CONTEXT

Question 1

Patriarchal society

Answer 1

Shakespeare reflects the patriarchal society of Elizabethan England where daughters like Juliet were expected to obey their fathers and marry for social advantage.

Question 2

Religion and marriage

Answer 2

In Elizabethan times marriage was seen as a religious and social contract controlled by the father

Question 3

Family honour and male pride

Answer 3

The constant feuding in the play mirrors the Elizabethan obsession with family honour, where male pride was upheld through violence and revenge.

Question 4

Fate and astrology

Answer 4

Audiences in Shakespeare’s time believed strongly in fate and the stars making the reference to Romeo and Juliet as ‘star-cross’d lovers’ especially powerful.

Question 5

Youth vs. age

Answer 5

Shakespeare presents impulsive passionate youth in conflict with controlling

Question 6

Courtly love and Petrarchan ideals

Answer 6

Romeo’s early language mimics Petrarchan love poetry showing how men were expected to idolise women from afar.

Question 7

Shakespeare’s audience

Answer 7

Shakespeare’s audiences would have seen the lovers’ rebellion as dangerous and immoral heightening the sense of tragedy.

Question 8

Social class

Answer 8

Juliet’s noble status means her choices are tightly controlled showing how upper-class women had little freedom over their own lives.

Question 9

Public vs. private life

Answer 9

Shakespeare contrasts the public feuding of the families with the private intimacy of the lovers highlighting how society disrupts personal happiness.

Question 10

Tragic structure

Answer 10

As a tragedy the play follows a pattern where the protagonists are doomed by a mix of personal flaws and external pressures