Name:



Name: __________________________________ Date: ____

Romeo and Juliet Period: ____

Romeo and Juliet | Introduction to Shakespeare

For more than 400 years, the work of poet, playwright, and actor William Shakespeare has fascinated people from all walks of life, all over the world. In fact, many people consider him to be the greatest dramatist ever. Altogether, Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays, including comedies, tragedies, and histories. He also wrote more than 150 sonnets, establishing himself as one of the greatest lyric poets of his era. Shakespeare’s many plays and poems reveal his talents as a writer and his keen understanding of human nature. The personalities of his main characters are often complex, revealing the ambiguities and personal conflicts found in all of us.

Little is known, however, about Shakespeare’s own personal life, because he left no diaries or letters. Records indicate that Shakespeare spent his youth in Stratford-upon- Avon, a small English village. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker and local political figure. His mother, Mary Arden, came from a family of wealthy land owners. It is believed that young Shakespeare attended the local grammar school, where he probably studied literature and Latin. Unlike many other writers of his time, he did not receive a formal education at a university.

In 1582 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. In a poem expressing her love for

Shakespeare, Hathaway wrote:

For queens themselves might envy me,

Who scarce in palaces can find

My Willie’s form, with Willie’s mind.

Hathaway and Shakespeare had three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith. Scholars believe that Shakespeare might have worked as a school teacher during the early years of his marriage. In the late 1580s, Shakespeare moved to London and quickly became prominent in the theater. He joined Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the most popular troupe of actors in London. With this troupe, he acted in productions throughout the 1590s and gave two special performances for Queen Elizabeth I. While acting, Shakespeare was also writing plays and earning recognition as one of the greatest playwrights in England. He wrote in the language of ordinary people during his time, and the characters and situations in his plays appealed to a variety of people in English society—from kings and queens to peasants who could not read or write.

In the late 1590s and early 1600s, Shakespeare devoted more time to writing and produced many of his greatest tragedies, including King Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet. In 1610 he retired and returned to Stratford, where his family had lived throughout his career. Despite the popularity of his work, Shakespeare never created a collection of his own plays for publication.

Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two and was buried under the floor of Stratford Church. Knowing that burial space in the church was limited and that graves were often moved after someone died, Shakespeare

used his epitaph as a warning:

Blest be the man that spares these stones,

And curst be he that moves my bones.

The Play

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father and refuse thy name.

Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love

And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo and Juliet, II.ii

Romeo and Juliet is filled with action. It has long been one of Shakespeare’s most popular and frequently performed dramas, and part of its appeal undoubtedly lies in the dramatic action that takes place on stage. At the heart of Romeo and Juliet, however, are profound questions about the nature of love, and the play contains some of Shakespeare’s most psychologically complex characters. They are people driven to dramatic action by anger, grief, love, and despair. Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy, a type of drama that presents a heroic or noble character with conflicts that are difficult or impossible to resolve. Maurice Charney, in How to Read Shakespeare, comments that in a tragedy

The characters involve themselves inextricably

in that web of circumstances that will constitute

their doom. Things change in tragedy, usually

for the worse, and there is a sense that no one

can resist the tragic momentum.

The greatness of Shakespeare’s technique lies in the way he constructs this momentum through intense action, rich language, and layer upon layer of metaphor and symbols. Like many of Shakespeare’s tragic characters, Romeo has an intensity that is revealed in his complex range of emotions. The climax occurs not only in the outward events on stage, but also, and perhaps more importantly, within the character of Romeo himself.

Shakespeare as a Dramatist

The facts about Shakespeare are interesting in themselves, but they have little to do with his place in literature. Shakespeare wrote his plays to give pleasure. It is possible to spoil that pleasure by giving too much attention to his life, his times, and the problem of figuring out what he actually wrote. He can be enjoyed in book form, in the theater, or on television without our knowing any of these things.

Some difficulties stand in the way of this enjoyment. Shakespeare wrote more than 350 years ago. The language he used is naturally somewhat different from the language of today. Besides, he wrote in verse. Verse permits a free use of words that may not be understood by some readers. His plays are often fanciful. This may not appeal to matter-of-fact people who are used to modern realism. For all these reasons, readers may find him difficult. The worst handicap to enjoyment is the notion that Shakespeare is a "classic," a writer to be approached with awe.

The way to escape this last difficulty is to remember that Shakespeare wrote his plays for everyday people and that many in the audience were uneducated. They looked upon him as a funny, exciting, and lovable entertainer, not as a great poet. People today should read him as the people in his day listened to him. The excitement and enjoyment of the plays will banish most of the difficulties.

