Name: ____________________________________________
English I
Romeo and Juliet
Study Guide
Act I
Prologue page 582)
1. What dramatic functions are served by the Prologue?
Scene I (pages 582-590)
2. How is the feud portrayed in the play’s first scene?
3. Who is Prince Escalus? What are his feelings about the feud?
4. Benvolio and the Montagues are concerned about Romeo. Why?
5. What information is Benvolio able to get from Romeo?
6. Find lines that show Romeo is a romantic young man.
7. What advice does Benvolio give Romeo?
8. What kind of friend is Benvolio?
9. What does the first scene of the play reveal about Romeo’s behavior?
10. What contrasting concepts of love are presented in Scene 1?
Scene ii (pages 590-593):
11. How does Lord Capulet feel about the feud at this time of his life?
12. Why has Paris come to see Lord Capulet?
13. How old is Juliet?
1
14. What is Capulet’s reply to Paris?
15. Why does Benvolio want Romeo to attend Capulet’s party?
16. What is learned about the Capulets’ father-daughter relationship in Scene 2?
17. What complications of plot arise in Scene 2?
Scene iii (page 593—596):
18. What happens to Nurses’ daughter?
19. What purpose do Nurse’s ramblings about Juliet serve?
20. How does Juliet feel about getting married?
21. Would it be a compliment to be called “a man of wax”?
22. What concepts of love are presented by the female characters in Scene 3?
Scene iv (pages 596-599):
23. Find a line that describes Romeo’s mood as he and his friends go to the party.
24. What does Mercutio think of dreams?
25. Readread lines 106-113. What technique is being used here? Please paraphrase
these lines.
26. From Romeo’s speech, do you think the Elizabethans believed people had control
over their lives or that Fate had things planed out?
27. Characterize Mercutio as he appears in Scene 4.
2
Scene v.(pages 600-605):
28. What lines indicate Romeo was really not in love with Rosaline?
29. Tybalt’s anger at the presence of a Montague bears out the hot-tempered nature of
his character. Give the line that reveals what action he would like to take.
30. What does Lord Capulet’s acceptance of Romeo’s presence tell you about him?
31. What kind of reputation does Romeo have?
32. Juliet does not admit to Nurse that she has really fallen line love with Romeo.
Why do you think this is so? Would she be more likely to tell Nurse or her
mother?
33. Explain lines 134-135: “Go ask his name. If he be married,/My grave is like to
be my marriage bed.”
34. What problems do you think are ahead for Romeo and Juliet?
35. In what ways does Capulet prove himself a good host?
36. Describe Romeo and Juliet’s discoveries of each other’s identity.
3
Act II
Scene i (page 608-609):
37. What is the purpose of Scene 1 in Act II?
38. Do Romeo’s friends know that Romeo has fallen in love with Juliet? How do you
know?
Scene ii (page 609-615):
39. According to Romeo, why is the moon “sick and pale with grief”?
40. How do Romeo and Juliet feel about their respective last names?
41. Why is Romeo unafraid to tell Juliet how he feels?
42. Cite lines showing Juliet is less impulsive than Romeo.
43. Why doesn’t Juliet want Romeo to swear by the moon?
44. Who brings up the idea of marriage?
45. According to Romeo’s last words in Scene 2, where do you think the next scene
will take place?
46. What is significant about Mercutio’s remarks to Romeo in Scene 1 and Romeo’s
response in Scene 2?
47. What images of light and fire does Juliet inspire in Romeo?
48. What concerns does Juliet express in Act II, Scene 2?
4
49. Locate examples of dramatic irony in Act II, Scene 2.
Scene iii: (page 616-618):
50. In Act II, Scene 3, cite the lines that show Friar Laurence regards plants.
51. Why does Friar Laurence think Romeo has “sinned”?
52. Explain what Friar Laurence meant by, “Young men’s love then lies/ Not truly in
their hearts but in their eyes. Do you agree?
53. Why did Friar Laurence agree to marry Romeo and Juliet? Cite the lines that tell
you.
54. What advice does the Friar give Romeo at the end of the scene?
55. What philosophical observations does Friar Laurence make in Act II, Scene 3?
56. What is Friar Laurence’s reaction to Romeo’s request in Act II, Scene 3?
Scene iv: (page 619-624):
57. How do you know that Tybalt is still angry?
58. Romeo does not tell his friends about Juliet. What does this silence reveal about
him?
59. Why does Shakespeare include this humorous scene with Nurse?
60. What instructions does Romeo give Nurse
61. Can Nurse be trusted not to tell Juliet’s parents? Do you think she should tell them?
5
62. Characterize Mercutio as he appears in Act II, Scene 4.
63. Describe the interview between Juliet’s nurse and Romeo (lines 130-195).
Scene v (page 625-627):
64. Why is Juliet worried and frustrated at the beginning of Scene5?
65. When Nurse arrives, how does she act?
66. How does nurse seem to feel about the marriage?
67. How does the nurse inform Juliet of Romeo’s plans? How does Juliet react?
68. What elements in Scene 4 foreshadow the fatality of Romeo and Juliet’s love?
Scene vi (pages 627-628)
69. In Scene 6, find a line that expresses a feeling of foreboding.
70. What advice does the Friar give Romeo about Love? Cite the lines.
71. How soon after meeting one another have Romeo and Juliet married?
72. What do you think would have happened if Friar Laurence had told Lord Capulet as
soon as he learned that Romeo wanted to marry Juliet?
6
Name: ____________________________________
English 1 Academic
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
Act III
Scene i (pages 632-637):
73. Structurally, how does Act III, Scene 1 resemble Act 1, Scene 1?
74. Analyze Mercutio’s dying remarks in Scene 1.
75. What purposes are served by Benvolio’s summary of events in Scene 1?
Scene ii (pages 637-643):
76. Compare Juliet’s soliloquy in Act II, Scene 5 (page 625 lines 1-17) with her
soliloquy in Act III, Scene 2 (page 638 lines 1-31).
77. How does the nurse reveal the details of Romeo’s banishment in Scene 2? What
is Juliet’s reaction?
.
78. Describe Romeo’s reaction to banishment in Scene 3.
79. What admonition does Friar Laurence give Romeo in Scene 3?
Scene iv (pages 648-649):
80. Discuss the rash offer which Capulet makes Paris in Scene 4.
Scene v (page 649-657):
81. Compare the parting of Lovers in Act II, Scene 2 with their farewells in Act III,
Scene 5.
82. What occurs in Scene 5 to alienate Juliet from her family?
7
Act IV
Scene I (pages 660-664):
83. What plan does Friar Laurence propose to Juliet?
Scene iii (pages 666-667):
84. What concerns does Juliet express in Scene 3? How does she assuage each?
Scene v (pages 669-673):
85. Describe the reactions to Juliet’s apparent death in Scene 5.
Act V
Scene i (page 676-678):
86. What preparations does Romeo make in Scene 1 when he learns of Juliet’s death?
Scene iii (pages 679-690):
87. Examine Paris’ function in Scene 3.
88. Examine Romeo’s soliloquy in Scene 3 (page 682, lines 74-120).
89. Describe Juliet’s awakening and death.
90. How does Paris investigate the deaths?
91. How does the Prince intend to punish the guilty?
92. What memorial will be built for Romeo and Juliet?
8