Romeo and Juliet Essential Questions for Acts

Name: _______________________________ Date: ________ Romeo and Juliet | Act I, Scenes 1 and 2 1. What is the setting for the play? 2. What scene of conflict opens the action of the play? 3. Which character tries to stop the fighting among the servants? 4. Which character is aggressive and eager to fight? 5. What warning does the Prince give to anyone who breaks the peace again? 6. Who has asked for Juliet’s hand in marriage? 7. How old is Juliet? 8. In what state of mind is Romeo when we first see him in the play? 9. Explain how Romeo finds out about the Capulet ball. Romeo and Juliet | Act 1, Scenes 3-5 1. Who is Susan? 2. When is Juliet’s birthday? 3. Why does Lady Capulet visit with Juliet? What questions does she ask her? 4. How do the Nurse and Lady Capulet feel about Paris? 5. Which character loves to talk? 6. Who is Queen Mab? 7. What premonition does Romeo have? 8. How did Lord Capulet force the young ladies to dance with him? 9. Who recognizes Romeo’s voice at the feast and becomes furious because he is allowed to stay? 10. Who first tells Romeo and Juliet who the other is? Name: _________________________________ Date: _______ Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 1 and 2 1. Instead of returning home, where does Romeo go after the ball? 2. What is a soliloquy and how is it used in Scene 2? 3. By whose name does Mercutio call for Romeo? 4. How does Romeo learn of Juliet’s love for him? 5. What does Romeo say helped him climb over the high walls of the Capulet orchard and find Juliet’s window? 6. What do Romeo and Juliet exchange? 7. What do Romeo and Juliet plan to do the next day? 8. To what does Romeo compare Juliet’s beauty? 9. Who keeps interrupting the balcony... Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 3 and 4 1. What is Friar Laurence’s special skill or area of knowledge? 2. With what does Friar Laurence compare the beneficial and poisonous parts of the plant? 3. About what does the Friar caution Romeo? 4. Why does the Friar agree to marry Romeo and Juliet? 5. Who has sent Romeo a challenge for a duel? 6. What excuse is Juliet to give for going to Friar Laurence’s cell? 7. Where are Romeo and Juliet to be married? 8. Who teases Romeo about Rosaline and his love-sickness? 9. Who teases the Nurse and causes her to strike out in anger? Name: ___________________________________Date:_______ Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 5 and 6: Questions 1. At what time did Juliet send the Nurse to see Romeo and find out the wedding plans? 2. How long has Juliet been waiting for the Nurse to return with the news from Romeo? 3. How does the Nurse react when she finally returns? 4. How does the Nurse feel about the marriage? 5. What is the Friar afraid of? 6. The friar warns Romeo again about something. What is it? 7. How much do the lovers say their love has grown? 8. How many people know of the marriage? 9. Where does the marriage take place? Name: ___________________________________Date: ________ Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scenes 1 and 2: Questions 1. Who begs Mercutio to leave the streets of Verona because the Capulets might also be out on this extremely hot day? 2. Who comes to the public square looking for a fight with Romeo? 3. What does Mercutio call Tybalt? 4. How does Tybalt insult Romeo and try to get him to fight him? 5. Why won’t Romeo fight Tybalt? 6. Why does Mercutio fight Tybalt? 7. How is Mercutio killed? 8. Why does Romeo kill Tybalt? 9. Who tells the Prince about the murders? 10. What is Romeo’s punishment? Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scenes 3 and 4: Questions 1. What day is it in Scene 3? 2. Where did Romeo run to hide after the murder of Tybalt? 3. How does he react to the news that he is banished from Verona? 4. Who tells him that the Prince has banished him? 5. What upsets Romeo the most about being banished? 6. The Friar gives three reasons that Romeo should be happy. What were they? 7. What does the Nurse give to Romeo? 8. Where is Romeo to go before daybreak? 9. On what day does Lord Capulet plan for Juliet to be married to Paris? Name: ____________________________Date: ______ Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scene 5: Questions 1. On what day does Scene 5 take place? 2. What is significant about the lark and the nightingale? 3. What vision does Juliet have as Romeo is leaving? 4. Who comes to visit with Juliet early that morning? 5. What news does Lady Capulet give to Juliet? 6. What is Juliet’s reaction to the news that Lady Capulet gives her? 7. Who does Juliet turn to for help when her parents leave? 8. What advice does the Nurse give Juliet? 9. Why does Juliet tell the Nurse that she is going to see Friar Laurence? Romeo and Juliet | Act IV, Scenes 1-3: Questions 1. Why is Paris at Friar Laurence’s cell? 2. What reason does Paris give the Friar for the hasty marriage? 3. How long will the sleeping potion take effect? 4. Where will Juliet be put after her family believes that she is dead? 5. Who will be waiting in the tomb when Juliet awakens from the sleeping potion? 6. Who is supervising the preparations for the wedding? 7. What change does Lord Capulet make in the wedding plans? 8. If the potion does not work, what does Juliet plan to do? Name: _________________________Date: _____ Romeo and Juliet | Act IV, Scenes 4 and 5: Questions 1. Scene 4 takes place at what time in the morning? 2. Scene 4 takes place on what day? 3. How do the Capulets know that Paris is approaching? 4. Who is sent to wake up Juliet? 5. What does the Nurse find? 6. Who tries to console the Capulets by saying that Juliet is better off in heaven? 