Many movie versions of the play have been made. Laurence Olivier, a famous British actor who performed the role of Hamlet in a 1948 film, declared about Shakespearean drama:

Time and Place

Actors in the earliest performances of Romeo and Juliet dressed in the elaborate clothing of Shakespeare’s England. However, the play is actually set in Italy in the late fourteenth century. Most of the action takes place in Verona.

Did You Know?

Shakespeare lived and wrote during the English Renaissance, a period in which many aspects of English society changed, including the theater. With the Renaissance came the first English theater building, constructed for James Burbage just outside the city of London in 1576. Other theaters soon followed. In 1598 Burbage and members of Lord Chamberlain’s Men— Shakespeare’s acting troupe— tore down the theater and used its materials to build the Globe Theater. Shakespeare was an important shareholder in this new theater. The Globe was made of wood and was octagonal. Like other theaters of the time, it was open-air with the stage at its center. Poor theater-goers paid a penny to stand around three sides of the stage, while wealthy audience members sat in one of the three stories of seats along the theater walls. Audiences of this period were diverse and included people from all levels of English society. To capture the interests of such a varied audience, plays combined many elements, including slapstick, violence, historical satire, and vulgarity.

The Globe, like Burbage’s original theater, was built outside London. Theater owners wanted to avoid city authorities, many of whom disapproved of the theater because it drew large crowds, creating the potential for crime, the spread of disease, and the introduction of controversial ideas. Luckily for Shakespeare and other actors and playwrights of his time, Queen Elizabeth and members of the nobility supported theaters.

Name: __________________________ Date: ____

Introduction to Shakespeare Period: ____

Shakespeare | Introduction to Elizabethan England

Any discussion of Shakespeare's life is bound to be loaded with superlatives. In the course of a quarter century, Shakespeare wrote some thirty-eight plays. Taken individually, several of them are among the world's finest written works; taken collectively, they establish Shakespeare as the foremost literary talent of his own Elizabethan Age and, even more impressively, as a genius whose creative achievement has never been surpassed in any age.

Most of Shakespeare's career unfolded during the monarchy of Elizabeth I, the Great Virgin Queen from whom the historical period of the Bard's life takes its name as the Elizabethan Age. Elizabeth came to the throne under turbulent circumstances in 1558 (before Shakespeare was born) and ruled until 1603. Under her reign, not only did England prosper as a rising commercial power at the expense of Catholic Spain, Shakespeare's homeland undertook an enormous expansion into the New World and laid the foundations of what would become the British Empire. This ascendance came in the wake of the Renaissance and the Reformation, the former regaining Greek and Roman classics and stimulating an outburst of creative endeavor throughout Europe, the latter transforming England into a Protestant/Anglican state, and generating continuing religious strife, especially during the civil wars of Elizabeth's Catholic sister, Queen Margaret or "Bloody Mary."

The Elizabethan Age, then, was an Age of Discovery, of the pursuit of scientific knowledge, and the exploration of human nature itself. The basic assumptions underpinning feudalism/Scholasticism were openly challenged with the support of Elizabeth and, equally so, by her successor on the throne, James I. There was in all this an optimism about humanity and its future and an even greater optimism about the destiny of England in the world at large. Nevertheless, the Elizabethans also recognized that the course of history is problematic, that Fortune can undo even the greatest and most promising, as Shakespeare reveals in such plays as Antony & Cleopatra. More specifically, Shakespeare and his audiences were keenly aware of the prior century's prolonged bloodshed during the War of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York. Many Elizabethans, particularly the prosperous, feared the prospect of civil insurrection and the destruction of the commonwealth, whether as a result of an uprising from below or of usurpation at the top. Thus, whether or not we consider Shakespeare to have been a political conservative, his histories, tragedies and even his romances and

Shakespeare | Introduction to Elizabethan England continued

comedies are slanted toward the restoration or maintenance of civil harmony and the status quo of legitimate rule.

On language: Avoid the loose use of the term "Old English" Old English (Hwæt, we Gardena in geardagum / þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon...) is the language used for Beowulf; it is heavily Germanic and not recognizable. Neither does Shakespeare write in Middle English, the language of Chaucer, which shows heavy French influence and requires hefty annotation. Admittedly, Shakespeare does not sound modern. His language has therefore been termed "Early New English" or "Early Modern English." It may take you a while to get the swing of this, or back into the swing of this, but once you do you'll start thinking in this mode and have to resist the urge to speak this way in public.

Elizabethan England:

Marriage:

With parental permission, boys are legal to marry at 14, girls at 12, though it is not recommended so early. One comes of age at 21.

