R&J Act One
Annotated Notes
Act One
Scene One
Lines 47-50
 Hatred:
servants of each family
try to start fights w/ insults
Lines 59-62
= good will; wants
feud to end
 “Tybalt” = loves to fight (famous
cat character from another play)
 “Benvolio”
Lines 85-93
3
recent brawls have made
everyone upset  any Mon or
Cap who starts a fight will be
executed
Lines 104-111
 People
looks to Ben for info 
Ben = trustworthy (tells truth
about fight)
Lines 127-136
 Rom
walks around crying, stays in
his room in dark all day being
emo
Line 166
 Romeo
= romantic; set up as
typical Elizabethan lover
depressed he can’t have his love
(think Petrarch)
Lines 210-213
 Problem
#1: girl R loves = sworn
to chastity (virginity)  follows
Diana (goddess of virginity)
Lines 229-230, 240
B
= sensible (find someone else);
R = romantic (won’t ever
happen)
Act One
Scene Two
Lines 1-6
 Lord
C sounds like he’s tired of
feud (what could end it?); Paris =
related to Prince, wants to marry
Juliet
Lines 14-19
 All
of Lord C’s children besides J
have died; he will let P marry J if
SHE wants to
Line 59
 Fate:
servant can’t read, asks R
to read list of people invited to
party
Line 72
 Problem
#2: Rosaline = girl R
loves  Lord C is her uncle (“my
fair niece”)
Lines 86-91
 Foreshadowing:
B will show R
ladies at party, he will forget
about Ros
Act One
Scene Three
Lines 17-19
J
= about to turn 14
 Lammastide = holiday in August
 setting is in July, hot weather
& short tempers
Lines 39-49
 Characterization:
Nurse tells
inappropriate sex joke about J w/
her mom in the room (no filter)
Lines 74-78
 Lady
C proposes marriage to
Paris; we find out she was
married & mother to J at a
younger age than J is now
Lines 100-103
J
= careful, doesn’t
commit/agree to Lady C, says
she’ll check out Paris 1st
(rational)
Act One
Scene Four
Lines 14, 18-19, 24-25
 Mercutio
= Mercury  good sense of
humor, interested in physical side of
relationships, can’t sit still, related to
Prince
Lines 28-29
M
makes fun of R for acting emo (he
doesn’t see point of emotional side
of relationships)
Lines 50-53
 Foreshadowing:
R had a bad dream
before party
 M makes fun of R for believing in
dreams
Queen Mab Monologue
Lines 58-100
Queen Mab = midwife for fairies  helps give
birth to dreams
 Dreams = nothing (literally), product of reality,
but not real




people dream about secret desires
lovers dream of love, lawyers dream of $, ladies
dream of kisses, soldiers dream of killing
Ignore what’s not “real” (reality = physical,
“here and now”, sex)
Lines 113-118
 Foreshadowing:
R’s bad dream told
him something bad would happen
tonight that would lead to his death
Act One
Scene Five
Lines 46-61
 Young
Love: R sees J dancing, falls in
love at 1st sight, claims he has never
been in love until now (Ben was right,
Ros is gone)
 Fate: out of everyone at party, who
hears R speak & recognizes him?
Tybalt  the one who wants to keep
feud going
Lines 66-74
 Lord
C compliments R, speaks highly
of him, tells T to leave him alone 
everyone likes him, he’s a good guy
 Wouldn’t marriage to J be perfect
way to end feud?
Lines 125-126
 Young
Love: R realizes Capulets
“own” him because he loves J
 Difference btwn Ros & J: his love =
real  not emo, doesn’t think about
how he can’t have her
Lines 143-150
 Foreshadowing:
J says if R = married,
she’ll die
 Hatred: J realizes that her 1st love =
sworn enemy
 J regrets that she loves someone she
is “supposed” to hate