romeo and juliet
The "Prince of Cats" AND why this character is known as this, AND a specific pun made because of this nickname or related to the nickname
-Tybalt, because he is an elegant, graceful fighter with his fencing style, who always manages to stay alive (like a cat) -When Tybalt asks what Mercutio wants, he says one of Tybalt's '9 lives' ... -When Mercutio is asked if he's hurt, he says 'a scratch' and later comments on how he's been scratched to death
After the death of Tybalt and Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet independently give long speeches- identify 2 ways that the speeches reveal their similarity and their increasing 'us against the world' and desperate thinking mentality
1. Both are obsessed with word banished/banishment and believe it to be worse than death 2. Both threaten suicide in their speeches because of how lost they feel (Juliet by hanging, Romeo by stabbing) 3. Both show their increasingly isolated illogical mindset (passion v. reason) 4. Both are on the floor crying helplessly
Risks death to make some money AND a Life Application Point connected with the character
Apothecary Suggests the LAP and thematic idea that desperation drives desperate actions, so we shouldn't necessarily quickly judge people without knowing the context. Judge less, understand more! Gold is poison and money ruins people's lives is OK also for a thematic idea/LAP
Identify speaker and context and the significance "Put this in any liquid thing you will/And drink it off, and if you had the strength/Of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight"
Apothecary, explaining the drugs he's selling to Romeo in 5.1. It is significant in its irony because the poison is very fast-acting which causes Romeo to die just before Friar arrives.
One character delivers a message accidentally to Romeo to set up the beginning of the tragedy AND Another character accidentally delivers a message to Romeo to set up the end of the tragedy
Capulet Servingman (invitation to the party without knowing Romeo is a Montague) Balthasar (news of Juliet's death without knowing that she is not really dead)
Identify two reasons why Shakespeare likely started the play (the opening scene of 1.1 after the prologue, not the prologue itself) the way he did
Dirty jokes quiet the crowd Violence excites the crowd and settles them down and is easy to understand and follow People coming in late won't miss important stuff Shows the depth of the feud that even the low-level thugs hate each other Establishes the overall tone of violence of Verona
Scholars believed that Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in pubs for this reason
Free lighting and cheap meals
Fails to deliver an important message AND why, specifically
Friar John He was in a house that was believed to be plague-infested, so he was quarantined. He did not have the plague himself.
Who is the speaker and what is the main idea being expressed here: "For naught so vile that on the earth doth live/But to the earth some special good doth give"
Friar Lawrence says every facet of nature has some special, beneficial purpose, even the most vile Life Application Point: even the worst of things and times have silver linings with a positive perspective
"Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so/Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Friar Lawrence when warning Romeo and Juliet to go slow after their wedding in 2.6. Friar says successful relationships develop slowly and that those that are too fast are just as bad as those that are too slow. It is true to his character of going slow. Unfortunately, R+J do not listen to the advice (nor does Friar), and things spiral out of control quickly.
Identify the speaker, context, and significance "Saint Francis be my speed! How oft tonight/Have my old feet stumbled at graves!- Who's there?"
Friar says this when he arrives at the graveyard. It is ironic because he complains about 'stumbling' for going too fast, but it is really his slowness that dooms Romeo and Juliet in the tomb.
What idea is being expressed in the following quote and its significance: "Now is the sun upon the highmost hill/Of this day's journey, and from nine till twelve/Is three long hours, yet she is not come./Had she affections and warm youthful blood/She would be as swift in motion as a ball."
Juliet is impatiently waiting for the Nurse to return, highlighting this trait of her impatient character (which will haunt her later). Further, it highlights the theme of youth v. maturity, because she expresses her criticism of the old Nurse for not being passionate and fast-acting Finally, it is a character revealing time of day info for the audience
Identify the speaker, context/meaning of quote, and poetic device being used: "O serpent heart hid with a flow'ring face!/Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?/Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical!/Dove-feathered raven, wolvish-ravening lamb! Despised substance of divinest show!/Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st/A damned saint, an honorable villain"
Juliet is talking about Romeo as someone who is very beautiful on the outside, but evil on the inside. Her use of oxymorons and paradoxes is used to show her conflicting emotions about him at that moment because she just learned Romeo killed Tybalt and her confusion about how one so beautiful could be so ugly
Identify the speaker, context, and significance: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other word would smell as sweet."
Juliet says this to herself on the balcony, wondering why she can't be with Romeo because it's only his name (Montague) that prevents them from being together. Her quote suggests that names have no meaning, because the true character beneath the name does not change.