Noble families may arrange marriage much earlier. Robert Dudley's sister Katherine, who became the countess of Huntingdon, did go to the altar at age 7, but that was extraordinary.

Betrothals can be terminated by mutual consent. In certain circumstances, one can withdraw unilaterally if the other is:

• guilty of heresy or apostasy (conversion or re-conversion to Rome)

• guilty of infidelity

• seriously disfigured

• proved to be previously (and still) married or contracted to marry

• guilty of enmity or wickedness or drunkenness

• if a long separation has occurred between them

Gentlemanly society and servants:

As a gentleman of quality, it befits your dignity to dress yourself and your servants well. As a servant, you do your master credit by looking and behaving well. Sir Thomas Smith said, "A gentleman should go like a gentleman." People do not dress their servants in rags.

The good servant, like a good waiter, is attentive. The best servant is a little bit psychic. He is there when you need him but never hovers. He finds some virtuous occupation when you disappear. He is neither lewd nor vain, but maintains a respectable

countenance, to the credit of his master. He is modest but never craven, humble but never

Shakespeare | Introduction to Elizabethan England continued

base, candid but not insolent.

Schooling:

In general, only boys go to school. A girl's education is accomplished at home, although it usually includes reading and arithmetic.

Of course, noble children get their education at home, from private tutors.

It is understood that students must have their education beaten into them, like their manners and deportment. Parents tend to support this theory.

Public education refers to going out to school, as opposed to being tutored at home. It does not mean they are paid for out of public funds. Hence, the great "public schools" like Eton.

The school day begins at 7:00am in winter or 6:00am in summer. After prayers, they work till about 9:00 when they are permitted breakfast, then they work till 11:00. Dinner is from 11:00 to 1:00. The school day ends at 5:00 or 5:30 pm.

Childhood:

Bastards cannot legally own or inherit property, hold public or ecclesiastical office, marry, or any number of ordinary things. It is not a romantic thing to be. A bastard "deserves to be slapped."

Hugh Rhodes's Book of Nurture (1577) provides lessons in the behavior expected from children and, presumably, from properly brought up adults. After all, "If a youth be void of virtue, in age he shall lack honour."

Inheritance:

Male primogeniture is the rule. That is, the eldest son inherits everything (including debts) unless provision is otherwise made for younger sons.

The eldest son gets the title, even if the oldest child is a girl.

In very rare occasions, a title and lands may pass in the female line. For example, a secondary title to the Manners earls of Rutland is the barony of DeRoos (one of the oldest in the kingdom), in which the title passes simply to the eldest child, regardless of gender. Although her younger cousin (as eldest male) became the earl, Lady Elizabeth Manners (as eldest child) became the Baroness de Roos in her own right.

Food:

Some medical texts advise against eating raw vegetables as engendering wind (gas) or evil humours.

It is important to remember that while many things were period somewhere, not everything was eaten in every part of the world. Things which are common in Constantinople may never make their way to England.

The potato is still a novelty. It is not yet a crop in Ireland, nor is it found in our stews. The turnip, which has that honour, is followed closely by the parsnip.

Tomatoes are considered doubtful, if not actually poisonous, although they have already begun to appear in some southern European cooking.

Chocolate has not yet come in, except for medicinal purposes. The Swiss have not yet added milk and sugar to it. If you have ever tasted chocolate (which is very doubtful) it was a thin and bitter drink, probably flavored with chiles.

The much-touted St. John's Bread (carob) may taste somewhat like chocolate but is not being used as a flavoring in baked goods. Any brown cake on your table must surely be gingerbread.

Just to be fair, vanilla isn't a period flavoring in Europe either.

Almond is the most common flavoring in sweets, followed by cinnamon, clove, and saunders (sandalwood). Almond milk—ground almonds steeped in honey and water or wine, then strained—is used as flavoring and thickener.

Coffee is period in the strictest sense, but has not arrived in England.

The law says we may not eat meat on Fridays and Saturdays. This is not a religious fast but a way of supporting the fishing industry. Exceptions are made by special license for the old, the very young, and the infirm, and anyone else who applies for the license.

A typical fish day meal can include eggs, butter, cheese, herring, cod or other whitefish, etc.

Sugar is available, but is rather more expensive than honey, since it has to be imported. Grown as sugar cane, it comes as a 3- or 4-pound square or conical loaf, and has to be grated or pounded into useful form.

• The finest sugar (from Madera) is white and melts easily in liquid.

• The next grade is Barbary or Canary sugar.

• The common, coarse sugar is brown and rather gluey, good for syrups and seasoning meat.

