Introduction
to
Romeo and
Juliet
1. What is meant
by the term
“star-crossed”?
1. What is meant by the term “star-crossed”?
Doomed to disaster by fate.
(born under the wrong sign)
1. What is meant by the term
“star-crossed”?
The Elizabethans (people living under rule
of Queen Elizabeth) believed in astrology
ruling people’s lives.
2. How important do you
think fate is in affecting
what happens to us in life,
and to what degree you
think we control our own
destinies?
1. & 6.
List the dates of
Shakespeare’s birth
and death.
1. & 6. List the dates of Shakespeare’s
birth and death.
April 23, 1564
 April 23, 1616

7. How old was he
when he died?
7. How old was he when he died?
52
2. Where was
Shakespeare born?
3. Where was Shakespeare born?
Stratford, England (about 100 miles northwest of London)
(Stratford-upon-Avon)
3. Describe
Shakespeare’s education.
3. Describe Shakespeare’s education.
 Attended
grammar school
 Studied Latin grammar, Latin
literature, and rhetoric (the
uses of language)
 Had no further formal
education
4. Why was the
theatrical group the
King’s Men named “the
King’s Men”?
4. Why was the theatrical group the
King’s Men named “the King’s Men”?
King James
gave them
financial
support. He
sponsored
them.
5. How many plays
did Shakespeare
write?
5. How many plays did Shakespeare
write?
37
Comedies
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
 The Taming of the Shrew
 The Comedy of Errors
 Love's Labour's Lost
 A Midsummer Night's Dream
 The Merchant of Venice
 The Merry Wives of Windsor
 Much Ado About Nothing
 As You Like It
 Twelfth Night
 Troilus and Cressida
 Measure for Measure
 All's Well That Ends Well
 Pericles Prince of Tyre
 The Winter's Tale
 Cymbeline
 The Tempest

Histories
Henry VI, part 1
 Henry VI , part 2
 Henry VI, part 3
 Richard III
 Richard II
 King John
 Henry IV, part 1
 Henry IV, part 2
 Henry V
 Henry VIII

Tragedies
Titus Andronicus
 Romeo and Juliet
 Julius Caesar
 Hamlet
 Othello
 Timon of Athens
 King Lear
 Macbeth
 Antony and Cleopatra
 Coriolanus

1. What was the name of the first
permanent theatre in London?
1. What was the name of the first
permanent theatre in London?
the Theatre
2. Why did
Shakespeare call his
Globe Theater a
“wooden O”?
7. Why did Shakespeare call his Globe
Theater a “wooden O”?
Because it was
made of wood
and had a
round shape
(actually
polygonal).
3. Give three uses for the balconies
onstage:
3. Give three uses for the balconies onstage:
Juliet’s balcony
High walls of a castle
 Bridge of a ship


4. Give two uses for
the trap doors
onstage:
4. Give two uses for the trap doors onstage:

Entrances and exits of ghosts
 Descents into hell
5. Describe the
lighting used in the
Globe:
5. Describe the lighting used in the Globe:
6. How was the stage
or the location of the
play “set”?
6. How was the stage or the
location of the play “set”?
By the language:
 “What a lovely day it is here in the
forest of Arden.”
 “Captain, come up here on deck!”
 “Something is rotten in the state of
Denmark.”
7. Who were the
“groundlings”?
7. Who were the “groundlings”?
The poor people, who
stood shoulder to
shoulder around the stage
for the price of a penny.
8. What is the “interesting
aspect” described on page 801
that made Shakespeare’s
theater very different from our
own?
Acting was not considered respectable by
the English Puritans, so all women’s
parts were played by boys and men.
9. Describe a
“proscenium” stage.
9. Describe a “proscenium” stage:
There is no outer stage—only an inner
stage separated from the audience by a
curtain.
. . . as opposed to a “thrust” stage:

The stage thrusts out into the audience,
and the audience sits on three or even
four sides of the stage.
1. In Romeo & Juliet, which
characters speak in prose, and
which in poetry?
1. In Romeo & Juliet, which
characters speak in prose, and
which in poetry?
Prose: common people, Mercutio when he
is joking
Poetry: everyone else—the majority of the
characters
2. What is an iamb?
2. What is an iamb?
An unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable:
hel-lo
to-day
But soft!
3. What is iambic pentameter?
3. What is iambic pentameter?
5 iambs in a row—in a line of poetry:
But soft! What light through yon-der win-dow breaks?
It is the East, and Ju-liet is the sun.
A-rise, fair sun, and kill the en-vious moon.
Two house-holds both a-like in dig-ni-ty
In fair Ve-ro-na where we lay our scene. . . .
4. What is a couplet?
4. What is a couplet?
Two consecutive lines of poetry that
rhyme:
Good night, good night! Parting is such
sweet sorrow
That I shall say goodnight till it be morrow.
5. What’s an end-stopped line?
5. What’s an end-stopped line?
Has punctuation at the end of the line:
O, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou
Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
5. What’s a run-on line?
5. What’s a run-on line?
A line of poetry that has no punctuation at
its end:
The brightness of her cheek would shame
those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so
bright
That birds would sing and think it were not
night.
6. Explain what
“archaic” means.
6. Explain what “archaic” means.
Words or meaning of words that have
disappeared from common use:
 Soft!—Quiet! (But soft! Here comes my
nurse!)
 Anon—Soon (I will go to church anon.)
 Mark—Listen to (Mark well what I have
to say.)
The End