Name ____________________________________ Date ______________ Block _______
Romeo & Juliet – Act II, Scenes 1 & 2 – Close
Reading
Directions: Answer each of the following questions. MLA format for a play is used in
some questions so you’ll know which lines to reference. Literary devices are in bold.
Act II Prologue – p. 313
1) The chorus’s part at the beginning of Act II is written as a _______________________
meaning that it takes the form of a 14 line poem with abab cdcd efef gg rhyme scheme.
2) Lines 1 – 14. Shakespeare interrupts his own play with the Chorus again, entering the stage
and reciting a 14-line sonnet to explain what has occurred at the party: love at first sight.
a. Shakespeare writes, “Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie, and young affection
gapes to be his heir.” Who is the “old desire” and who is the “heir” to that desire?
b. Look at lines 9 – 12. What conflicts will Romeo and Juliet’s love be up against?
3) How does the prologue of Act II help to foreshadow future events?
Act II, Scene I – pgs. 313-314
Location:
________________________________________________________________________________
Timeline: Day - _______________________, Time - _______________________ (*The Capulet
party just ended Sunday night.)
1) Where does Romeo run off to? Why?
_________________________________________________
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________
2) According to Mercutio’s lines (2.2.36-44), the audience knows that Romeo’s friends assume he
is still in love with __________________________.
3) Where do Mercutio and Benvolio each think Romeo has run off to?
Mercutio: _____________________________ Benvolio:
_______________________________
4) How does Mercutio try to get Romeo to come back?
____________________________________
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_________
5) What is IRONIC about this? (Dramatic Irony – when the audience knows something that one
or more of the characters don’t know)
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__________________
6) How are Mercutio and Benvolio character foils for one another, particularly in this scene?
(Think about the type of friend each one is.)
___________________________________________
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________
7) Do Romeo’s friends leave him behind after the Capulet party? Circle one:
YES
or
NO
Act II, Scene II – pgs. 315-321
Location:
________________________________________________________________________________
Timeline: Day - _____________________________, Time _______________________________________
***Read lines 1-25 – Romeo’s monologue as he (kinda creepily) watches Juliet.***
8) What metaphor does Romeo use to describe Juliet (2.2.3)? He compares her to what?
_______________________
9) A motif is a literary device in which a particular image or idea is recurring throughout a literary
work, meaning that it keeps appearing and reappearing. List words in Romeo’s monologue
(2.2.2-25) about Juliet that reference the motif of light.
a. __________________________
d. __________________________
b. __________________________
e. __________________________
c. __________________________
f. __________________________
10) What does Romeo wish he were so that he could touch Juliet’s cheek?
___________________
11) Think about Romeo’s description of Juliet on p. 315. Why do you think the director of the
1996 Romeo and Juliet film had Juliet dressed as an angel at the masquerade party? Be sure
to write the line numbers that provide evidence for your response.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________
12) What does the line, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo” mean?
___________________________________________________________________________
_________
13) According to lines 33-36, Juliet knows that what must happen in order for her and Romeo to be
together? __________________________________________________________________
14) Is Romeo’s name important to Juliet? Circle one:
YES
or
NO
15) What line does Romeo make his presence known to Juliet? _______
16) What does Romeo mean by stating that he’ll be “new baptized” if Juliet is telling him honestly
that she wants to be with him (line 50)? Remember that in Elizabethan times, a baby’s baptism
was when the parents announced the baby’s name.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________
17) What would be the consequence for Romeo if any of Juliet’s “kinsmen” find him behind
Capulet walls? __________________________
18) Find the example of personification on p. 317 and write the line numbers for it. Hint: It
explains why Romeo isn’t worried he’ll be caught by the Capulets. (2.2. _____)
19) How does Juliet feel about the fact that Romeo overheard all that she said in her monologue
expressing her feelings for him? Hint: Reread lines 85-87. She feels ________________.
20) What do you think Juliet means when she says she “should have been more strange” at the
top of p. 318? Remember that she just gave away her feelings about Romeo, not realizing he
overheard.
___________________________________________________________________
21) What oxymoron/contrasting motif do you see in lines 105-106?
___________________ & ___________________
22) Why does Juliet NOT want Romeo to “swear by the moon?” (2.2.109-111). Hint: Think about
the moon’s transitions.
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________
23) In lines 121-122, Juliet compares hers and Romeo’s love to a flower. What do they have in
common?
__________________________________________________________________________
24) Who interrupts Romeo and Juliet’s late-night talk after the Capulet party? ________________
25) Look at lines 139-141. What do they foreshadow?
_____________________________________
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_________
26) Who first mentions marriage? Circle one: Romeo
or
Juliet
27) As Romeo is about to leave, he expresses his feelings about leaving Juliet with a simile. He
says, “Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books, / But love from love, toward
school with heavy looks.” What does he mean?
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___________________________
28) What plans do Romeo and Juliet make before Romeo leaves, and how do they plan to get
word to each other?
___________________________________________________________________________
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__________________
29) What pet does Juliet compare Romeo to on p. 320? ________________________
30) Why is “parting such sweet sorrow” for Romeo and Juliet? AND How is that line an
oxymoron?
________________________________________________________________________
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__________________
31) When Romeo leaves, he says he is going to see his “ghostly father.” Why does he need to
speak to this person? (Hint: look at the meaning of ghostly father in the margin)
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