Balcony in Verona

Romeo and Juliet in an embraceJuliet dreaming of Romeo

Name:______Per:______

Romeo and Juliet Intro Notes

Please use the space below to take notes on the play’s origins and author

Characters in the Play

PROLOGUE to Act OneYour Translation:

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.

  1. What is a prologue?
  1. Translation: next to each line, translate the Shakespearean language to modern English.
  1. Main Idea: what is the main idea of the prologue?
  1. What is the purpose of the prologue?

Barbs from the Bard: Shakespearean Insults

Combineth one word or phrase from each of the colums below and addeth “Thou” to the beginning. Make certain thou knowest the meaning of they strong words, and thou shald have the perfect insult to fling at wretched fools. Let thyself go mix and match to find the perfect barb from the bard!

1

Bawdy

Brazen

Churlish

Distempered

Fitful

Gnarling

Greasy

Grizzled

Haughty

Hideous

Jaded

Knavish

Lewd

Peevish

Pernicious

Prating

Purpled

Queasy

Rank

Reeky

Roynish

Saucy

Sottish

Unmuzzled

Vacant

Waggish

Wanton

Wenching

Whorson

Yeasty

Thou:

Thou:

Thou:

Thou:

Bunch-backed

Clay-brained

Dog-hearted

Empty-hearted

Evil-eyed

Eye-offending

Fat-kidneyed

Heavy-headed

Horn-mad

Ill-breeding

Ill-composed

Ill-nurtured

Iron-witted

Lean-witted

Lily-livered

Mad-bread

Motley-minded

Muddy-minded

Onion-eyed

Pale-hearted

Paper-faced

Pinch-spotted

Raw-boned

Rug-headed

Rump-fed

Shag-eared

Shrill-gorged

Sour-faced

Weak-hinged

White-livered

Canker-blossom

Clotpole

Crutch

Cutpurse

Dogfish

Egg-shell

Gull-catcher

Hedge-pig

Hempseed

Jack-a-nape

Malkin

Malignancy

Malt-worm

Manikin

Minimus

Miscreant

Moldwarp

Nut-hook

Pantaloon

Rabbit-sucker

Rampallion

Remnant

Rudesby

Ruffian

Scantling

Scullion

Snipe

Waterfly

Whipster

Younker

1

“Romeo and Juliet” Literary Terms

  1. Foil Character:
  1. Foreshadowing:
  1. Hyperbole
  1. Pun
  1. Metaphor
  1. Imagery
  1. Soliloquy
  1. Theme
  1. Oxymoron
  1. Allusion
  1. Dramatic Irony
  1. Personification:
  1. Tragedy

Shakespeare’s Use of Figurative Language

Read the literary term examples on the board from Shakespearean plays. In the spaces below, identify the type of literary device used (ex. metaphor, simile, alliteration, etc.) and then give a brief explanation of what you think Shakespeare was trying to say. (What was he comparing if he was using simile or metaphor? What was he referring to if he was using an allusion? What human characteristics was he giving to something not human? Which letters are repeated if alliteration is present?)

Passage # / Literary Device Used / What Does It All Mean?
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5

What does this use of figurative language tell you about Elizabethan England?

“Romeo and Juliet” Vocabulary

The following vocabulary words are in the original text of the play. However, they are words that are still commonly used.

Act I

Adversary:

Deformities:

Discreet:

Nuptial:

Obscured:

Pernicious:

Posterity:

Prodigious:

Profane:

Act II

Confounds:

Conjure: call up;

Discourses:

Exposition:

Impute:

Lamentable:

Repose:

Sallow:

Act III

Civil:

Digressing:

Eloquence:

Garish:

Monarch:

Plague:

Reconcile:

Act IV

Arbitrating:

Distraught:

Entreat:

Inundation:

Solace:

Spited:

Act V

Abhorred:

Remnants:

Righteous:

Wretchedness:

Foreshadowing

While reading “Romeo and Juliet”, we will work on our close reading skills. As we read the play, look for the following phrases and predict what their future importance will be.