Name: __________________________ Date: ____

Introduction to Shakespeare Period: ____

Shakespeare | Famous Feuds

In ancient Homeric Greece, the practice of personal vengeance against wrongdoers was considered natural and customary: "Embedded in the Greek morality of retaliation is the right of vendetta . . . Vendetta is a war, just as war is an indefinite series of vendettas; and such acts of vengeance are sanctioned by the gods.”

Griffiths, John Gwyn (1991), Divine Verdict: A Study of Divine Judgment in the Ancient Religions.

Vendetta in America

Hatfields and McCoys:

According to historian Michel Sellers, the feud began when a Hatfield wanted to marry a McCoy, but the clans disagreed and strife resulted. Most people believe that the Hatfield-McCoy feud began with the death of Asa Harman McCoy (Randall McCoy's brother) on January 7, year unknown. The uncle of Devil Anse, Jim Vance, and his "Wildcats" despised Hans Hall McCoy because he had joined the Union army during the American Civil War. Harman had been discharged from the army early because of a broken leg; several nights after he returned home, he was murdered in a nearby cave.

The first recorded instance of violence in the feud occurred after an 1878 dispute about the ownership of a hog: Floyd Hatfield had it and Randolph McCoy said it was his. But in truth, the dispute was over land or property lines and the ownership of that land. The pig was only in the fight because one family believed that since the pig was on their land, that meant it was theirs; the other side objected. The matter was taken to the local Justice of the Peace, and the McCoys lost because of the testimony of Bill Staton, a relative of both families. The individual presiding over the case was Anderson "Preacher Anse" Hatfield. In June 1880, Staton Hatfield was killed by two McCoy brothers, Sam and Paris, who were later acquitted on the grounds of self-defense.

The feud escalated after Roseanna McCoy began an affair with Johnse Hatfield (Devil Anse's son), leaving her family to live with the Hatfields in West Virginia. Roseanna eventually returned to the McCoys, but when the couple tried to resume their relationship, Johnse Hatfield was kidnapped by the McCoys and was saved only when Roseanna made a desperate ride to alert Devil Anse Hatfield, who organized a rescue party.

Despite what was seen as a betrayal of her family on his behalf, Johnse thereafter abandoned the pregnant Roseanna, marrying instead her cousin Nancy McCoy in 1881.

The escalation continued in 1882 when Ellison Hatfield, brother of "Devil Anse" Hatfield, was murdered by three of Roseanna McCoy's brothers, Tolbert, Pharmer, and Bud. Ellison was stabbed 26 times and finished off with a shot. The brothers were themselves murdered in turn as the vendetta escalated. They were kidnapped and tied to pawpaw bushes, where each was shot numerous times. Their bodies were described as "bullet-riddled."

Between 1880 and 1891, the feud claimed more than a dozen members of the two families, becoming headline news around the country and compelling the governors of both Kentucky and West Virginia to call up their state militias to restore order after the disappearance of dozens of bounty hunters sent to calm the conflict.

In 1888, Wall Hatfield and eight others were kidnapped by a posse led by Frank Phillips, and brought to Kentucky to stand trial for the murder of Alifair McCoy. She had been shot after exiting a burning building that had been set aflame by a group of Hatfields. Because of issues of due process and illegal extradition, the United States Supreme Court became involved (Mahon v. Justice, 127 U.S. 700, 1888). Eventually the men were tried in Kentucky and all were found guilty. Seven received life imprisonment, while the eighth was executed by hanging. Public hangings were illegal in Kentucky, but to evade the law the scaffold was fenced, and was placed at the foot of a hill so it was visible to the throng. Thousands attended the hanging in Pikeville, Kentucky.

The families finally agreed to stop the fighting in 1891, but settled the vendatta on national television in a 1979 edition of the game show “Family Feud.”

Name: _______________________ Period: ____

Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Pre-reading Questions

1. What does it mean to be in love? Can you love someone else if you don’t love yourself?

2. Have you ever dated or been friends with someone whom your parents didn’t want you to see? What did you do?

3. Sensitive question alert: what are your feelings on suicide? Is it ever an acceptable action?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |80 |

|2 |60 |

|3 |40 |

|4 |20 |

|5 |0 |

4. Interpret this statement: “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

5. Do you believe in fate or destiny, or freewill? Do you have control over your actions or is everything you do predetermined? If predetermined, by whom or what?

Name: _______________________ Period: ____

Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Prologue

  [Enter] CHORUS.

