Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Act I Notes
Prologue
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Teacher Notes
 Prologue is written as a Sonnet: A poem of fourteen lines written in rhymed iambic pentameter
 Chorus essentially functions as Narrator.
 Purpose of Prologue is Exposition
 Ln. 1: We learn that the play will involve two households who are JUST ALIKE IN DIGNITY. In
Shakespeare’s view, what is most important about this feud is that there are no real differences between
them and that there is no rational reason for the feud.
 Ln. 2: Setting: Verona, Italy
 Ln. 3: Reveals that this is an ancient feud that has emerged fresh and vehement. No one knows where it
came from or what it is about.
 Ln. 4: Civilians’ passions (“civil blood”) make their hands unclean (because they have been used for
killing).
 Ln. 5-6: Children of the two feuding families will commit suicide. However, the Prologue suggests that
they are “star-crossed” – in other words, that fate causes their downfall. (Fate was associated with the
stars at the time.)
 Ln. 7: The suicides of the children will finally bring the feud to an end.
 Ln. 9-12: Indicate that the play will last two hours and will tell the story of their love and the family feud,
which could only be removed by death.
 Ln. 13-14: Chorus essentially apologizes in advance for potential disappointments.
 Given knowledge of Shakespeare’s theater, why does the Chorus tell us all the information, and that the
play will only last two hours?
Scene 1
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Teacher Notes
Sampson and Gregory – Capulet servants
Abram and Balthasar – Montague servants
Why might Shakespeare introduce the action of his play with secondary characters?
 Servants speak in prose – prose in the text evidences a character that is not of high stature.
 Lns. 1-30; Servants are likely jousting in jest, play-fighting one another as they discuss fighting the
Montagues
 Lns. 1-4: Pun on coals, collier (coal dealers), choler (anger), and collar (noose) – words that sound
similar, but have different meanings
 Ln. 7: Even the servants of the houses are ready for a fight with the opposing household.
 Lns. 10-17: Reference to “going to the walls.” The streets in Verona are quite narrow, and it is safest
closer to the walls. As such, men would frequently let women walk closer to the walls to protect them.
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 Lns. 27 on: Instead of attacking, Sampson and Gregory begin quarrelling with one another, each
doubting the other’s bravery (spec. Lns. 27-33). Sampson is probably backing away or hiding behind
Gregory and pushing him forward.
 Ln. 30: Sampson encourages a fight
 Ln. 35-41: Sampson and Gregory are trying to get the Montague servants to start a fight
 Ln. 38: “bite my thumb” = Medieval version of giving the finger
 Ln. 44: The Montague servants respond to the weak insults with questions, not action. The Capulet
servants continue to show their insecurity in their wary asides and evasive answers. Both sides are wary
of the law, which places blame on he who starts the fight. Although the servants seems ready for a fight,
there is a suggestion here that they know what they are “supposed” to do, but not eager to actually do it.
 Ln. 41: Sampson tries to backtrack and cover himself when he realizes the law is not on his side in this
instance.
Benvolio – nephew of Lord Montague/cousin and friend to Romeo
Tybalt – nephew of Lady Capulet/cousin to Juliet
 Ln. 58: Shakespeare begins using blank verse and iambic pentameter when aristocratic
characters speak (Tybalt and Benvolio)
 Ln. 58: Benvolio separates Sampson and Abram, who have begun fighting.
 Ln. 59: Tybalt draws sword and threatens to kill Benvolio
 Lns. 61-65: Reveals that Tybalt and Benvolio are character foils. While Benvolio is a peacemaker,
Tybalt is full of hate and ready to fight. Each deals with the rivalry in a manner opposite from the other.
 Lns. 63-65: Tybalt expresses his hatred for peace, hell, Montagues, and Benvolio
Lord Capulet - father to Juliet
Lady Capulet - mother to Juliet
 Lns. 68-71: Lord and Lady Capulet enter. Lord Capulet calls for his sword to fight Montague. Lady
Capulet provides comic relief when she calls for a crutch instead, indicating that her husband is too old
and feeble to fight.
