What is the Prologue of Romeo and Juliet and what does it mean?
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life
Summarize Act I of Romeo and Juliet:
Scene 1: The scene opens with a brawl on the streets of Verona between servants from the affluent Montague and Capulet households. While attempting to stop the fight, Benvolio (Romeo's cousin) is drawn into the fray by Tybalt, kinsman of the Capulets. The
Summarize Act 2 of Romeo and Juliet
Scene 1: This scene takes place outside the Capulet orchard. Romeo hopes to see Juliet again after falling in love with her at first sight during the Capulet masquerade ball. He leaps the orchard wall when he hears Mercutioand Benvolio approaching. His fr
Summarize Act 3 of Romeo and Juliet
Scene 1: During the heat of the day, Benvolio and Mercutio are loitering on the streets of Verona when Tybalt arrives looking for Romeo. Benvolio wishes to avoid a confrontation with the Capulets; however, Mercutio is deliberately provocative and tries to
Summarize Act 4 of Romeo and Juliet
Scene 1: On Tuesday morning, Paris tells Friar Laurence of his proposed marriage to Juliet � a wedding scheduled to take place in two days. The Friar expresses concern that the wedding has been arranged too quickly, and he offers various reasons to delay
Summarize Act 5 of Romeo and Juliet
Scene 1: In Mantua, Romeo mistakenly believes that his dreams portend good news because he dreamed that Julietfound him dead but revived him with her kisses. Romeo's servant, Balthasar, then reports to Romeo that Juliet has died. Romeo, controlling his gr
Who is Romeo Motague?
One of the protagonists, he falls in love with Juliet Capulet at a masquerade. He marries her, but after killing Tybalt he is forced to flee the city. Acting on a plan that Friar Laurence puts together, he thinks that Juliet is dead and drinks poison to k
Who is Juliet Capulet?
Teenager who falls in love with Romeo (main girl character) Daughter of Capulet, who is war at Montague. Always talks of love, death, and fate. Does not want to marry Paris, who is in love with her. Drinks a potion that puts her to sleep for 42 hours, mak
Who is Benvolio?
Montague's nephew, Romeo's cousin and thoughtful friend, he makes a genuine effort to defuse violent scenes in public places, though Mercutio accuses him of having a nasty temper in private. He spends most of the play trying to help Romeo get his mind off
Who is Mercutio?
A kinsman to the Prince, and Romeo's close friend. He is killed by Tybalt.
Who is Tybalt?
A Capulet, Juliet's cousin on her mother's side. Vain, fashionable, supremely aware of courtesy and the lack of it, he becomes aggressive, violent, and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured. Once drawn, his sword is something to
Who is Montague?
Romeo's father
Who is Lady Montague?
Romeo's mother, Montague's wife. She dies of grief after Romeo is exiled from Verona.
Who is Capulet?
The patriarch of the Capulet family, father of Juliet, husband of Lady Capulet, and enemy, for unexplained reasons, of Montague. He truly loves his daughter, though he is not well acquainted with Juliet's thoughts or feelings, and seems to think that what
Who is Friar Lawrence?
A friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Kind, civic-minded, a proponent of moderation, and always ready with a plan, Friar Lawrence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona. As well as being a Catho
What is Verona?
Setting of Romeo and Juliet?
Who is the nurse?
Juliet's faithful confidante and loyal intermediary in Juliet's relationship with Romeo.
Who is Paris?
A kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most preferred by Capulet. Once Capulet has promised him he can marry Juliet, he behaves very presumptuous toward, acting as if they are already married.
Who are Sampson& Gregory?
servants of the Capulets, they hate the Montagues, and they help start a fight between the Montague men
Who is Abram?
servant of the Montague, fights with Sampson and Gregory in the beginning of the first act
Who is Balthasar?
a dedicated servant of Romeo and he tells Romeo that Juliet died (was actually poisoned)
What does it mean to foreshadow?
to show or indicate an event before hand
What are three examples of foreshadowing in the play?
(1) Romeo foreshadows a fateful chain of events ("consequence") does begin its appointed time ("date") that night, and that chain of events does terminate the duration ("expire the term") of Romeo's life with premature ("untimely") death. (Act I scene 4)
What is situational irony?
when the reader expects one thing, but the complete opposite happens
What is dramatic irony?
an event or idea that the audience knows but the characters don't
What are three examples of dramatic irony in the play?
(1) Act 4, scene 5 - Juliet is found dead in her bed - they all think that she is dead/ she is not dead - "Lady, lady, lady!�
Alas, alas! Help, help! My lady's dead!"
(2) Act 3, Scene 2 - the nurse weeps (for Tybalt), but at fist she never openly states w
What is an oxymoron?
a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction (Ex: same difference)
What are three examples of oxymorons in the play?
(1) Capulet: "Earth-treading stars"; "dark heaven" (Act I, Scene 2 )
(2) Romeo: "brawling love, loving hate, feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health" (Act I, scene 1)
(3) Juliet: "loving jealous"
Romeo: "sweet sorrow" (Act II, Scene 2)
What is a pun?
a humorous play on words
What are two examples of puns in the play?
(1) Give me a torch. I am not for this ambling. /Being but heavy (sad & weighing much) I will bear the light (brightness & weighing little) (act 1, scene 4)
(2) What dost thou make us minstrels? An thou makes mistrels of us, look to hear nothing but disco
Why are Romeo and Juliet responsible for the play's ending?
Both of them were young teenagers who felt that the world was going to end if they could not be together. They were selfish and they only worried about their own feelings. Both of them were irresponsible and they made bad choices. They decided to kill the
Why is Friar Lawrence responsible for the play's ending?
Friar Lawrence makes many bad choices throughout the play; choices that are unforgivable. When he made such terrible choices, he inevitably doomed Juliet to her death, therefore leading to Romeo taking his life too. He gave a poison to Juliet, he trusted
Why is Sir Capulet responsible for the play's ending?
Sir Capulet was very inconsistent in his word with Juliet. At first, when he set up her marriage with Paris, he agreed that she was still a little young, and that she should wait. However, when her cousin died and Romeo was banned he thought that she was
Why is the nurse responsible for the play's ending?
At first, the nurse wanted to help Juliet and she did help Juliet be with Romeo. However, she began to turn her back. She stopped helping Juliet and she even suggested that Juliet should marry Paris.
How did fate affect the play's ending?
On a few occasions, Romeo speaks about Fate, and even to Fate himself. After Tybalt slayed Romeo's friend Mercutio, Romeo says he is going to kill Tybalt for the love he's changed into hatred so quickly. Romeo makes a rash decision to end his life for wha
How did free will affect the play's ending?
Characters throughout the novel were able to make their own decision. Each and every decision that a character made led them to the point at the end of the novel where Romeo and Juliet killed themselves. All of their actions had consequences (whether good
How did love and lust affect the play's ending?
Romeo and Juliet were so in love that they did not care about anyone or anything else. They would rather die together then live without each. They wanted each other so badly and they wanted to be with each other they that would die to be together. They wo
How did irony affect the play overall?
Irony allows the play to be more interesting and dramatic. With situational, it allows readers to keep reading and interested because they want to know if what they are thinking is correct. They also want to know what happens next. With dramatic, they wan