Who said that?
“My only love sprung from my only hate!”
Juliet
instructions in a play’s script that tell actors and the director how to perform the scene—not what the characters say. (movement and attitude)
Stage Directions
Where do Romeo and Juliet first meet?
At the Capulet party
“Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?”
Are you insulting us / picking a fight?
“If ever you disturb our streets again, / Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”
Prince Escalus
A long speech delivered by one character in a play or story.
Monologue
Who convinces Romeo to go to the Capulet party?
Rosaline
“Part, fools! Put up your swords; you know not what you do.”
Stop fighting—put the swords away; you don’t realize how stupid/dangerous this is.
“Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”
Romeo
A speech where a character speaks their thoughts out loud, usually alone on stage, so the audience can hear what they’re really thinking
soliloquy
Who notices Romeo at the party and is not happy about it.
Tybalt
“My only love sprung from my only hate!”
The person I love comes from the family I’m supposed to hate.
“Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?”
Abram
A short comment a character speaks to the audience (or sometimes just to one other character) that other characters onstage aren’t supposed to hear. It’s like a quick “secret” to the audience.
Aside
What does Romeo basically promise Juliet during the balcony scene?
To give up his name, run away, and marry her.
“Deny thy father and refuse thy name.”
Ignore your family loyalty and stop being a “Montague”—choose me over your family identity.
“Tut, man, one fire burns out another’s burning.”
Benvolio
When the audience knows something important that the characters don’t, so what the characters say or do has an extra meaning (often tension or humor).
Dramatic Irony
What warning does Romeo hint at before going to the party that suggests fate is involved?
There will be death
“O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon.”
Don’t make promises based on something that changes all the time.