Romeo and Juliet Prologue Assignment
Due Date: ________________________________
Total Value: 10 Marks
General Instructions: Read the prologue and respond to the following questions. Answer the questions in full
sentences. You may work on this assignment alone or in groups of two.
Chorus:
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What is the setting of the play? (1)
What do we learn about the two families mentioned in the prologue? List two distinct pieces of
information. (2)
Who or what is the “chorus” and what did the chorus do? (You may need to look this up in the dictionary
to find the proper definition) (2)
What do you think Shakespeare means by the term “star-cross’d”? (1)
Based on the prologue, what do we learn will happen to Romeo and Juliet? Be specific. (1)
What do we discover will happen as a result of the tragic ending? Be specific. (1)
Explain two purposes of the prologue at the start of the play. (2)
Romeo and Juliet Prologue Assignment
Due Date: ________________________________
Total Value: 10 Marks
General Instructions: Read the prologue and respond to the following questions. Answer the questions in full
sentences. You may work on this assignment alone or in groups of two.
Chorus:
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whole misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What is the setting of the play? (1)
What do we learn about the two families mentioned in the prologue? List two distinct pieces of
information. (2)
Who or what is the “chorus” and what did the chorus do? (You may need to look this up in the dictionary
to find the proper definition) (2)
What do you think Shakespeare means by the term “star-cross’d”? (1)
Based on the prologue, what do we learn will happen to Romeo and Juliet? Be specific. (1)
What do we discover will happen as a result of the tragic ending? Be specific. (1)
Explain two purposes of the prologue at the start of the play. (2)