Literary Terms
A 10-syllable line with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables?
What is Iambic Pentameter?
What is a theme from the play?
Answers vary
A pun is a form of wordplay that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for humorous or rhetorical effect.
What is a pun?
Why is Romeo depressed at the beginning of the play?
Because Rosaline refuses to have a relationship with him.
What are the three types of irony?
Dramatic
Verbal
Situational
When a character speaks thoughts aloud, often alone?
What is a Soliloquy
Why does Romeo kill Tybalt?
Tybalt Killed Mercutio
Explain the following pun:
"Ask for me tomorrow, and
you shall find me a grave
man"
(Act 3, Scene 1)
This pun uses the word "grave" to mean both serious/somber and literally dead in a burial site. As he dies from a stab wound, Mercutio jokes that he will be a "grave man"
How do Mercutio and Romeo differ on their opinions on love?
Romeo views love as a profound, idealistic, and transformative emotion, while Mercutio views it as a purely physical, cynical, and often foolish desire.
When Juliet says "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?", what is she actually asking?
Juliet is not asking where Romeo is located, but rather why he has to be Romeo, specifically a member of the rival Montague family ("wherefore" means "why")
Brawling love, loving hate, and damned saint are all
this type of literary element.
What are examples of oxymorons?
What is the main plot?
What is an example of a
parallel plot?
Main plot: Romeo and Juliet follows two teenagers from feuding families who fall in love at first sight, marry secretly, and ultimately take their own lives
Parallel Plots: answers vary
Explain the following pun:
Mercutio: That dreamers often lie.
Romeo: In bed asleep where they do dream things true."
(Act 1, Scene 4):
Mercutio and Romeo pun on the word "lie" to debate the value of dreams. Mercutio argues that dreamers "lie" (deceive/tell falsehoods), while Romeo retorts that dreamers "lie" (recline) in bed, dreaming truths, setting up a theme of fate versus fantasy.
What is Mercutio and the Nurse’s purpose in the play? What is their effect on the play?
Mercutio and the Nurse serve as comedic and thematic foils in Romeo and Juliet, providing sharp contrasts to the young lovers' intense passion.
How does the death of Mercutio change the tone of the play?
The death of Mercutio in Act 3, Scene 1 marks a turning point where Romeo and Juliet shifts from a lighthearted romantic comedy into a dark, inevitable tragedy. His death eliminates the play's main source of wit and joy, replacing it with urgent danger, intense sadness, and high-stakes revenge that drives the subsequent fatal events.
A character in literature or drama who contrasts with another character—typically the protagonist—to highlight specific personality traits, values, or flaws.
What is a foil?
Why does Friar Lawrence agree to marry Romeo and
Juliet?
Friar Lawrence believes the marriage will end the feud between the 2 families.
Explain the following pun:
Romeo: You have dancing shoes with nimble soles. I have a soul of lead So
stakes me to the ground I cannot move.
(Act I Scene 4)
Romeo plays on the similar sounds of "soles" (the bottom of a shoe) and "soul" (his spirit). He contrasts Mercutio's "nimble soles" (agile dancing shoes) with his own heavy, "leaden" spirit, explaining that his deep sadness keeps him grounded and unable to dance.
How does Romeo change in Act 3 Scene 1? What causes this change?
This change is caused by the death of his friend, Mercutio, at the hands of Tybalt, prompting Romeo to abandon his new, "lenient" attitude and seek lethal revenge.
Provide an example of dramatic
irony from the play.
Romeo finds Juliet in the tomb, believes she is dead, and drinks poison to join her.
Answers will vary...
What is the purpose of oxymorons? What does it
show about the characters’ feelings?
Oxymorons combine contradictory words (e.g., "deafening silence," "sweet sorrow") to create drama, emphasis, and irony, often highlighting complex, conflicting emotions. They show that characters are experiencing intense internal turmoil, mixed feelings, or a paradoxical situation where joy and pain are inseparable, such as in passionate love or overwhelming grief.
How is the plot affected by the plague?
It is the reason Romeo never receives Friar Lawrence's letter.
Explain the following pun:
"What, dost thou make us minstrels?
An thou make minstrels of us, look to
hear nothing but discords."
(Act 3 Scene 1)
Mercutio uses a pun to mock Tybalt's use of the word "consort" (meaning a group of musicians) and to assert his readiness to fight. He implies that if Tybalt treats them as minstrels (musicians), they will only produce "discords" (violent fighting) rather than music.
What is a tragic flaw? Provide an example from the play.
A tragic flaw is a character trait—often a positive trait taken to an extreme or a subtle weakness—that leads to a protagonist's downfall or death.
Romeo’s fatal flaw is his impulsiveness
How does the quote "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" relate to the feud?
Labels should not define them....Juliet argues that a name is just a label, not a person's worth or character. Just as a rose smells sweet regardless of what it is called, she believes Romeo is still "dear" without the title of "Montague".