Romeo and Juliet – Study Questions
ACT I, scene i
1. Give two reasons why Shakespeare introduced the play with minor characters.
2. Identify the character who tries to convince them to put up their swords. How is
his name appropriate? What is his connection to Romeo?
3. Who wishes to continue the fight? For what reason? What does this tell us about
his personality?
4. What edict does the Prince pronounce because of the brawl? Why would a prince
have such power in Elizabethan times?
5. Describe Romeo's state of mind as revealed by his father's and his own words.
Copy two quotations to support your description and underline the key words.
scene ii
1. Capulet reveals both chauvinistic and democratic characteristics in his
conversation with Paris. Show how this is true, quoting directly from the text.
2. Why would Juliet's father be so unwilling to allow her to marry at such a young
age?
3. How can the servant's illiteracy be considered a "trigger incident"?
4. Why does Romeo go to the Capulet feast? What potential problems could arise
there?
scene iii
1. What do the Nurse and the mother reveal about each of their backgrounds?
2. What does Juliet think of the idea of marriage?
3. What character traits does the nurse display? Prove from the text.
scene iv
1. The Queen Mab speech is famous because of the colourful use of language that it
contains. Identify five key words or phrases to show that Mab is a queen of magic
and deception. Briefly discuss the significance of this speech in light of Mercutio
and his friends' plans.
2. The mood of the scene abruptly changes at the end. What words (quote them!)
indicate that Romeo has a sense of foreboding? What does he intend to do about
his "sixth sense"?
scene v
1. When Romeo- first sees Juliet, he uses two "light against dark" descriptions. What
are they?
2. How does Tybalt react to Romeo's presence? Give two reasons why Capulet
forbids Tybalt to act.
3. Shakespeare suggests that Romeo and Juliet's "love at first sight" has a spiritual
quality. Find words and phrases which relate to the idea of a spiritual encounter
between the two.
4. How do Romeo and Juliet react to their discovery of their family's identities? For
each character, copy a quotation to demonstrate this reaction.
Act II, scene i
1. Identify two dramatic differences between this scene and the previous one.
2. What evidence is there in the dialogue that Romeo's friends do not take him
seriously?
scene ii
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How does the setting contribute to the scene? Consider both time and place.
What factors contribute to the high emotional level of this scene?
What warning does Juliet give voice to?
What decision do Romeo and Juliet reach in this scene?
What are the possible consequences of this decision?
scene iii
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What comparison does Friar Laurence make between the powers of the plants
he collects and human nature? How might these observations be significant?
What does his opening soliloquy tell us about the Friar's character?
What assumption does the Friar make about Romeo's early visit to him?
For what does the Friar reprimand Romeo?
Why does the Friar agree to marry Romeo and Juliet?
scene iv
1. What does Mercutio mean when he says, "Alas, poor Romeo, he is already dead"?
2. Who is the "Prince of Cats" and how serious a duelist is he?
3. Why do you think Shakespeare wrote this scene all in prose? Why would he lower the
level of language here?
4. What mood is Romeo in? Give evidence to support your opinion.
5. With what tone do Romeo and his friends greet the nurse? Why?
6. When and where are Romeo and Juliet to be married?
scene v
1. Identify how Juliet conveys her anxiety through specific words and phrases. Is her
impatience consistent with her character?
2. How does this scene convey the emotional bond between Juliet and the Nurse?
scene vi
1. At the beginning of this scene, what does Romeo say that worries the Friar? What advice
does the Friar give Romeo?
2. What is ironic about the Friar's advice?
ACT III, scene i
1. What foreshadowing is there in Benvolio's opening words?
2. What evidence is there that Mercutio is irritable?
3. Discuss the significance of the following lines:
(a) Romeo: Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting.
(b) Mercutio: A plague o' both your houses!
(c) Mercutio: No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door;
but 'tis enough, 'twill serve.
(d) Romeo: This day's black fate on more days doth depend;
This but begins the woe others must end.
4. What judgment does the Prince impose upon Romeo? Why would this be
considered a harsh judgment 400 years ago?
