10 ENGLISH
Ms Paine
ROMEO AND JULIET
By William Shakespeare
ROMEO AND JULIET - CLOSE READING ACTIVITIES
PROLOGUE
1. By reading the Prologue we know the couple (Romeo and Juliet) will die. Why do you think Shakespeare
chooses to give away the ending?
ACT 1, SCENE 1 (PART 1)
2. The Brawl
a. What begins the brawl in this scene?
b. How do Benvolio’s and Tybalt’s characters
differ?
c. What do you think the Prince means when he
says that recent brawls have been bred of an
“airy word”?
d. What does the Prince say the consequences
will be for anyone who begins a brawl in the
future?
e. What do we learn about the depth and nature
of the feud between the Montagues and the
Capulets from this opening scene?
ACT 1, SCENE 1 (PART 2)
3. What do we learn about Romeo’s recent behavior from the conversation between Benvolio and Romeo’s
parents?
ACT 1, SCENE 2
ACT 1, SCENE 3
4.
a.
b.
c.
Juliet’s Proposed Marriage to Count Paris.
How do Lady Capulet and the Nurse try to persuade Juliet to marry? What reasons are given?
Do you think Juliet is enthusiastic about the planned marriage? Use evidence from the text.
Here are some phrases that Juliet’s mother (Lady Capulet) and her Nurse use when talking to Juliet. Create a
table similar to the following and answer the questions.
Words and phrases used when talking to
Juliet
Lady Capulet
“This is the matter…”
“Tell me, daughter Juliet…”
“Speak briefly; can you like of Paris’s
love?
“Juliet, the County stays.”
Nurse
“What, Lamb! What, Juliet!”
“Thou was the prettiest babe
that e’er I nursed…”
“A man, young lady…””
“Go, girl, seek happy nights and
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happy days.”
Describe the language each of the
characters uses when talking to Juliet
What is her attitude towards Juliet?
Describe her relationships with Juliet
ACT 1, SCENE 4
5.
6.
a.
b.
c.
The group is on its way to a masked ball. Where is it being held? Why is this significant?
Romeo predicts “some consequences yet hanging in the stars”.
What do you think Romeo means by this?
What lines or phrases from the Prologue also talk about fate or stars?
What sort of mood or atmosphere is Shakespeare intending to create through Romeo’s predictions?
ACT 1, SCENE 5
7. When Romeo first sees Juliet he is astounded by her beauty. In line 9, he exclaims, “O, she doth teach the
torches to burn bright!” What do you think he means by this?
8. At the end of his first speech, Romeo explains:
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight?
For I never saw true beauty till this night.
What do these lines reveal about his character? Keep in mind that in the previous scenes he was complaining
about being in love with Rosaline.
9. How do the following language devices reveal Tybalt’s character to the reader in this scene:
a. Sound devices eg. harsh-sounding words such as “bitter gall”?
b. Alliteration of the “s” sound, as in
“spite…scorn…solemnity”?
c. Tybalt’s contrast to Capulet (Hint: showing
positive aspects of Capulet helps us to see
Tybalt’s negative qualities more clearly.)
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ACT 2, SCENE 1
ACT 2, SCENE 2
10. In the speech that Romeo overhears, how
important does Juliet think someone’s name is?
What point does she make about names?
11. How does Juliet react to Romeo’s lyrical or
poetic use of language and his declaration of
love?
ACT 2, SCENE 2
12. What is Friar Laurence’s motive for marrying
Romeo and Juliet? Use a quote as evidence.
ACT 2, SCENE 4
13. Mercutio’s language is playful and humorous in
this scene. See if you can find examples of
when he:
a. Refers to the Nurse as ugly
b. Describes the nurse as old
c. What might Shakespeare be intending to show
us about the character of Mercutio by having
him speak using so many puns?
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ACT 2, SCENE 6
14. In this very brief scene, both Romeo and Juliet show signs of impatience of rushing into things recklessly. Create
a table like this one and add more examples from the text
Aspect of language
Specific words used
Repetition of words and phrases
Punctuation and sentence length
Contrast of words, ideas and characters
Images
Evidence from the text
“haste”
“violence”
Short, abrupt sentences
“swift” and slow”
Gunpowder
ACT 3 SCENE 1
15. Tybalt’s Challenge to Romeo.
a. Why is Tybalt looking for Romeo?
b. When Romeo first arrives, what do we as
an audience know that other characters do
not? Explain what literary technique
Shakespeare uses here.
c. Why is Romeo unwilling to fight Tybalt?