Lord Montague - father to Romeo
Lady Montague - mother to Romeo
 Lns. 72-73: Lady Montague holds Lord Montague back; she believes that he is wrong to go looking for a
fight
 Contrast set up between Lady Montague and Lady Capulet. Lady Montague believes it’s wrong to look
for a fight; Lady Capulet simply thinks her husband is in too poor physical shape to do so. Possible
character foils.
Prince Escalus - the ruler of Verona
 Ln. 76 – The Prince begins his speech and realizes he is being ignored.
 Lns. 79-81: Demands that they throw down their weapons to hear his proclamation.
 Ln. 82: “airy word” – suggests that the feud was begun over something nonsensical
 Lns. 82-87: Three major brawls have occurred in the streets of Verona between the Capulets and
Montagues
 The Prince threatens death to any Montague or Capulet who dares disturb the peace again.
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 Ln. 97 – Montague wishes to know who began the fight.
 Lns. 99-108: Benvolio recounts a brief summary of the fight, though he leaves out any particulars that
may incriminate any member of the house of Montague.
 Ln. 109: First line in motif of “Where is Romeo?” People will be asking this throughout the play.
 Lns. 109-110: Lady Montague expresses her anxiety over Romeo; reveals herself to be a concerned
mother
 Lns. 111-123: Benvolio reveals that he saw Romeo that morning, but Romeo avoided him and he did
not pursue. This is exposition on one of our two protagonists, revealing that he has been acting
strangely of late. He clearly wants to be alone and is evading his friend.
 Lns. 124-127: Lord Montague reveals that Romeo has been doing this frequently of late, and that he
has been crying with “tears augmenting the fresh morning dew.”
 Lns. 128-133: Beginning of motif of light and dark imagery
 Lns. 124-135: Romeo rises early to walk by himself and then shuts himself in his room at daybreak. He
is moody and tearful, and he will not talk to anyone about his sorrow. This imagery suggests someone
who is depressed or heartbroken.
 Romeo is associated with nighttime throughout the play. All of the romantic encounters occur at
night.
 Ln. 129: Allusion to Aurora, goddess of dawn. Shakespeare makes frequent use of classical allusions in
his early plays to demonstrate his education and compensate for not being a university-trained
playwright.
 Lns. 139-141: Lord Montague and friends have tried to talk to Romeo about what he is going through,
but to no avail.
 Lns. 147-148: Lord Montague says that, if he could learn the cause of Romeo’s sadness, he would give
whatever cure would work for the ailment. He wants to help Romeo, revealing him to be an attentive,
concerned, and nonjudgmental parent
 Lns. 149-150: Romeo enters, and Benvolio asks that the Montagues leave so that he may try to get
Romeo talking. This signals a shift within the scene.
 Lns. 157-161: We learn that the reason for Romeo’s melancholy is unrequited love. The woman he
loves (Rosaline) does not love him.
 Lns. 162-163: Truism – Love is gentle in appearance, but rough in reality.
 Ln. 166: Romeo attempts to change the subject to the fight, as evidence is still clearly on the streets.
He distances himself from the fighting, attributing the street conflict to hatred between the families and
the brawlers’ love of fighting and violence.
 Lns. 168-174: Full of oxymoron – the combining of two contradictory elements. These are used to
emphasize the contradictory nature of love. When it is expected to bring joy, it often produces the
opposite.
 Lns. 178-182: Romeo emphasizes that Benvolio’s sympathy has only increased his pain. The love
Benvolio has shown reminds him of the love he does not have from his lady.
 Lns. 183-187: Romeo compares love to smoke, fire, the sea, madness, gall, and a sweet.
 Lns. 201-202: Allusion to Cupid, the god of love, and to the cunning of Diana, the goddess of chastity.
 Ln. 205 – the “siege of loving terms” – motif of love as warfare
 Lns. 205-209: The woman Romeo loves has taken a vow to remain chaste – that is, to remain a virgin,
never marry, and never have children. He’s tried sweet talk, eye contact from across the room, to no
avail.
