Study Guide Questions-Act II
1. What does Romeo compare Juliet to in scene 1?
2. Who do Mercutio and Benvolio think Romeo is with?
3. Why does Juliet want Romeo to have some other name?
4. When Juliet discovers Romeo at her balcony, what does she fear?
5. Why does Juliet fear the love that she and Romeo share?
6. What concerns does Friar Laurence have about Romeo and Juliet's relationship?
7. Why does Friar Laurence agree to help the two?
8. Why has Tybalt sent a letter to Romeo's house?
9. Why does Nurse visit Romeo?
10. What message does Romeo give the nurse to tell Juliet?
11. Why is Juliet annoyed at the beginning of scene 5?
12. What fears does Friar Laurence express in scene 6?
13. What is an example of dramatic irony from Act II?
14. What is an example of foreshadowing from Act II?
15. Although it is not in our abridged version, the prologue to Act II is a sonnet. A sonnet is 14 lines with
an ABAB rhyme scheme. (If they have the same letter, those words rhyme.) The sonnet’s last two lines
is a couplet (cop-let), in which the end words both rhyme.
Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie,-A
And young affection gapes to be his heir.-B
That fair for which love groaned for and would die-A
With tender Juliet matched, is now not fair.-B
Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,
Alike bewitchèd by the charm of looks,
But to his foe supposed he must complain,
And she steal love’s sweet bait from fearful hooks.
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear.
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new beloved anywhere.
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,-C
Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.-C
Decipher the meaning of this sonnet. Write a modified sonnet over something that happened in Act II. It
should contain 1-4 line stanza and a couplet (6 lines total).