ROMEO AND JULIET STUDY QUESTIONS
ACT I
1.
a.
What do you learn about the play from its prologue
b.
How does the prologue contribute to the play’s theme of “fatal doom”?
2.
How does the play begin? What kind of tone does this set for Act I?
3.
Who is Benvolio and what does he try to do?
4.
What does the Prince promise will happen if there is ever again fighting in the
streets of Verona?
5.
Why is Romeo depressed?
6.
Reread Romeo’s description of his devotion to Rosaline in scene i. What do you
think Shakespeare is suggesting about Romeo’s romantic maturity at this point? Contrast
this with the language Romeo uses to describe his feelings toward Juliet in scene v.
7.
a.
What is an oxymoron?
b.
List five examples using lines 178 to 188 of the text (scene i).
8.
How does Benvolio suggest Romeo get over Rosaline?
9.
Why does Romeo eventually agree to go along with Benvolio to the Capulet’s
supper?
Act I con’t (page two)
10.
11.
a.
What is Lord Capulet’s answer to Paris when he asks to marry Capulet’s
daughter Juliet?
b.
What does he want Paris to do before he marries his daughter?
a.
Describe the Nurse.
b.
What role does she play in the Capulet household?
c.
What is the Nurse’s role thus far in the play?
12.
What does Juliet think of marriage at this point in her life?
13.
a.
How does Tybalt react when he recognizes Romeo at the Capulet party?
b.
Why doesn’t he act on his feelings at that moment?
14.
What lines indicate that both Romeo and Juliet know that their emerging love is
doomed?
15.
Shakespeare uses foreshadowing to create an ominous tone in the play. List two
examples of the foreshadowing of the tragic end of the play. (Provide line
numbers.)
Act I con’t (page three)
16.
a.
Define simile.
b.
Define metaphor.
c.
Throughout the play Romeo describes Juliet in terms of light. (For
example: a star, the sun, a lantern, etc.) Examine the following quotation—
Romeo’s first words upon seeing Juliet.
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear—
Beauty too rich for sue, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows
As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.
17.
d.
To what three things does Romeo compare Juliet?
e.
List one simile used in this passage.
f.
List one metaphor used in this passage.
Take a second look at Act I. Which characters speak in verse? Which characters
speak in prose? Why do you think Shakespeare makes this distinction?
ACT II
1.
What does Juliet mean when she says, “Tis but thy name that is my enemy. / Thou
art thyself, though not a Montague”?
2.
Why does Friar Lawrence criticize Romeo when he says that he is in love
with Juliet?
4.
In scene iv, Friar Lawrence says to Romeo:
Therefore love moderately: long love doth so;
To swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
a.
What do these lines mean?
b.
Do you think Romeo and Juliet will listen to the Friar’s advice? Why or
why not?
5.
Mercutio and the nurse play important roles in this act. How is each foil for a
main character? How does the view of love they hold contrast with that of Romeo and
Juliet?
6.
When the nurse returns, how does she infuriate Juliet? What is the purpose of the
nurse’s behavior? Why is Juliet so impatient?
7.
In this act, Romeo continues to describe Juliet metaphorically in terms of light.
Skim through the act and list three instances when Juliet is associated with light.
[Provide scene and line numbers.]
a.
b.
c.
Act II con’t (page two)
8.
What does this repeated light image tell you about Juliet and Romeo’s feelings
toward her?
9.
Personification in literature is a device in which an author grants lifelike
characteristics to inanimate objects. For example:
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
10.
a.
What is being personified?
b.
What compliment is Romeo paying Juliet?
An allusion in literature is a reference to a presumably familiar person, place, or
event. For example:
Bondage is hoarse and may not speak aloud,
Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies
And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine
With repetition of “My Romeo!”
a.
Why is this allusion to Echo, a nymph of classical mythology, appropriate
for Juliet as she addresses Romeo in Act II, scene ii?
ACT III
1.
Conflict refers to physical struggle or battle between two opposing viewpoints.
What conflicts come to a climax at the beginning of Act III?
2.
Shakespeare portrays Benvolio as a peacemaker; his name literally means “good
will.” What does Benvolio try to do that reinforces this impression?
3.
a.
Why does Romeo try to ignore Tybalt’s insults?
b.
Why does he finally fight him?
4.
Reread Mercutio’s reaction when he is wounded in Act III, scene i. What makes
this scene funny and sad at the same time?
5.
Why does the Prince banish Romeo instead of putting him to death like he
originally vowed?
6.
a.
How is the Nurse cruel to Juliet?
b.
Why do you think she behaves this way?
7.
What plan do the Friar and the Nurse arrange to unite Romeo and Juliet?
8.
A pun is a play on words with similar sounds but different meanings. Mercutio is
a master of the use of pun. Use a dictionary if necessary to find the two meanings
of each underlined word.
a.
Tybalt:
Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo.
Mercutio:
Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels?
Consort means either _______________________ or ________________.
b.
Mercutio:
Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.
Grave means either _______________________ or _________________.
Act III con’t (page two)
9.
Read the following lines of iambic pentameter. Mark the unstressed and stressed
syllables, and then break each line into five iambs. For example:
This tor / ture should / be roared / in dis / mal hell.

Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel.

Thy noble shape is but a form of wax.

A plague on both your houses! I am sped.
10.
A paradox is a statement that seems to contradict itself. It seems absurd or impossible
but is really founded in truth. For example, when Juliet looks forward to her wedding
night with Romeo, she speaks the following paradox:
Come, civil night. . .
And learn me how to lose a winning match.
What is the seeming contradiction in this statement?
11.
An oxymoron is a figure of speech combining seemingly contradictory expressions. For
example: cruel kindness, benign neglect, falsely true.

12.
13.
Juliet’s speech in Act III, scene ii, reflects her conflicting emotions upon learning
of the murder of Tybalt by Romeo. Shakespeare has emphasized the conflict
within Juliet by providing language filled with contrasts. List at least five
oxymorons in this speech:
Dramatic irony is a device, occurring most often in plays or films, when some of the
players are ignorant of facts of which the audience, or the audience and other characters,
are fully aware. For example, early in the play Romeo overhears Benvolio and Mercutio
joking about his love for Roasline when the audience knows he has forgotten about her.

How is Juliet’s speech at the beginning of Act III, scene ii, an example of
dramatic irony?
a.
What agreement does Capulet make with Paris?
b.
Why do you think Capulet has changed his mind about the marriage?
Act III con’t (page three)
14.
After Romeo and Juliet have spent the night together. Romeo leaves in the early morning
for Mantua. What premonition does Juliet have as Romeo descends the ladder?
15.
a.
How does Lady Capulet interpret Juliet’s constant crying?
b.
How is this another example of dramatic irony?
16.
A single statement often contains many images and layers of meaning. Read the
following lines of dialogue and carefully examine the underlined quotation for the literary
devices that follow.
Juliet:
Romeo:
Either my eyesight fails, or thou lookest pale.
And trust me, love, in my eye so do you.
Dry sorrow drinks our blood.
a.
What is being personified in this quotation?
b.
How does this line foreshadow the play’s tragic conclusion?
c.
Thinking about what is foreshadowed here, what double meaning is
contained in the word blood?
ACT IV
1.
Why do you think Friar Lawrence doesn’t reveal Juliet’s prior marriage to either Paris or
Lord Capulet?
2.
What does Juliet threaten to do if Friar Lawrence does not find a solution?
3.
What plan does Friar Lawrence propose to Juliet?
4.
a.
Why does Capulet alter the wedding plans?
b.
How does this change upset Friar Lawrence’s scheme?
5.
A soliloquy is a speech by a character, thinking aloud: it allows the audience to “listen
in” to the private feelings and thoughts of a character. Consider Juliet’s soliloquy before
she swallows the sleeping potion. What inner fears are communicated to the audience
through this soliloquy?
6.
Irony is the contrast between appearance and reality, between expectation and fulfillment.
Act IV contains many examples of irony—from the impending marriage of the alreadywed Juliet to the wedding preparations of the Capulets while their daughter lies “dead” in
the next room. Find at least one other example of irony in this act and explain its
meaning or significance.
7.
a.
Why do you think Shakespeare has Juliet describe all the possible dangers before
she swallows the potion?
b.
How does this affect our perception of her character and the act she is about to
perform?
ACT V
1.
2.
a.
What does Romeo dream when he is in Mantua?
b.
What is ironic about his dream and his response to it?
a.
How does Romeo respond to the news of Juliet’s “death”?
b.
How is his reaction different from the mourning scene in the last act? How is
Romeo’s reaction different than Paris’s, Lord Capulet’s, or Lady Capulet’s?
3.
Why does Romeo choose the specific apothecary he visits?
4.
Why doesn’t Romeo receive Friar Lawrence’s letter explaining Juliet’s feigned death?
5.
The catastrophic conclusion of the play occurs in the final scene.
a.
Describe the fate of Paris, Romeo, and Juliet.
b.
What role does the Friar play in this last scene?
6.
What do Montague and Capulet decide to do to symbolize their reconciliation?
7.
An extended metaphor is an implied comparison that appears and reappears indefinitely
in text in relatively close proximity.
a.
Look back at Act IV, scenes i-iii, and notice the
many times that the scene of death is compared to a feast. Indicate the lines and
page numbers where you find these references.
b.
Why do you think Shakespeare made this unusual comparison?