 Lns. 211-217: Romeo essentially says, “You’re so beautiful that you owe it to the gene pool to
reproduce , and I volunteer to help with the process.”
 Ln. 219: Romeo reveals that Rosaline is all he thinks about.
 Ln. 228: Romeo says that looking at other women will only remind him of Rosaline’s superior beauty.
 Ln. 231: Benvolio vows to attempt to help Romeo forget Rosaline or die trying.
 So why all the fancy talking involving love? In Shakespeare’s time, it is considered a quality of a
gentleman to be able to talk a good love affair.
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Scene 2
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Teacher Notes
Remember, this is a patriarchal society and women are treated as property, especially in
marriage.
 Lns. 1-3: Lord Capulet comments that both he and Lord Montague are commanded to keep the peace,
and, in their age, it should not be difficult.
Count Paris – a young nobleman and a relative of the Prince
 Lns. 4-6: Paris commends both Capulet and Montague as being honorable men, and says that it is a
shame they have feuded for so long. Shakespeare here, through Paris, comments on the foolishness of
the feud. His “suit” is his request to marry Juliet.
 Ln 9: Juliet is 13 years old
 Ln. 10: Lord Capulet feels that 16 is a suitable age for Juliet to marry.
 Lns.13-34: Lord Capulet relents and advises Paris that he must win Juliet’s heart, for Capulet has agreed
to let his daughter have some degree of choice in choosing the man she will marry. Capulet invites Paris
to a feast that he is giving that evening. Unlike in the last scene, where he was presented as hot-headed
and violent, he appears here as desirous of peace, a loving father, and a sociable, generous man.
 Lns. 34-37: Capulet gives the servant a list of names of the people to be invited to the feast that
evening, saying to tell them that his home and welcome await the pleasure of their presence. This is odd
given that most people are illiterate at this time, but Capulet just assumes the servant can read. It is
possible that Capulet is merely trying to show off to Paris by suggesting that he has a literate servant,
who would command a high salary. This would suggest high social and financial standing for Capulet.
 Lns. 38-43: The servant says that people should attend to what they do best, and what he does best is
not reading. In fact, he is illiterate and cannot understand the names on the list.
 Lns. 44-49: Benvolio advises Romeo to try to fall in love with someone else to aid in getting over Rosaline. In essence, he’s
encouraging him to go for a rebound.
 Ln. 50 – plantain leaf – used to bind wounds and cure bruises
 Lns. 56-72: Through a freak twist of fate (role of fate begins to grow quite important), the illiterate Capulet servant stumbles
upon Romeo and Benvolio and asks for their help. Romeo reads the list of guests of the Capulet party and learns that Rosaline
will be there.
 Lns. 79-81: Dramatic Irony – The servant has no idea that he is actually addressing two members of
the house of Montague, but the audience does.
 Lns. 82-87: Benvolio encourages Romeo to go to the Capulet party in order to directly compare other
beauties to Rosaline, believing that he will find someone he will like more.
 Lns. 92-94: Romeo has VERY high praises for Rosaline’s beauty.
 Lns. 95-99: Benvolio argues that Romeo has never had someone to compare Rosaline directly to.
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Scene 3
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Teacher Notes
Nurse – to Juliet
Juliet
 “What” here (spoken by the Nurse) really means “Hey” or “Where are you?”
 Lns. 8-11: Lady Capulet asks Nurse to leave and then immediately calls her back. This suggests that the
Lady is not comfortable talking about the issue of marriage and relationships (in other words, having “the
talk”) with her daughter. The Nurse, on the other hand, is at complete ease with the issue of sexuality,
and exhibits it in her earthiness, her bawdiness, and her frankness.
 Lady Capulet and the Nurse are character foils.
 Lns. 17-18: Play (pun) on the word “odd.”
 Lns. 17-18: Juliet will not turn fourteen until the end of July. It is currently mid-July.
 Lns. 19-21: The Nurse had a daughter name Susan, the same age as Juliet, who died. It is actually due
to Susan that she got the job as Juliet’s wet nurse.