"My only love sprung from my only hate/Too early seen unknown, and known too late!" Identify speaker and meaning/significance of the line
Juliet when realizing Romeo's identity at the end of the party in 1.5; Juliet is discussing the tragedy of her only love being from the enemy's family and the misfortune of realizing it too late. This ties to the thematic idea of conflict of happiness and hate and how one can easily overcome the other, but are often intertwined
"I'll look to like, if looking liking move/But no more deep with I endart mine eye/Than your consent gives strength to make it fly." Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Juliet when stating her obedience to Lady Capulet about going to the party in 1.3. Juliet suggests that she'll look at Paris if her mom wants her to, but won't flirt beyond what her mom allows her to. It shows her initial obedience, which changes by the end of the play; this quote highlights the reason the Capulets are so upset when she shows her disobedience just two days later.
Identify speaker and two literary elements in the passage: "O God, I have an ill-divining soul!/Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low/As one dead in the bottom of a tomb. . . O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle. . . Be fickle, Fortune/For then I hope thou will not keep him long/But send him back"
Juliet, uses apostrophe (O Fortune), personification (Fortune), Alliteration (fortune, fortune, fickle) there is also irony and foreshadowing because the next time they see each other they are dead in a tomb
In the opening act, Benvolio's attitude toward love is best described as this
He believes there are plenty of women in the world and Romeo just needs to find another one to forget Rosaline
At the beginning of the play, this is the action Sampson uses to show his contempt for the Capulets
He bites his thumb at them, which is a gesture of disrespect
This is the primary reason Friar Lawrence agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet AND the ultimate irony of this
He hopes to end the feud between the families Irony: the marriage does end the feud, in a way.
This is the main reason behind Mercutio's delivering of the Queen Mab speech, besides just to entertain his friends
He initially wants to convince Romeo that dreams are meaningless because Romeo admits to having a bad dream which makes him hesitant to go to the party. Through the course of the speech, he convinces himself that dreams are really nightmares and a tragedy will unfold if Romeo had a dream about it.
Loses two cousins as a result of the feud and identify them by name
Prince Escalus (Mercutio and Paris)
Delivers the closing speech about hope in the face of tragedy AND the specific words (more or less) used that suggests this bittersweet hope for Verona
Prince Escalus who says a 'glooming peace this morning brings' (bittersweet)
"See what a scourge is laid upon your hate/That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Prince at end of 5.3 blaming both families for the tragedy. Prince is pointing out the tragedy of fate killing their 'loves' (children) for their hate (feud). The theme of happiness and hate being conflicting yet intertwined is present.
"Ay, sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks./I would the fool were married to her grave." Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Lady Capulet in 3.5, after Juliet demonstrates disobedience and ungratefulness in rejecting the marriage to Paris. She is so furious she says that she wishes Juliet were dead (married to her grave). Ironically, Lady Capulet gets her wish when she will have to see her daughter die two times in the next few days.
Literally does die of grief a broken heart and why
Lady Montague, who dies over grief of Romeo's exile
Name 3 of the 6 groups Queen Mab brings dreams to, according to Mercutio in his speech
Lovers, Courtiers, Lawyers, Ladies, Parsons/Clergy, Soldiers Remember, initially Mab brings these groups pleasant dreams about longings, but they quickly become corrupt dreams about sinfulness and ultimately nightmares
This is why the theaters in general were moved out of central London and across the river Thames
Religious leaders felt plays were immoral (often plays were during church hours in the afternoon) so they were moved near the gambling dens and brothels and other seedy places
During their first exchange at the party, Romeo compares himself and Juliet to these two things as part of his extended metaphor
Romeo = Pilgrim/religious traveler Juliet = Saint/Shrine This opening exchange highlights the 'obsessiveness' they have with each other, comparing their love to religion
Identify the speaker AND context/meaning: "O sweet Juliet/Thy beauty hath made me effeminate/And in my temper softened valor's steel!"
Romeo blaming Juliet for taking away his fury and rage which prevents him from standing up to Tybalt (leading to Mercutio's death) in 3.1
The morning after Romeo and Juliet sleep together, initially Romeo claims he hears this bird, but Juliet hears this bird AND why the difference in birds
Romeo hears the lark because it is the morning and it is singing, but Juliet wants to hear the nightingale because she wants it to be night still so he does not need to leave
Explain the irony of this passage AND what this specific type of irony is called "Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath/Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty."
Romeo is commenting upon how Juliet still looks alive and warm and red; the irony is that she is still alive, and is slowly warming up again as her blood begins to circulate This is dramatic irony (when audience knows something characters do not).
In the play itself (not the film versions), the main reason Mercutio draws his sword on Tybalt is this
Romeo is not standing up for himself and Mercutio stands up for him "O calm dishonorable vile submission"
During the balcony scene, Romeo attempts to prove his love by saying he will 'swear' his love by this, AND the reason why Juliet doesn't like that 'swearing'
Romeo says he will swear his love by the MOON, but Juliet says the Moon is not constant because it is always changing, so she doesn't want Romeo's love to be like the MOON
"I'll go along, no such sight to be shown/But to rejoice in splendor of mine own" Identify speaker, context, and meaning/significance
Romeo when convinced by Benvolio to crash the Capulet party in 1.2. Romeo says he'll go to the party, not to look at others, but at his own target, Rosaline. This sets up the situational irony of him actually 'seeing' Juliet there instead of Rosaline.