Chorus:

Line number Rhyme scheme

  1    Two households, both alike in dignity, ____

  2    In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, ____

  3    From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, ____

  4    Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. ____

  5    From forth the fatal loins of these two foes ____

  6    A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; ____

  7    Whose misadventured piteous overthrows ____

  8    Do with their death bury their parents' strife. ____

  9    The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, ____

 10    And the continuance of their parents' rage, ____

 11    Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, ____

 12    Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; ____

 13    The which if you with patient ears attend, ____

 14    What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. ____

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |88 |

|2 |75 |

|3 |62 |

|4 |50 |

|5 |38 |

|6 |25 |

|7 |12 |

|8 |0 |

1. What location is the setting of the play?

2. What is the relationship between the two households?

3. What does “star-crossed” mean?

4. What happens to the lovers?

5. What is the subject matter of this play?

6. What does the chorus ask of the audience in the last two lines?

7. What is the name of the poetic form used for the Prologue?

Name: _______________________ Period: _________ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |75 |

|2 |50 |

|3 |25 |

|4 |0 |

Romeo and Juliet | Selected Quotes

Directions: Read the following quotations from the play. In the space provided, attempt to translate them into modern English.

From forth the loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows,

Doth with their death bury their parents' strife. (Opening Prologue)

Interpretation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My only love sprung from my only hate!

Too early seen unknown, and known too late!

Prodigious birth of love it is to me,

That I must love a loathed enemy (I, v)

Interpretation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night (III, ii)

Interpretation:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!

Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?

Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!

Dove-feather'd raven! wolvish-ravening lamb! (III, ii)

Interpretation:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: _______________________ Period: ____

Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Intro to the Pun

A Pun is the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound.

A pun is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. A pun can rely on the assumed equivalency of multiple similar words (homonymy), of different shades of meaning of one word (polysemy), or of a literal meaning with a metaphor. Bad puns are often considered to be cheesy.

Walter Redfern (in Puns, Blackwell, London, 1984) succinctly said: "To pun is to treat homonyms as synonyms.”

Connection to the play:

Romeo and Juliet begins with a series of puns based on the words choler, collier, and coal. You will not fund the puns to be funny, but audiences in 16th century England would have been laughing uproariously… maybe.

Examples of puns from modern English:

• Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

• She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but broke it off.

• Energizer Bunny arrested -- charged with battery.

• When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

• If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed.

Name: _______________________ Period: ____

Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Irony

Irony is an implied discrepancy between what is said (stated) and what is meant (intended). In literature, there are three kinds of irony:

1. Verbal irony is when an author states one thing and means something else, or a character does the same in dialogue.

2. Dramatic irony is when a(n) reader/listener/audience perceives something that a character does not know.

3. Situational irony is a discrepancy between the expected result and actual results. Both the characters and the reader/listener/audience are lacking information (“surprised”).

Example of verbal irony from “The Cask of Amontillado”

"I drink," [Fortunato] said, "to the buried that repose around us."

[Montresor replies] "And I to your long life."

Montresor’s response is ironic because he knows that Fortunato’s life will most certainly not be “long.”

Example of dramatic irony from Of Mice and Men:

The reader is aware, while Curley is not, that Lennie is incredibly strong. It is dramatic irony that Curley chooses to attack Lennie because he perceives Lennie to be non-threatening.

Example of situational irony from A Separate Peace:

Finny’s death is unexpected by both Gene and the reader, due to Finny’s athleticism and his apparent ability to heal very quickly.

Connection to the play:

As a skilled playwright, Shakespeare knew how to manipulate his audiences with irony. Categorize the following examples:

Juliet disingenuously tells her mother that she will mix poison to kill Romeo.

Romeo believes that Juliet is dead, but the audience knows she is not.

Lady Montague dies unexpectedly at the end of the play.

Name: _______________________ Period: ____

Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Paradox

Paradox reveals a kind of truth which at first seems contradictory. It is two opposing ideas that, on the surface, cannot coexist, but somehow do.

Examples:

One famous paradox that appears in Hamlet occurs when Hamlet kills Polonius:

Hamlet says, "I must be cruel only to be kind: Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind." (III.iv).

What does he mean by I must be cruel only to be kind?

Here are some examples of paradoxical language and/or statements:

Man acts in the way he feels like acting and not necessarily in his best interests. --Dostoyevsky

To believe with certainty we must begin with doubting.

--King Stanislaw II

Connection to the play:

Juliet says to Romeo:

"Yet I shall kill thee with much cherishing.

Goodnight, goodnight. Parting is such sweet

sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow." [II.iii.198-200]

There are two paradoxes is the previous quotation.

Identify both.