 The Nurse recounts the story of weaning Juliet from being breastfed (by the Nurse – it was considered
undignified for women of the upper class to nurse their own children).
 Lns. 40-46: The Nurse’s husband is dead, too. It is likely that she looks upon the Capulet family as her
own family.
 Lns. 64-66: Pun on the word “marry” (meaning first an oath to the Virgin Mary and then to the rite of
marriage).
 Ln. 72-74: Lady Capulet is only 27 or 28.
 Ln. 77: The Nurse pays a heft compliment to Paris’s physique.
 Lns. 80-95: In summation, Paris is hot.
 Ln. 96: “Women grow by men” – Men get women pregnant.
 Lns. 98-100: A new complication is added to the plot. While Romeo is at the party looking for Rosaline,
Juliet will be there looking over Paris to see if she finds him a suitable husband.
 Ln. 100: Juliet says that she will not, in looking, go beyond what her mother would approve of.
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Scene 4
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Teacher Notes
Mercutio – a relative of the Prince and a friend of Romeo; a wild and manic comedian (think
Shakespeare’s version of Robin Williams); a bit of a loose cannon
**Throughout this scene, Romeo is easily led and looks for the approval of others. This will
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change in scene v once he meets Juliet.
 Lns. 1-2: Romeo asks if they need to introduce themselves (they are masked) or if they should continue
on without doing so. The masks were worn as custom by young men to parties to increase the social
tension with a sense of playfulness. If you misbehaved, no one knew who you were. It allows the men
to be openly flirtatious. This is very important for young men who always had to guard their honor. In
addition, these introductions were customary – they don’t crash a party rudely.
 Lns. 3-10: Benvolio responds that there is no need for the introduction speech when they reach the
Capulet party. They will not have any announcement of their entrance. Rather, they will be examined as
they will, they will dance one dance, and they will leave.
 Ln. 12: Romeo volunteers to carry the torch. In Elizabethan times, the torch-bearer is the designated
driver.
 Ln. 15: Romeo says that he cannot dance because his soul is weighed down.
 Ln. 19: “his shaft” = Cupid’s arrow
 Lns. 19-22: Romeo gives a witty comeback to Mercutio’s suggestion that he borrow Cupid’s wings to rise
above this pain of love.
 Ln. 23: Mercutio enjoys this wit and tries to tease Romeo out of his depression. Romeo is the downer
here while everyone else is ready to have fun.
 Lns. 25-26: Romeo questions whether love is tender or if it is rude, boisterous, and prickly.
 Ln. 27 – Mercutio tells Romeo to be rough with love since it’s been rough with him (in other words, go
for the rebound).
 Lns. 35-38: Romeo essentially tells his companions that he plans to be a wallflower at the party.
 Lns. 40-41: pun on the words “done” and “Dun” – exhibits how much Mercutio delights in playing with
puns
 Lns. 48-49: Romeo indicates that he does not think it’s a good idea to go to the Capulet party.
However, despite his dream that he should not go, he makes the fateful decision to go anyway.
 Ln. 51: Romeo is serious, but Mercutio is joking. Mercutio’s wit is always sharp but not necessarily
unkind.
 Lns. 53-94: Mercutio’s Queen Mab Speech (one of the most famous speeches in the whole
play). He recounts Queen Mab, who brings dreams. According to his description, all the people visited
by Queen Mab end up dreaming about what they secretly desire. This is partly meant to be a
meaningless anecdote meant to torture Romeo.
 Mercutio says that Queen Mab has brought Romeo’s dream and that it is not to be taken seriously.
 Lns.90-94: Mercutio changes his tone, and his example of the “hag” suggests a genuinely evil presence
that can harm innocent people. Romeo cuts him off.
 Ln. 103: Mercutio warns Romeo that he could lose his friends if he continues to rebuff them. The friends
are finally starting to become fed up.