"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Romeo when first seeing Juliet at the party in 1.5. Romeo is describing her beauty using light/bright imagery, saying she is brighter than torches. Romeo and Juliet both use light/bright imagery throughout the play to describe the other, even until their final moments.
Identify the literary device and the speaker's purpose of using this device/speaker's main point: "O Brawling love, O loving hate. . . O heavy lightness, serious vanity... feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire"
Oxymoron because Romeo is explaining the conflicting emotions that love creates- both great joy and great misery LAP: Embrace love; Brace for love
"Stop thy unhallowed toil, vile Montague./Can vengeance be pursued further than death?/Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee./Obey and go with me, for thou must die" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Paris when approaching Romeo at the Capulet tomb thinking Romeo is a grave robber in 5.3. Paris is asking Romeo what further horror he can commit to his 'enemy' beyond death and trying to arrest Romeo to punish him. It is ironic because Paris blames Romeo for Juliet being in the tomb, but it's really Paris' fault Juliet is in the tomb
"These times of woe afford no times to woo." Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Paris when talking to Capulet about the marriage the second time in 3.4. Capulet agrees to the marriage. He is suggesting that Tybalt's death does now allow Juliet to be courted because she is too sad. During this speech, they believe Juliet is locked in her room in tears, but actually she is in her room with Romeo.
Described by several as a 'man of wax' AND what this reference means
Paris, because he is so attractive he is like a wax model as Mrs. Capulet and Nurse discuss
Identify 3 of the 5 fears Juliet has before taking Friar Lawrence's potion at the end of Act 4
Potion won't work and she'll wake up It really is poison because Friar trying to kill her She'll wake up and suffocate She'll wake up and go crazy in the tomb, including haunted by Tybalt's ghost She'll club her brains out with a bone
This is what Shakespeare left his wife in his will AND his wife's name AND his general relationship with his wife
Second best bed in the house, Anne Hathaway Likely loveless marriage and he married her because he impregnated her and didn't want to ruin his family's reputation
While Shakespeare was starting his acting and writing career in London, his family resided in this place
Stratford upon Avon
Explain the speaker and significance: "My master is the great rich Capulet, and, if you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine."
The servingman is speaking with a Montague, making it dramatic irony. It is important as it introduces the inciting incident of the party.
Juliet's angry cousin AND the specific name of one of his thug associates in the play itself
Tybalt Sampson, Gregory
"What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word/As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Tybalt in the opening brawl of 1.1 when facing Benvolio. Tybalt is confused why Benvolio has a sword out and talks of peace, and Tybalt claims to hate peace and his enemy. These first lines set up the type of character he is- violent and hateful.
This is syllable stress pattern of Iambic Pentameter
U / U / U / U / U / Unstressed-stressed X 5
This passage contains what two literary devices AND speaker AND what the character is saying: "Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds/Towards Phoebus' lodging."
allusion (Phoebus/Apollo myth of a sun drawn by a chariot) Apostrophe (addressing something not present) by Juliet wanting the fire horses (day) to go away so night will arrive with Romeo
Shakespeare was a part-owner of this theatre, which made him wealthy
globe theater
Identify the she being described: "She comes/In shape no bigger than an agate stone/On the forefinger of an alderman."
queen mab
These are the only confirmed writings in Shakespeare's own handwriting that exist
A handful of signatures on forms and documents, like his will
Has lost a daughter and a husband AND identify names, if applicable
Nurse Daughter is Susan Husband is unnamed
"O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had!/O courteous Tybalt, honest gentleman/That ever I should live to see thee dead!" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Nurse returning to Juliet with news of Tybalt's death in 3.2; Nurse is crying with grief over seeing him dead, presumably because they were close. This quote finally clarifies for Juliet what is happening.
Identify the speaker, context, and significance: "A man young lady- lady a man/As all the world- why, he's a man of wax."
Nurse says this to Juliet in 1.4 when Mrs. Capulet tells Juliet about Paris' interest. Nurse says Paris is a 'man of wax' because he is a perfect sculpture of a man, who is beautiful on the outside and on the inside. This establishes the idea that Paris is a good man and good match, which adds to the tragedy of his death
Identify the speaker in this passage AND context/significance: "I think you are happy in this second match/For it excels your first, or, if it did not/Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were/As living here and you no use of him"
Nurse says this to Juliet when Juliet asks for her help after her parents threaten/abandon her. Nurse's advice is to marry Paris, which Juliet takes as a betrayal. Juliet then says that she is now 'forever separate' from the Nurse The moment is a symbol of Juliet maturing and no longer needing a nanny in her life.