Explain one of the two:

40 How is it a paradox? What does she really mean?

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act I, Scenes 1-2: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

1. TAG this piece of literature.

• Title

• Author

• Genre

2. What is the purpose of the chorus? What is the setting of the play?

3. What scene of conflict opens the action of the play? Who are the participants?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |91 |

|2 |82 |

|3 |73 |

|4 |64 |

|5 |55 |

|6 |45 |

|7 |36 |

|8 |27 |

|9 |18 |

|10 |9 |

|11 |0 |

4. Identify and describe Benvolio.

5. Identify and describe Tybalt.

6. What warning does the Prince give to anyone who breaks the peace again?

7. What does Paris want, and who did he ask for it?

Romeo and Juliet | Act I, Scenes 1-2: Questions and Answers

8. How old is Juliet? What was the typical view of marriage for someone her age?

9. In what state of mind is Romeo when the audience first sees him in the play?

9. Explain how Romeo finds out about the Capulet ball. How is this coincidental?

11. How does Benvolio try to remedy Romeo’s love sickness?

Tonight’s homework: Write a short biography of Shakespeare. Discuss his relevant dates, where he lived, how many plays he is credited with writing, and any other information that you feel is important. (10 points)

Also, explain how the illiterate servant is deus ex machina. (10 points)

Deus ex machina

Name:_______________________ Period:______

Romeo and Juliet Date:_______

Romeo and Juliet│ Marriage and Choice in Act I, Scene 2

Elizabethan Marriages In Elizabethan England it was considered imprudent to marry for love. Instead, marriages were usually formed based on economic circumstances or an arrangement made by the parents who, having more life experience and knowledge, were seen as better equipped to find a match for their child. With parents’ permission, boys were legally allowed to marry at the age of fourteen and girls at the age of twelve. Most waited longer but noble families were known to arrange marriages even earlier. Katherine Dudley, who became the countess of Huntingdon, was married off at the age of seven! An arrangement could be broken if both participants agreed that they did not want to go through with the marriage.

1. To what extent do the following characters have a choice in the loves or marriages they wish to pursue? Use the chart below to organize your ideas before creating a response.

|Character | | | | |

|Character’s Love Interest| | | | |

|Who/What Redirects the | | | | |

|Character’s Pursuit | | | | |

|Textual Evidence Quote(s)| | | | |

| | | | | |

|Literary Elements in the | | | | |

|Quote(s) | | | | |

| | | | | |

Romeo and Juliet│ Marriage and Choice in Act I, Scene 2 (continued)

2. Using the information you’ve collected to complete the chart, write an extended response that answers the ONE of the critical lens prompt below.

Make sure your response:

• Introduces the quote

• Interprets the quote

• Reveals your opinion of the quote (do you agree or disagree that the quote applies to literature)

• Supports your opinion using specific details from the text

Critical lens:

“Love is not just a feeling. It’s a choice…”

- Midwinter Turns to Spring by Maria Veloso

Critical lens:

“Trying to make someone love you is about as pointless as trying to control who you fall in love with.”

- Anonymous

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act I, Scenes 3-5: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

1. Identify and describe Susan.

2. When is Juliet’s birthday? On which holiday and which date?

3. Why does Lady Capulet visit with Juliet? What questions does Lady Capulet ask?

4. How do the Nurse and Lady Capulet feel about Paris? Use a quotation as evidence.

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

5. Identify and describe the character of Mercutio.

6. Who is Queen Mab? What is her function?

7. What premonition does Romeo have? How can this be considered foreshadowing?

Romeo and Juliet | Act I, Scenes 3-5: Questions and Answers

8. How does Lord Capulet persuade the young ladies to dance with him?

9. What discovery does Tybalt make and how does he react?

10. What information does the nurse provide to both Romeo and Juliet separately?

Tonight’s homework: In literary terms, define foil. At this point in the play, which characters are foils for other characters? (20 points)

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 1 and 2: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

1. Instead of returning home, where does Romeo go after the ball?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

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?

Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 1 and 2: Questions and Answers

8. To what does Romeo compare Juliet’s beauty?

9. Which character keeps interrupting the balcony scene and why?

10. Why does Juliet ask Romeo not to swear by the moon?

Tonight’s homework: What is Romeo asking for during his conversation with Juliet? What is her response? (20 points)

“O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,/

 That monthly changes in her circled orb….”

