Romeo and Juliet s1

Romeo and Juliet

SCENE BY SCENE ANALYSIS

ACT I PROLOGUE 1. Summarize the message of the Prologue. 2. Modern plays, movies and television shows rarely begin with a summary that reveals the outcome. As a modern reader, do you expect to enjoy the play more, or less, now that so much has been revealed? What is left for you to experience, now that the plot has been revealed? ACT I scene i 3. What does their conversation reveal about Sampson and Gregory’s characters? 4. In what ways is the conversation between Sampson and Gregory both comic and disturbing? 5. What are the differences between Tybalt and Benvolio? How has Shakespeare revealed these differences? 6. What influence do Ladies Capulet and Montague have on their Lords? How do these relationships contrast the earlier discussion between Sampson and Gregory? 7. Summarize Prince Escalus’s message to the Capulets and Montagues. 8. What do we learn about Romeo by the end of this scene? 9. What foreshadowing prophecy ends the scene? 10.According to the Elizabethan world view, what evidence of “disorder” is there? What evidence is there that the world is in order? 11.What advice would you give to Romeo? ACT I scene ii 12.What complications are introduced to the plot? 13.List Capulet’s reasons for not promising Juliet in marriage to Paris. 14.Why do Romeo and Benvolio decide to go to the masquerade? ACT I scene iii 15.What is the audience’s impression of the nurse? 16.Describe the relationship between the Nurse and the Capulets. According to the Elizabethan world view, how is their relationship “out of order.” According to your world view, is this relationship in order or not? 17.What is the audience’s impression of Juliet? ACT I scene iv 18.Describe Mercutio’s attitude towards love. 19.How have times changed? How have they remained the same since the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet? 20.What foreshadowing is there of Romeo’s fate? 21.What do you expect to happen at the masquerade? ACT I scene v 22.What is Capulet’s attitude towards the maskers? 23.What is your impression of Tybalt? 24.What does Romeo first notice about Juliet? 25.What is wrong with this first impression? 26.Note the rhyme scheme and the rhythm of the first 14 lines spoken between Romeo and Juliet. Note the content of each “section” of this poem. (Each section is defined by the rhyme scheme, the content and the speaker.) 27.What elements of this scene would the audience enjoy most?

ACT II PROLOGUE 28.Note the rhyme scheme and the rhythm of the Prologue. What does each “section” of the prologue tell us? ACT II scene i 29.Who understands Romeo better – Mercutio or Benvolio? ACT II scene ii 30.The play is full of recurring images: religious, astrological, darkness and light. The play is also full of recurring literary devices: oxymoron, foreshadowing and hyperbole. List examples of each from this “balcony scene.” Does analyzing the play in this way help or hinder your appreciation of the play? 31.What aspects of this scene make it so intensely romantic? 32.Does Juliet have a more logical and pragmatic mind than Romeo does? ACT II scene iii 33.What does Friar Laurence say about nature’s diversity? 34.How would you describe the relationship between Friar Laurence and Romeo? 35.Why are the Friar’s last words important? ACT II scene iv 36.This scene is an example of comic relief. In other words, it adds an element of amusement to the play, even while the conflict is reaching crisis proportions. In some ways, the joking among Mercutio, Romeo, Benvolio and the Nurse are more tragic than they are comic and would cause greater distress for the audience. Explain. ACT II scene v 37.What thoughts go through Juliet’s mind in this scene? 38. How does the nurse respond to Juliet’s state of mind? 39. Compare the life that Juliet leads to the life that the boys lead. ACT II scene vi 40. In what way does Friar Laurence fail to “practice what he preaches”? What argument would he use to justify this hypocrisy? Is this argument valid? If you were Benvolio, what advice would you give? If you were Mercutio? If you were you? 41. The wedding of Romeo and Juliet takes place between this scene and the next, but Shakespeare leaves it out of the play. What possible reason could Shakespeare have had for not including the wedding scene? ACT III scene i 42.Is Romeo being sincere in his conversation with Tybalt? 43.Why does Tybalt not believe Romeo? 44.How is Mercutio killed? 45.Why does Romeo kill Tybalt? 46.What id Romeo’s punishment? ACT III scene ii 47.Why does the Nurse Juliet ropes? 48.How does Juliet describe Romeo after she finds out that he had killed Tybalt? ACT III scene iii 49.Does the whirlwind of emotion in the last three scenes suggest a world that is in chaos or a world that is in order? Does it suggest a world that is stable or a world that is changing? Explain. 50.Who is more mature? Romeo or Juliet? ACT III scene iv 51.What problems are caused by the events of this scene? 52.What do you expect Juliet to say or do about the problems caused by the events in this scene? ACT III scene v 53.What is the dramatic irony in this scene? (What does the audience know that the characters do not?) What is the effect of this irony? 54.What reasons did Juliet give for not wanting to marry Paris? What is the irony in these reasons? 55.From this and earlier scenes, give evidence of the nurse’s good intentions but poor service. ACT IV scene i 56.What is Friar Laurence’s plan? ACT IV scene ii 57.Identify the dramatic irony in this scene. ACT IV scene iii 58.What worries occupy Juliet’s mind before she drinks the potion? ACT IV scene iv 59.What are the main concerns of the characters in this scene? 60.This scene could be omitted without consequence to Shakespeare’s plot. Suggest reasons why he included it.

ACT IV scene v 61.What is the dramatic irony in this scene? ACT V scene i 62.List the possible courses of action that might take place in the following scenes. Which of these do you feel is most likely? Explain. 63.What is the effect of Romeo’s initially light mood on the audience? 64.How does the apothecary’s role compare to that of Friar Laurence? 65.Why has the Friar’s plan not worked? ACT V scene ii 66.The events of this play follow a course determined by accidents of fate, not the plans of people. Evaluate the accuracy of this statement, using references from the play to support your comments. ACT V scene iii 67.Identify the example of pathetic fallacy at the end of the play.