Identify 2 elements of the extended metaphor Romeo uses when approaching the Capulet tomb
1. The tomb is a maw/stomach 2. He is opening its jaws (the entrance to the tomb) 3. Juliet is the dearest morsel 4. Romeo is more food to cram inside
"We talk here in the public haunt of men/ Either withdraw unto some private place/Or reason coldly of your grievances/Or else depart here all eyes gaze on us" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Benvolio when trying to calm down Mercutio and Tybalt before their fight in 3.1 Benvolio is saying that they are too openly fighting and they need to solve their matters calmly, or go somewhere private. It shows his peace-loving character again.
In Shakespearean plays, high class characters typically spoke in this
Blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) Low-class characters speak in prose (non-poetic writing)
Delivers the Prologue and when else the character appears during the play
Chorus Before Act 1 AND Before Act 2
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes/A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life/Whose misadventured piteous overthrows/Doth with their death bury their parents' strife" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Chorus in opening prologue before Act 1 (technically it's not part of 1.1) Chorus explains the premise of the entire play, that two children from enemy families fall in love, kill themselves, and end the feud. The entire prologue is in Shakespearean sonnet form.
Identify the speaker, two poetic devices used in first line, and meaning "Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie/And young affection gapes to be his heir./That fair for which love groaned for and would die/With tender Juliet matched, is now not fair"
Chorus is setting the scene explaining that Romeo's old desire (Rosaline) is dying and 'that fair' (Rosaline) is nothing compared to Juliet In the 1st line, Desire is personified as dying in his deathbed.. And also alliteration with the starting "D" sound
This is the name for the general (lower-class) 'masses' who watched Shakespeare's plays in the theatre
Groundlings (or stinkards)
During Shakespeare's time, heroic female characters were played by these types of people AND younger female characters were played by these types of people
Heroic women- well-trained, adult males Young girls- boys not gone through puberty
Identify the two categories of puns we looked at, explain the difference, and provide an example of each
Homophone- pun where two different words are pronounced the same, but have different meanings and spelling Homograph- pun where two words are written/spelled the same, but have different meanings and possibly different pronunciations
Directly appeals to authority figure, demanding justice for Romeo's crime in the form of execution
Lady Capulet "I beg for justice, which thou Prince must give Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live!
In the first balcony scene in Act 2, Juliet is a bit hesitant about the relationship and says their love is too like this AND explain 2 connections of this metaphor
Lightning- because it is 1. appears quickly, 2. but also vanishes quickly, 3. and is also destructive 4. passionate and powerful 5. bright and vibrant
"Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch. Marry 'tis enough. . . 'Twill serve. Ask for/me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man" Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Mercutio after being stabbed by Tybalt in his death speech of 3.1. Mercutio is making several puns about his wound, saying he is 'scratched' by the Prince of Cats and that the 'scratch' is enough as tomorrow he will be grave (serious) and grave (dead). This shows his witty and fickle character, even in death.
Identify and explain two significant ideas and connections behind the name Mercutio
Mercutio's name implies: Mercurial- the word means always changing, fickle and his character reflects this 2. Mercury- Roman messenger god, implies quickness of wit and action; also a well-liked, energetic, god 3. Mercury- planet, implies fastest rotation around sun, like his character 4. Mercury- element, liquid metal- quicksilver
"He shall be endured/What, goodman boy? I say he shall. Go to/Am I the master here or you? Go to"
Mr. Capulet yells at Tybalt during the party in 1.5 when Tybalt suggests that he will kill Romeo. This further humiliates Tybalt, setting up his desire for vengeance on Romeo.
"My naked weapon is out. Quarrel, I will back thee." Identify speaker and meaning/significance
Sampson in the opening brawl of 1.1 Sampson takes his sword out of the sheath and it is 'naked' OR he is making an inappropriate pun, which Shakespeare often included for the entertainment of the low-brow masses.
Romeo and Juliet's first exchange at the party is written in this poetic form (specific) AND identify ONE key structural/form element of this type of poetry
Shakespearean sonnet It is 14 lines In Iambic Pentameter With rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg
Identify the key difference that makes a long speech a soliloquy or a dramatic monologue
Soliloquies are given only to the character and audience Dramatic monologues are long speeches, but given in the presence of other characters
Shakespeare's scenes often begin with characters giving this information AND why
Time of day, physical setting because no special effects/lighting in his theatre and all plays at the open-air theatre were in the afternoon
This character's name literally means 'well-wisher' or 'good will'
benvolio
Called upon to give an eyewitness account of violence on TWO occasions AND identify the occasions
benvolio- After initial brawl of 1.1, Montagues ask him what happened; After 3.1 murders, Prince asks him what happened (this is the last time Benvolio is in the play)