5. What purpose does the final rhyming couplet have upon the audience at this stage
of the play?
scene ii
1. Make three comparisons between the beginning of this scene and the previous one
in terms of dramatic structure, characterization and setting.
2. This scene shows the stresses of the love Juliet has for Romeo combined with her
feelings about the death of her cousin Tybalt. Her use of oxymora emphasizes
this conflict within her. Find four examples of these oxymora.
3. How does the ending of this scene convey both joy and sorrow?
scene iii
1. How does Romeo react to the Prince's verdict?
2. Romeo behaves with passionate despair in this scene. Where else in the play does
he display this tendency to allow passion to overshadow reason and moderation?
3. How does the Friar act as Romeo's guide, helping put order into his life again?
4. What is the Nurse's purpose in this scene?
scene iv
1. State two reasons why Capulet might have changed his mind, insisting that Juliet
will now marry Paris.
2. Why will it be a small wedding?
scene v
1. How,is "light and dark" imagery used in the opening exchange between Romeo
and Juliet?
2. What element of foreboding is there in their farewell?
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
In what way is "Fortune fickle", according to Juliet?
Discuss the irony of the "sorrowful" conversation between Juliet and her mother.
What is the Nurse's advice to Juliet?
State three reasons why Juliet feels so isolated at this stage of the play.
What is the one ideal Juliet places above all others, and why is this so significant
at this stage of the action?
ACT IV, scene i
1. What irony is there in the conversation between Friar Laurence and Paris at the
beginning of the scene?
2. What pressures does Juliet place upon the Friar?
3. Describe the Friar's plan to help Juliet.
scene ii
1. What tone does Juliet use when speaking to her father? What reason does she give
for having changed her mind?
2. Why do you think Capulet moves the wedding date forward by a day? What
problems might this change of plans cause?
3. What is ironic about Capulet's cheerful mood at the close of the scene? What does
it reveal about his character?
scene iii
1.
2.
3.
4.
Describe Juliet's tone to both her mother and her nurse.
What three fears preoccupy Juliet before she takes the potion?
What vision gives Juliet the impetus to drink the potion?
In your opinion, is she reckless or wise in carrying through Friar Laurence's plan?
scene iv
1. Describe the mood in the Capulet household. How does it contrast to that of the
previous scene?
scene v
1. What is ironic about Lady Capulet's reaction to Juliet's death?
2. What is the significance of both Capulet and Paris's personification of death?
3. The Friar uses Christian doctrine to comfort the Capulets. What is it? Are you
critical of the Friar's hypocrisy in this scene?
4. The Friar uses the following words as a warning: "The heavens do lower upon
you for some ill; / Move them no more by crossing their high will." What reasons
does Friar Laurence have for hurrying the funeral arrangements?
5. What dramatic purpose is there in ending Act IV with minor characters?
ACT V, scene i
1. What is Romeo's mood? How is his dream both prophetic and ironic?
2. "Then I defy you, stars!" What does Romeo mean?
3. Even though such a deed is unlawful, why does the apothecary sell Romeo
poison?
4. What does Romeo mean when he says: "I sell thee poison; thou has sold me
none"?
scene ii
1. Why would the mention of the "infectious pestilence" be so familiar and
horrifying to Elizabethans? Why did they view the plague as being analogous to
Fate?
2. Why doesn't Romeo receive the letter?
3. What is the dramatic effect of having such a short scene?
scene iii
1.
2.
3.
4.
State three reasons why the setting has such dramatic impact in this scene.
Why does Paris wish for privacy?
Romeo, too, wants privacy. How does he try to ensure he gets it?
What metaphor does Romeo use when he "addresses" the tomb? Assess its
effectiveness.
5. Why does Paris challenge Romeo?
6. What is significant about Romeo referring to Paris as "noble"?
7. Once again, Romeo uses light imagery to describe Juliet. Quote!
8. What is ironic and tragic about Romeo's observation that "Beauty's ensign yet / Is
crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, / And death's pale flag is not advanced
there"?
9. Why does the Friar "dare no longer stay"?
10. What "brace of kinsmen" has the Prince lost?
11. What symbolic gesture of peace do Capulet and Montague make after their
children's death?
* Who, or what, in your opinion, is responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? *