Act, Scene / Lines / Prediction
Act I, Scene IV / “I fear, too early: for my mind misgives…by some vile forfeit of untimely death: (112)
Act I, Scene V / “My grave is like to be my wedding bed” (141)
Act II, Scene III / “Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast”
(97)
Act III, Scene I / “No tis not so deep…ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man” (93)
Act III, Scene V / “O God, I have an ill-divining soul!..As one dead in the bottom of a tomb” (54)
Act IV, Scene III / “ What if it be a poison…subtly hath to have me dead…I fear it is” (25)

I Love You! No, how do you really feel!

Directions:

  1. Find the lines in the correct act and scene.
  2. Write the lines down in the appropriate box
  3. Draw conclusions about the character’s feelings toward, attitudes about love or marriage, and personal experiences with love.

Character / Actual Lines / Your conclusions
Romeo 1.1
Lines: 185-192
Benvolio 1.1
Lines: 222-223
1.2
Lines: 45-50
Paris 1.2
Lines:
Capulet 1.2
Lines: 13
1.2
Lines: 16-19
Juliet 1.3
Lines: 67
1.3
Lines: 99-101
Lady Capulet 1.3
Lines: 70-75
Nurse 1.3
Lines: 97
Mercutio 1.4
Lines: 27

Close Reading Questions for Act I Scenes 3-5

1. In Scene 3, line 80, the Nurse says, “Why he’s a man of wax.” What do you think this means? What is the importance of looking like Was” in Elizabethan society?

2. The Nurse appears to be quite a talker in Scene 3. In what ways are her long-winded speeches funny/satirical/ironic? Give examples.

3. A pun is when you use words that sound the same but have different meaning. Examples are measure/measure, soles/souls, soar/sore, bound/bound. Find Three examples in lines 10-25 of Scene 4 and decide if the character is trying to be funny, or confusing.

4. In Scene 4, Mercutio gives a speech about Queen Mab (lines 57-75). What does she look like? What does she bring to people? What is her equivalent in our time?

5. In Scene 5, Romeo is struck by love at first sight (lines 44-54). Paraphrase his speech in your book. Are his emotions realistic?

6. In lines 96-115, Romeo compares Juliet to a shrine. Religious imagery runs throughout their conversation (profane, holy shrine, sin, pilgrims, devotion, palmers, faith, despair, purged, trespass). Why do you think Romeo uses this religious imagery?

7. How is Romeo’s language different in this scene from how he has spoken earlier?

8. Do you think Romeo is genuinely in love? Explain your reasoning

9. In lines 140-143, Romeo and Juliet realize each other’s identity. Describe Juliet’s feeling at this moment.

Close Reading Questions for Act II

1. After the party, where does Romeo go?

2. Who is Romeo talking to in the garden?

3. What is Juliet’s reaction to Romeo hearing her?

4. What does Romeo ask the Friar to do? What does this tell you about their relationship?

5. What does Mercutio accuse Romeo of?

6. Who comes to see Romeo?

7. What is the Nurse’s reaction to Mercutio?

8. What is Romeo’s man going to give to the nurse?

9. What does the Nurse do to torment Juliet?

10. Who meets with Friar Laurence, and why?

Close Reading Questions Act III

1. What sentence does the Prince give Romeo for killing Tybalt?

2. In contrast to the first balcony scene (Act II.ii) how has Romeo and Juliet’s relationship changed?

2. What changes do you notice in Juliet’s relationship with her parents?

R&J Act IV

Zeffirelli’s Review

Having just viewed Zeffirelli’s version of Act IV of Romeo & Juliet (the old version) please answer the following using complete sentences.

  1. In your own words, summarize the events in Act IV. How does it differ from the play?
  1. What is the tone of the act? What words helped you to identify the tone?
  1. What does Juliet’s willingness to take this powerful poison show about her?
  1. Why is the Friar willing to help Juliet?
  1. According to the Friar’s plan, how are Romeo and Juliet going to be reunited?

“Romeo and Juliet” Act V Study Questions

  1. What news does Romeo’s servant bring him about Juliet?
  1. What is an apothecary? Why did Romeo go to one?
  1. What does Paris think Romeo is doing when Romeo forces open the Capulet’s tomb? What is Romeo really doing?
  1. What does Romeo find in the tomb? What is his reaction? How would you react?
  1. At the end of the play, what effect do Romeo and Juliet’s deaths have on the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues?
  1. In your opinion, is love or hatred a stronger emotion? Explain
  1. Who was your favorite character in the play? Explain why

1