Identify the Speaker
“Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow That I shall say good night till it be morrow.” (Act II, Scene II)
Juliet
Provide the best summary for how the theme of love is defined in Romeo & Juliet.
Love is different things to different characters
Give one example of a thought that crosses Juliet's mind as she contemplates taking the potion.
Juliet’s life ends when she ________.
Stabs herself after awaking to find Romeo dead next to her.
Despite being called a “villain” before killing Tybalt to avenge the death of Mercutio, Romeo says that he loves Tybalt. Why?
He is Juliet's kinsman
“With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls, For stony limits cannot hold love out, And what love can do, that dares love attempt. Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.” (Act II, Scene II)
Romeo
Throughout the play members of the Capulet and Montague households assume the worst of their counterparts in the other family. Name an example of this.
The potion that puts Juliet in a 48-hour coma is given to her by __________.
Friar Laurence
Tybalt becomes furious with Romeo when
He spots Romeo at the Capulet party
When Mercutio says, “…‘tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door,…” he is referring to
The stab wound he receives
“Holy Saint Francis! What a change is here! Is Rosaline that thou didst love so dear, So soon forsaken? young men’s love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.” (Act II, Scene III)
Friar Laurence
What three things are told explicitly to the audience in the prologue?
Romeo’s treatment of the wounded Paris shows
Compassion & maturity
The Friar agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet because
He thinks the marriage might finally put an end to the feud
When it comes to dreams, what does Romeo believe?
That dreams are a projection of things (good or bad) that will happen in the future
“A plague on both your houses!” (Act III, Scene I)
Mercutio
When it comes to the theme of Love & Marriage, list three things our “star-crossed lovers” do?
Defy authority, Disrupt convention, and Reject their family’s roles
The Nurse is primarily interested in, and seems to represent which of these four:
Practical love, True love, Courtly love, Doesn’t believe in love
Practical love
The Prince feels some responsibility for the loss of life at the end of the play because
He did not act forcefully enough to end the feud
Lord Capulet does not grow angry that Romeo sneaks uninvited into the party and even says he has heard good things of the youth. This hints at the slight possibility that _______.
He might be open to an alliance that would end the feud if approached in the right way
In Act 4, Scene 5, of Romeo and Juliet, Lord Capulet mutters, "Death is my son-in-law; Death is my heir." What is the significance of these words?
The choice of the phrase son-in-law connotes that Juliet is married to death instead of another person. The choice of heir suggests that any children she might have had with a husband such as Paris are replaced with death. And Juliet herself has died, leaving him with no heir but death. Here Shakespeare personifies Death, spelled with a capital D, and in Lord Capulet's statement that "she [Juliet] was deflowered by him [Death]," he makes a gruesome association between death and sexuality.
The hatred between Romeo's and Juliet's families is the strongest barrier to their love. This serves to illustrate the central idea in the play: love dragged down by hatred cannot last. Provide textual evidence to showcase how this is indeed the central idea.
Romeo's love of Juliet leads to Mercutio's death and Tybalt's murder. The friar's appreciation of Romeo and Juliet's love, and the value he places on it, leads to his reckless plans, which result in the young lovers' deaths. The friar's love for Romeo and Juliet is not powerful enough to overcome the hatred embodied in the war between the families.
Why does Juliet lie to her father in Act 4, Scene 2 (when she returns from the Friar’s cell), and what is the effect?
**When Juliet returns home from the friar's cell, she explains where she has been, carefully acknowledging her sin from her father's perspective. She kneels at his feet to beg his pardon and submit to his rule. Juliet acts the part of the repentant daughter to deceive her father so that she can get the friar's plan underway by drinking the potion that will feign death. Juliet has reestablished her father's lordship, and he responds by seizing the privileges of his position; he pushes up the wedding a day to prove that he owns her again.
Using specific examples, discuss how Fate and Free Will are major themes of this play
The play explores the idea of destiny and whether the characters are in control of their own actions or if their fate has already been predetermined.
"A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life."
"I fear, too early; for my mind misgives..."
"My only love sprung from my only hate!..."
Talk about the role identity plays after reading this quote from Juliet.
** She is comfortable performing the expectations required of her in the roles of daughter and Capulet family member, hoping neither for a marriage nor a change of identity. Because she has never had to define herself, she sheds her old identity easily after meeting Romeo.
***OR*** Juliet wishes Romeo from another family but will give up hers to be with him, as long as he loves her.