 Ln. 106-110: Foreshadowing: Romeo expresses his fear as an intuition. He says that some upcoming
consequence that, as of yet, has not been birthed by the stars, will begin being born with the night’s
activities. Furthermore, he expects that this will lead to the end of his life. He seems all right with it,
though, suggesting that he’s the type of person who is along for the ride.
Scene 5
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Teacher Notes
 Lns. 1-13: Three servants of the House of Capulet clear away the dishes from the dinner portion of the
party.
 Lns. 14-31: Capulet’s welcoming speech to the ball; presents himself as a very jovial and welcoming
man
 Lns. 14-18: Capulet says that ladies without corns will dance, and, if a woman is shy and opts not to
dance, he’ll say that it’s because she has corns.
 Lns. 19-23: Capulet invites the gentlemen of the party to partake in flirtation. He recalls his days of
doing it, which are now long past.
 Ln. 39: ROMEO SIGHTS JULIET FOR THE FIRST TIME.
 Lns. 42-46: motif of light and dark imagery: “she doth teach the torches to burn bright,” “she hangs
upon the cheek of night / as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear,” she is a “snowy dove trooping with crows”
 Ln. 45: dramatic irony – “Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear”
 Ln. 49: “make blessed my rude hand” – Romeo likens the effect of her hand to that of a sacred relic.
This begins the motif of love as religion.
 Lns. 50-51: Romeo claims he’s never really been in love until this moment. Easily swayed, eh?
 Lns. 52-57: Tybalt sights Romeo and, thinking that he is there to ruin the party and cause a scene, vows
to kill him.
 Lns. 64-72: Capulet tells Tybalt to calm himself. Romeo is acting well and appears to be well-mannered,
and Verona speaks highly of him. This is NOT what Capulet will be saying once his daughter is involved
with him.
 Lns. 67-68: Capulet says that he would not do Romeo dishonor in his home.
 Lns. 74-86: Capulet gets angry and lets loose on Tybalt
 Lns. 87-90: Tybalt vows that Romeo’s presence at the party will not be forgotten and that he will grow bitter about
 The behavior and exchange between Capulet and Tybalt here prepare us for the dramatic events later in the play.
Capulet is the type of person who is nice and congenial until you cross him, and he does not take kindly to having
his authority challenged.
 Lns. 91-104: The first exchange between Romeo and Juliet takes the form of a sonnet.
 Ln. 92: “this holy shrine” = Juliet’s hand (likening it to a place that holds a relic of God). Juliet here become a kind
of force of God that will make Romeo a better person His hand may be unworthy now, but once he touches her, he
will be better.
 Ln. 96: Religious reference to pilgrims who go on religious pilgrimages to shrines and kiss whatever holy relic the
shrine was dedicated to.
 Ln. 105: It’s up to Juliet to save Romeo’s soul!
 The entire exchange is dramatic irony. We know that they are actually enemies, but they do not.
 In another turn of situational irony, Romeo has gone to the party for Rosaline and Juliet has come to the party for
Paris, but they are now all they care about.
 A contrast is set up between Romeo’s immature love for Rosaline and his mature love for Juliet, as expressed by all
the religious terminology.
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 Lns. 111-115: The Nurse goes off on a tangent again and cannot resist advertising Juliet
 Ln. 116: Romeo discovers that Juliet is a Capulet, and this his life now “belongs” to his mortal enemy
 Lns. 132-133: A change has occurred in Juliet. In Scene iii, she said she’s not even thought about
marriage. Now, however, she seems to know both exactly who she wants to marry and that, if she can’t
marry Romeo, she’d rather die. This also reflects a change in her dynamic with her parents. Earlier, she
told her mother that she would not do anything that her mother wouldn’t approve of.
 Lns. 136-139: Juliet discovers that Romeo is a Montague and calls her new love “prodigious” (huge and
monstrous)
 Ln. 136: “My only love sprung from my only hate” – oxymoron – reveals the contradictory emotions.
In Act I, scene i, Romeo’s oxymorons were overkill and reflected only his miserable emotional state.
Now, there is a real power in this one oxymoron that Juliet uses.