Why doesn’t he tell everyone that he has
just married Juliet?
16. Read the passage relating to Mercutio’s
death (lines 58-73) again:
a. How does Mercutio describe his wound?
What literary device is he using?
b. Can you find and explain a pun that
Mercutio uses as he is dying?
c. What does Mercutio’s use of punning as
he is dying, tell us about his character?
d. What do you think is the saddest or most
emotive word or phrase used by
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Mercutio? Why?
e. Do you think Mercutio’s joking and punning adds to the pathos (sadness) of his death or does it detract (take
away) from its impact?
17. Romeo’s character changes because of Mercutio’s death. How does Shakespeare show the change in Romeo’s
character through the language Romeo uses?
18. Remember one of the play’s key ideas is that personal weaknesses (base emotions or fatal flaws) tend to spread
to other characters. Therefore, what personal weakness seems to be spreading here?
ACT 3 SCENE 2
19. At the start of this scene what does the audience know that Juliet doesn’t? How does this (dramatic irony)
create tension or drama in the play?
ACT 3 SCENE 3
20. Why do you think Romeo repeats the word “banished” so many times in this scene? Why would he rather be
dead then banished?
ACT 3 SCENE 4
21. The audience knows more than Capulet about what has recently happened. Why then is it ironic (strangely at
odds with reality) that Capulet believes Juliet is grieving over Tybalt’s death?
ACT 3 SCENE 5
22. How do Romeo and Juliet feel about parting? Give evidence from the scene.
23. How does Juliet’s father respond to her refusal to marry Paris? Why do you think he reacts this way?
24. Notice that there are often clear rhyming patterns in Romeo and Juliet’s conversation: eg. “…day/ away,
grows/ woes, about/ out, descend/ friend”. Can you think why Shakespeare might write like this -Romeo and
Juliet completing each other’s lines or using rhyming couplets?
25. Shakespeare has Romeo and Juliet using words “die..dead…tomb…blood” quite often in this scene. What might
this be foreshadowing (hinting at) that might happen later in the play?
ACT 4 SCENE 1
26. Juliet’s use of hyperbole.
a. Quote some of Juliet’s lines or
phrases that are examples of
hyperbole.
b. What is Shakespeare trying to show
us about Juliet’s state of mind by
using these examples of hyperbole?
27. This scene continues a key idea:
deception
leads
to
misunderstanding and results in
tragedy. Create a table similar to
the one below for your notes.
What deception occurs in the second half of this
scene?
See if you can predict how this deception might
lead to misunderstanding.
Finally what tragedy might result from the
deception and misunderstanding?
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ACT 4 SCENE 2
28. The mood of a piece of writing generally refers
to the attitude or feeling evoked in the reader.
For example, Shakespeare creates a dark, even
foreboding mood at the end of Act 3, but an
excited and joyful mood at the end of Act 2
Scene 2, the balcony scene. How would you
describe the mood created by the final two lines
of the scene? What do you think creates this
mood?
ACT 4 SCENE 3
29. Shakespeare shows Juliet’s state of mind
through various elements of language, as
pointed out in Question 1. Construct a table
like the one below for your notes to help you on
other aspects of Juliet’s language in this scene:
Element of Language
Examples from the Scene
Punctuation and short sentence
length
Numerous question marks,
exclamation marks and short
sentences
See the beginning of Juliet’s long
speech after the Nurse and Lady
Capulet leave
“madly play with my forefathers
joints”
“dash out my desperate brains”
“mangled”
“stifled”
Interruption to the rhythm of the
language (iambic pentameter)
Gruesome imagery
Harsh sounding, negative words
What do these language devices
show us about Juliet’s state of
mind?
ACT 5 SCENE 1
30. Describe the language Romeo uses when Balthasar tells him of Juliet’s death. How is it different from language
he used earlier in the play?
ACT 5 SCENE 3
31. The word “O” is repeated numerous times throughout Romeo’ speech. Why do you think Shakespeare does
this?
32. In his final soliloquy, Romeo comments at length on how Juliet is still beautiful, despite her being dead for some
time. Make a list of everything beautiful he notices about her. What is ironic about his description of her
beauty?
33. Why do you think Shakespeare sees it as necessary that the Friar retells the whole story in this scene?
34. How do the deaths of Romeo and Juliet affect their families?
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APPENDIX – Shakespeare’s Language
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APPENDIX – Shakespeare’s Language
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APPENDIX – Shakespeare’s Language
- 10 Romeo & Juliet Activities Questions_2016