Terms 1
Monologue
A long speech given by a single character while other characters listen
Comic Relief
Brief, funny scenes or lines that help break up the dramatic tension of the rest of the play
Why are Mercutio and Romeo considered foils?
Romeo is avidly searching for his one true love while Mercutio makes fun of the idea of love and dreams.
Name that theme!
“Within the bud of this weak flower/ there lies poison and medicinal power”
Duality
“Not you, but your family name is my enemy/ You would be Romeo even if you were not a Montague…Oh, take some other name!...Romeo, get rid of your name/ and in place of that name, which isn’t part of you, take me.”
Juliet
Prologue
An introduction to a new act, usually contains important background info.
Allusion
References to outside works, events, or literature
Name an example of dramatic irony
“Not you, but your family name is my enemy/ You would be Romeo even if you were not a Montague…Oh, take some other name!...Romeo, get rid of your name/ and in place of that name, which isn’t part of you, take me.”
Loyalty
“The sun has not yet cleared your signs from the heavens/ and your groans are still ringing in my old ears./ Look, there’s still a stain on your cheek from a tear stain that is not yet washed off.”
Friar Lawrence
Soliloquoy
A long speech given by a single who is ALONE on stage
Pun
A play on words, such as when one word has multiple meanings
Why is Mercutio's "Queen Mab" speech considered a monologue?
Romeo and Benvolio are around to hear it.
How does the feud portray the theme of loyalty?
Both families are willing to kill each other or die while standing up for their families.
“Violent passions have violent ends/ and in triumph they die, like fire and gunpowder”
Friar Lawrence
Dramatic Foils
When two characters have a minor similarity, but otherwise have opposite personalities
Foreshadowing
Breadcrumbs the writer leaves that hint to the future such as “Violent passions have violent ends”
Name that term!:
“That’s why swift doves pull Venus’ chariot/ and that’s why Cupid has wings as swift as the wind”
Allusion
How does Shakespeare portray the theme of fleetingness of time?
The pacing of the story is quick (Romeo and Juliet meeting and then getting married suddently/the marriage to Paris is scheduled within a few days)
“No, I’ll conjure him up with an incantation./ Romeo! Moody Madman! Passionate lover!/ Appear to us in a the form of a sigh!/Give us just one couplet and I’ll be satisfied./Simply exclaim, ‘Oh, me!’ Just say, ‘love’ and ‘dove’./Say one fair word to my friend Venus, just one nickname for her totally blind son and heir/ young Adam Cupid.”
Mercutio
Dramatic Irony
When the audience is aware (knows) of something that one or more of the other characters are not.
Metaphor
A figurative comparison of 2 objects
How are oxymorons and duality different?
They differ in placement within a sentence. Oxymorons follow one word after the other like "living dead", but duality does not.
How does Friar Lawrence display the theme of Duality?
He discussed the plants in his garden as having medicinal powers or healing powers.
“Lord, how my head aches! What a head I have!/ It throbs as if it would split into twenty pieces./ And then my back – On, my back, my back!/ Shame on you for sending me out”
The Nurse