if she refused, he will throw her out on the streets to die. When she agrees and asks for forgiveness, he is ok with her. But finally, when she dies he is devastated |
| Explain how Juliet is largely abandoned by almost everyone at the midpoint of the play | The nurse wants her to marry Paris, if she doesn’t accept Paris’ marriage, her parents will literary abandon her, Tybalt is dead, and Romeo is banished |
| Summarize Friar Laurence’s plan for Juliet to escape marrying Paris | 1. Agree to marry Paris the next day 2. Sleep alone tomorrow night 3. drink the vial mix that makes you seem dead 4. get dressed and be put in your coffin 5. Friar Lawrence will send Romeo his plans 6. Romeo will come get you in the tomb and you two will run away to Mantua |
| Juliet has multiple morbid visions both regarding what she would endure rather than marry Paris and then what she fears about taking her potion. Describe four of those rather morbid fears. | She is worried about hearing her ancestors shriek, Tybalt’s rotting corpse, death and darkness, going insane, not having Romeo show up |
| Explain the situation that symbolizes Juliet’s separation from her youth and family | When Juliet asks to sleep alone and sends the nurse and her parents out, it symbolizes her sending out her youth and family for love and Romeo. |
| Explain why Romeo truly believes that Juliet has died | Romeo truly believes that Juliet is dead because his servant brought the news to him, and then he truly finally believes she is dead when he sees her in the tomb and thinks that she was willing to risk her life for him |
| Describe Romeo’s plan after he discovers Juliet’s supposed death | Go to the apothecary and buy poison then go to the tomb to say goodbye to Juliet then drink the poison and die |
| What happens to Paris? | He was at the tomb to morn Juliet’s death, then Romeo comes and he thinks he wants to do bad things to the corpses, then he fights him and Romeo kills him |
| What happens to Romeo? to Juliet? | Romeo killed himself, then moments later, Juliet wakes up, sees Romeo dead, then stabs herself to death |
| Why is Paris at the Capulet tomb, and why does he believe Romeo is there? | He is there to mourn Juliet’s death, and he believes Romeo is there to do bad things to the bodies |
| How does Romeo’s encounter with Paris parallel his earlier encounter with Tybalt? | It shows Romeo’s quick, and rapid decision making where he does not think through decisions and just draws his sword |
| Romeo & Juliet is built on contrasts; identify and explain the use of three contrasts in the play [do not merely list contrasting characters]. | The contrast of when Juliet talks to her mother positively, and her mother sees her point of view differently and talks very negatively of Romeo, also how Romeo and Juliet are both from different houses, the contrast which causes the whole problem, love vs. hate, life vs. death, nobility vs. servants, light vs dark |
| The status of women is portrayed in a less than positive manner in the play. Explain three examples that demonstrate the lesser status of women. | When Capulet marries Juliet without thought, how the nurse worked for the Capulets, how the nurse says women get bigger by men |
Romeo and Juliet short answers
November 3, 2019