Romeo and Juliet Final Essay—Step One: Choosing a Prompt
Directions: choose an interesting prompt. Begin by prewriting—brainstorming, creating an idea
web, outlining or listing ideas. Hand in your brainstorm today so that I can check your progress. I
will return it on Monday with suggestions and you will then work on developing your final Romeo
and Juliet paper which will be due on Friday, April 10.
Note: keep in mind that this is a LITERARY ANALYSIS paper. In other words, your evidence and
examples need to include a number of direct quotes from the play.
Prompts:
1. Discuss the relationships between parents and children in Romeo and Juliet. How do Romeo
and Juliet interact with their parents? Are they rebellious in the modern sense? How do their
parents feel about them?
2. Who is responsible for the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet? Friar Laurence? The two lovers
themselves? Their parents? Fate? Do a number of people share the blame? To what extent
can these people be held responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?
3. Analyze the characters of the Nurse and Friar Laurence as mentors to the young people in
the play. Do these two people do the “right thing” in their relationships with Romeo and
Juliet?
4. How does Shakespeare treat death in Romeo and Juliet? Frame your answer in terms of legal,
moral, familial, and personal issues. Bearing these issues in mind, compare the deaths of
Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Mercutio, and Mercutio and Tybalt.
5. What effect does the accelerated time scheme have on the play’s development? Is it
plausible that a love story of this magnitude could take place so quickly? Does the play seem
to take place over as little time as it actually occupies?
6. How does the idea of identity contribute to the story of Romeo and Juliet? Consider family
affiliation, gender, social class and age in your response.
7. How does the suicidal impulse that both Romeo and Juliet exhibit relate to the overall theme
of young love? Does Shakespeare seem to consider a self-destructive tendency inextricably
connected with love, or is it a separate issue? Why do you think so?
8. Shakespeare was the master of figurative language. Consider how the use of metaphor,
simile, hyperbole and/or personification contributes to the meaning of one of the play’s
longer speeches. Analyze the speech and explain its figurative language.
9. CREATE YOUR OWN PROMPT! For this option, think of a question that allows you to
deeply explore some aspect of the play. You will need to have your prompt approved, so
make sure it’s a good one and be prepared to choose one of the others if it is not approved.
Acknowledgements and thanks to Sparknotes for some of these questions.