Romeo and Juliet Guided Questions
INSTRUCTIONS: On your own piece of paper, respond the following questions which guide you through Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Make sure that your responses are numbered, and that you respond in complete sentences.
Act I
1. Why do Montague’s men fight with Capulet’s men?
2. When Benvolio and Tybalt come upon the servants fighting, how do they react?
3. What/who ends the opening fight?
4. Why is Romeo so sad?
5. What does Capulet think of Paris wanting to marry Juliet?
6. What is Juliet’s opinion of marrying Paris?
7. After talking with Mercutio about dreams, how does Romeo foreshadow future action in the play?
8. How do Romeo and Juliet react when they discover that the other is their family’s enemy?
Act II
9. In Act II Scene ii, Romeo and Juliet profess their love for one another. Juliet is to contact
Romeo (through a servant) the next day. Why?
10. Why does Friar Laurence agree to marry Romeo and Juliet?
11. Who teases Nurse when she brings Juliet’s message to Romeo?
12. What message does Nurse take to Juliet?
Act III
13. In Act III, Mercutio and Benvolio get into a conflict with Tybalt. What does Romeo do when he comes upon them? Why?
14. How do Mercutio and Tybalt die?
15. What punishment does the Prince give Romeo for fighting?
16. What is Romeo’s reaction to the Prince’s punishment?
17. Lady Capulet goes to tell Juliet about the plans for the marriage between Juliet and Paris.
What is Juliet’s reaction?
18. What is Capulet's reaction when Juliet refuses to marry Paris?
19. What advice does Nurse give to Juliet?
Act IV
20. Why does Juliet go to Friar Laurence’s cell?
21. What plans do Friar Laurence and Juliet make?
22. What happens when Juliet’s body is discovered?
Act V
23. What news does Balthasar bring Romeo? How does Romeo react?
24. What goes wrong with the Friar’s plan?
25. How does Romeo kill himself?
26. How does Juliet kill herself?
27. What happens to Lady Montague?
28. What happens between the Montague and Capulet families?