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 3 and 4: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

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?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

3. About what does the Friar caution Romeo?

4. Why does the Friar agree to marry Romeo and Juliet?

5. What has Tybalt extended to Romeo?

6. What excuse is Juliet to give for going see Friar Laurence?

7. Where are Romeo and Juliet to be married?

Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 3 and 4: Questions and Answers

8. About what does Mercutio tease Romeo?

9. How does Mercutio treat the nurse?

10. How does Romeo plan to get into Juliet’s window?

Tonight’s homework: Why does Mercutio treat the nurse in that fashion? Is his behavior contrary to or within character? (20 points)

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 5 and 6: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

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?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

3. How does the Nurse behave when she finally returns?

4. How does the Nurse feel about the marriage?

5. Why is the Friar afraid?

6. The friar warns Romeo again about something. What is it?

7. How much do the lovers say their love has grown?

Romeo and Juliet | Act II, Scenes 5 and 6: Questions and Answers

8. How many people know of the marriage?

9. Super difficult question: why does the marriage not take place on stage?

10. What is another name or title for the Friar? Why is this significant?

Tonight’s homework: Describe the relationship between Romeo and Juliet at this point in the play. Think in terms of: level of maturity, interaction with each other and other characters, and pragmatism. (20 points)

Rope ladder (though this is Robinson Crusoe)

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scene 1: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

1. Why does Benvolio ask Mercutio to leave the streets?

2. Why has Tybalt come to the town square?

3. What names does Mercutio call Tybalt? What are the connotations of these names?

4. How does Tybalt insult Romeo?

5. Why won’t Romeo fight Tybalt?

6. Why does Mercutio fight Tybalt?

7. How is Mercutio killed? Be specific.

Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scene 1: Questions and Answers

8. Why does Romeo kill Tybalt?

9. Who tells the Prince about the murders? Is the account honest or biased? How do you know?

10. What is Romeo’s punishment?

Tonight’s homework: Is Romeo’s punishment just? What should the Prince have done instead? (20 points)

A ratcatcher

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scene 2: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

1. For what is Juliet waiting?

2. Juliet says, “and though I am sold,/ Not yet enjoy’d.” (III.ii.27-28). To what is she referring?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

3. What physical object has the Nurse brought to Juliet?

4. What news does the Nurse bring Juliet in lines 37-39?

5. In line 40, what does Juliet assume that the Nurse means?

6. How does Juliet describe Romeo in lines 72-85?

7. The Nurse says, “Shame come to Romeo!” (III.ii.90). How does Juliet react?

8. Juliet endows the word “banished” with the power to do what?

9. Where are Juliet’s mother and father?

10. What is Juliet’s worst complaint about the banishment of Romeo?

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scenes 3 and 4: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

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. What upsets Romeo the most about being banished?

5. After Romeo behaves badly, how does the Friar describe Romeo?

6. The Friar gives three reasons that Romeo should be happy. What are they?

7. What does the Nurse give to Romeo?

Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scenes 3 and 4: Questions and Answers

8. Where is Romeo to go before daybreak?

9. On which day does Lord Capulet plan for Juliet to be married to Paris?

10. Who is to tell Juliet the “good news” concerning her future marriage to Paris?

Tonight’s homework: Why have the Capulets decided that Juliet must immediately be married? What incorrect assumption do they make? (20 points)

A hint.

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scene 5: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

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 two pieces of news does she give to Juliet?

6. What is Juliet’s reaction to the news?

7. To whom does Juliet turn to for help when her parents leave?

Romeo and Juliet | Act III, Scene 5: Questions and Answers

8. What advice does the Nurse give Juliet?

9. Why does Juliet tell the Nurse that she is going to see Friar Laurence?

10. If the Friar cannot furnish a solution for Juliet, what does she have the power to do?

Tonight’s homework: The relationship between the Nurse and Juliet changes significantly in this scene. How and why does it change? (20 points)

Nightingale

Lark

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act IV, Scenes 1-3: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

1. Why is Paris at Friar Laurence’s cell?

2. What reason does Paris give the Friar for his haste?

3. How long will the sleeping potion last?

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 he make in the wedding plans?

Romeo and Juliet | Act IV, Scenes 1-3: Questions and Answers

8. If the potion does not work, what does Juliet plan to do?

9. What vision makes her have the strength to drink the potion?

10. How will Romeo know about the plans?

Tonight’s homework: Examine your response to question #10. Predict what will go wrong. (20 points)

A dagger. Juliet’s was probably smaller.

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act IV, Scenes 4-5: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

1. Scene 4 takes place at what time in the morning?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

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. How does the Friar attempt to console the Capulets?

7. How do the wedding preparations change after they find Juliet? Note: this is a famous Shakespearean plot device, also used in Hamlet.

Romeo and Juliet | Act IV, Scenes 4-5: Questions and Answers

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?

