Romeo and Juliet’s meeting is set to poetry. Not only are there many poetic/literary devices in their meeting, but it is also structured like a sonnet, which is a traditional love poem.
Light and dark imagery:
Religious metaphor:
Diction:
Sonnets are a type of poem that follow a very specific structure and are often written as love poetry. Both the
Prologue and Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting are written in the form of a sonnet.
Rules of a sonnet:
1.
14 lines – always
2.
Set rhyme scheme

The English/ Shakespearean sonnet is abab, cdcd, efef, gg
Look at the Prologue and answer the following questions:
1.
How are love, death and fate all connected in this Prologue?
2.
How are Romeo and Juliet first introduced to the play in the Prologue?
Read Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting again (1.5.92-105)
1.
How do the two sonnets together help develop the theme of fate?
2.
How would you describe Romeo’s love for Juliet compared to his love for Rosaline?
3.
List examples of the stages of courtly love in their first meeting. What’s interesting about how the courtly love is played out?
Romeo professes endless love for Rosaline, but then sees Juliet and instantly forgets her. What do you make of this?
Are Romeo’s actions forgivable because he has found his true love, or is Romeo just a fickle young man who will fall in love with the next beauty he sees? Support your answer with specific details from the text.