32. Where is Romeo headed at the beginning of
this scene? Who is going with him?
Romeo is headed to the Capulet’s Ball. His friends
Mercutio and Benvolio are attending the Capulet’s
Ball with him.
Pg. 43
33. What does Mercutio want Romeo to do
when they get to the ball?
 He wants Romeo to dance.
34. Does Romeo want to dance? Why/why
not?
 No, he says, to his friend Mercutio, “You
have dancing shoes /With nimble soles.
I have a soul of lead/ So stakes me to
the ground I cannot move.”
Pg. 43
35. A pun is a play on words. Romeo
is still depressed. How do Romeo and
Mercutio play with the meaning of the
word “soar.” Hint: Look at lines 17-19
Mercutio: “You are a lover. Borrow
Cupid’s wings /And soar with them
above a common bound.
Romeo: I am too sore empierced with
his shaft/ To soar with his light
feathers. . .”
Pg. 45
36. Romeo has reservations about going
to the masque or masquerade ball. Why
is he uneasy about going to the ball?
 Romeo says, “I dreamt a dream tonight,”
indicating that he has had a bad dream
about what might happen at the
Capulet’s ball.
Pg. 45-47
37. Who, according to Mercutio, is Queen
Mab?
 Mercutio says that Queen Mab is the
fairies ‘ midwife. She is the person who
brings us our dreams each night.
Pg. 49
38. What does Mercutio
think about dreams?
 He says that “dreams are
the children of idle brains,”
essentially saying that our
dreams do not mean
anything. Dreams are
“begot of nothing but vain
fantasy, which is as thin of
substance as the air”
Pg. 49
39. What lines point to Romeo’s
uneasiness about the Capulet’s ball?
 Romeo says, “I fear too early, for my
mind misgives/ Some consequence
yet hanging in the stars/ Shall bitterly
begin his fearful date /With this night’s
revels, and expire the term / Of a
despised life closed in my breast/ By
some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But he that hath the steerage of my
course/ Direct my sail.”