7. How do the wedding preparations change after they find Juliet? 8. How does the County Paris react to the death of Juliet? 9. How does Lord Capulet know that she is dead? 10. How does the act end? Romeo and Juliet | Act V, Scenes 1 and 2: Questions 1. Where does Scene 1 take place? 2. What was Romeo’s dream? 3. Who brings Romeo the news that Juliet is dead? 4. Why does Romeo go to the Apothecary? 5. How much does Romeo pay for the poison? 6. Why does the Apothecary hesitate in selling Romeo the poison? 7. What persuades the Apothecary to go ahead and sell Romeo the poison? 8. Who does Friar Laurence entrust with the important letter to Romeo? 9. Why is the letter not delivered to Romeo? 10. How long will it be before Juliet wakes up? Name: ___________________________Date: ______ Romeo and Juliet | Act V, Scene 3: Questions 1. Why is Paris at Juliet’s tomb? 2. What is Paris’ last request? 3. Why does Paris think Romeo has come to the Capulet tomb? 4. Who kills Paris? 5. If Romeo had not been so hasty in drinking the poison, what would he have noticed about Juliet? 6. Name the people who have died in this scene. 7. Where does Friar Laurence want to take Juliet? 8. How does Juliet kill herself? 9. Who is suspected the most as a murderer and why? 10. What four accounts does the Prince hear? Mercutio is a kinsman to the prince and friend to Romeo. Mercutio is often interpreted as a comic foil to Romeo. (A foil is a character who by strong contract underscores or enhances the distinctive qualities of another character.) Mercutio's bawdy discussions of sex, for example, and his witty and light-hearted use of language contrast sharply with Romeo's romantic view of love and his gloomy lovesickness. It will be helpful in understanding Mercutio to look at some words related to his name: mercurial, an adjective meaning changeable; Mercury, the Roman messenger god and of eloquence;... JULIET: Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband? shall smooth thy name Ah, poor my lord, what tongue When I, thy three-hours’ wife, have mangled it? wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin? That villain cousin would have kill'd my husband. Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring! to woe, But Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy. Your tributary drops belong My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain; And Tybalt's dead, that would have slain my husband. All this is comfort;... FRIAR LAURENCE: I will be brief, for my short date of breath Is not so long as is a tedious tale. Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet; And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife. I married them; and their stol'n marriage day Was Tybalt's doomsday, whose untimely death Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from this city; For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pin'd. You, to remove that siege of grief from her, Betroth'd and would have married her perforce To County Paris. Then comes she to me FRIAR LAURENCE: Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art; womanish, thy wild acts denote in a seeming man! my holy order, Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both! I thought thy disposition better temper'd. thou slay thyself? thyself? The unreasonable fury of a beast. And slay thy lady that in thy life lives, Thy tears are Unseemly woman Thou hast amaz'd me. By Hast thou slain Tybalt? Wilt By doing damned hate upon Why railest thou on thy birth, the heaven, and earth? Since birth and heaven and... One of the most important issues in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is that of choice. Do the characters have the ability to choose what they want to do, or are they simply destined to participate in death and destruction? There is ample evidence of both fate and free will in the play, and the presence of both greatly affects the interpretation of the plot and the characters. Fate as a dominating force is evident from the very beginning of the play. The Chorus introduces the power of fortune in the opening prologue when we are told that Romeo and Juliet are... Romeo and Juliet | Light and Dark in Romeo and Juliet A discussion of the theme of light and dark in Romeo and Juliet, including their symbolic meanings and significance within the play. Light and darkness usually have very definitive meanings in human psychology. Traditionally, light is considered “good” because it allows us to perceive the world around us and to work within it. Conversely, dark is usually viewed as “evil” due to our inability to see and the fear that such a state brings. Thus day and night, which are distinguished by the amount of light available, have similar connotations. However, while typical notions of light and dark do appear in Romeo and Juliet, day and night are reversed. Night becomes good because it aids Romeo and Juliet, and day... Romeo and Juliet | Darkness in Romeo and Juliet Essay discussing Shakespeare's use of light and dark imagery in his portrayal of the ill-fated love between Romeo and Juliet. In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare uses darkness to perform a variety of functions. Darkness sets the tone of the play as the tragedy proceeds with a dark and inexorable determinism. Many of the scenes in the work are set in darkness, with the alternation of day and night serving to propel the drama's narrative line. Darkness is employed, moreover, as a reflection of mood and character in the figures of Romeo, Juliet and Mercutio. The dark acts as a foil in images in which light represents the illumination of romantic love. Finally, the contrast between light and dark allows...