Tonight’s homework: Define comic relief. (20 points)

A hint for question #7.

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act V, Scenes 1-2: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

1. Where does Scene 1 take place?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

2. What is Romeo’s dream?

3. What news does Balthasar bring to Romeo?

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?

Romeo and Juliet | Act V, Scenes 1-2: Questions and Answers

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?

Tonight’s homework: What commentary is Shakespeare making about economic parity in this play? How do Romeo and the Apothecary differ in this matter? (20 points)

...I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Matthew 19:23-24, Mark 10:24-25 and Luke 18:24-25.

Name: _________________ Period: _____ Romeo and Juliet Date: ______

Romeo and Juliet | Act V, Scene 3: Questions and Answers Pgs.________

1. Why is Paris at Juliet’s tomb?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |90 |

|2 |80 |

|3 |70 |

|4 |60 |

|5 |50 |

|6 |40 |

|7 |30 |

|8 |20 |

|9 |10 |

|10 |0 |

2. Why does Paris think Romeo has come to the Capulet tomb?

3. Why does Romeo kill Paris?

4. What is Paris’ last request?

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?

The bodies in the Capulet tomb would have been laid out something like this.

Romeo and Juliet | Act V, Scene 3: Questions and Answers

8. How does Juliet kill herself?

9. Who is suspected the most as a murderer and why?

10. What four accounts of the incident does the Prince hear?

Tonight’s homework: How sympathetic of a character is Paris? Of all the methods that Paris could die (if he has to do so), why does Shakespeare have Romeo kill Paris? (20 points)

Mr. Lederman’s personal favorite Friar Laurence, Pete Posthlethwaite in Romeo + Juliet

Name: _______________________ Period: ______

Romeo and Juliet Date: _______

Romeo and Juliet│ Fault and Blame

When we act, do we want to be judged on our intentions or the consequences of those actions? In the final scene of Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence details his role in the lives of the two young people. He had good intentions but admits fault and concludes, “And if aught in this miscarried by my fault, let my old life be sacrificed some hour before his time unto the rigor of the severest law” (V.iii.275-8). Should Friar Lawrence accept the blame for the deaths?

Task: For each character listed below, identify actions or inactions taken throughout the play that lead to the final death of Juliet. Rank each character on a scale of 1-5 (1= least worthy of blame, 5= most worthy of blame).

Prince Escalus Rank

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Friar Lawrence

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Romeo

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Juliet

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lord Capulet

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Romeo and Juliet│ Fault and Blame

Homework: Using the details your group collected, write a brief, one paragraph response explaining why you ranked your #5 character as most guilty.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: _______________________ Period: ____

Romeo and Juliet Summation Date: _____

Romeo and Juliet | Post-Reading Activity

1. Who is/are the protagonist(s) of the play?

2. Who or what is the antagonist in the play? What conflict does the antagonist create?

|Wrong Answers|Grade |

|1 |89 |

|2 |78 |

|3 |67 |

|4 |56 |

|5 |44 |

|6 |33 |

|7 |22 |

|8 |11 |

|9 |0 |

3. How does the Friar bring about change with regard to the plot?

4. What is the Nurse’s function with regard to the plot?

5. What is significant about the character of Mercutio?

6. What impact does the vendetta have on all three families?

7. How does the setting further the plot's development?

Romeo and Juliet | Post-Reading Activity continued

8. How is the poison symbolic?

9. What are the themes explored in the play?

For naught so vile that on the earth doth live

But to the earth some special good doth give;

Nor aught so good but, strain'd from that fair use,

Revolts from true birth, stumbling on the abuse:

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied;

And vice sometimes by action dignified.

Friar Lawrence, Act II, scene iii

-----------------------

You have certainly heard and used puns in your life. List three:

1.

2.

3.

In this space, write everything you think you know about Shakespeare:

Romeo and Juliet’s First Anniversary by Madeline Carol Matz

You can play it and play it as many times as the

opportunity occurs and still not get to the

bottom of its box of wonders. It can trick you

round false corners and into cul-de-sacs, or take

you by the seat of your pants and hurl you

across the stars. It can give you moments of

unknown joy, or cast you into the depths of

despair. Once you have played it, it will devour

you and obsess you for the rest of your life.

Shakespeare | Introduction to Elizabethan England continued

Jerry Hatfield (left) and Ron McCoy posed at the Hatfield-McCoy feud marker in Pikeville, Ky., during a 2001 reunion festival.

Does it even matter which one is which?

Shakespeare | Famous Feuds continued

Romeo-

Juliet-

Paris-

Rosaline-

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