romeo and juliet

Question 1

“from ancient grudge break to new mutiny.”

Answer 1

• “ancient” connotates something powerful and unbreakable
• juxtaposed by new mutiny - suggests that their love is just as powerful as this ancient grudge

Question 2

“death-marked love”

Answer 2

• portrays an image of a physical inscription - further alludes to the notion that their fate in pre-written and unchangeable
• contrasting ideas of love and death in the same phrase - suggestive of how one comes hand in hand with the other

Question 3

‘From forth the fatal loins of these two foes’

Answer 3

• fricative sounds create harsh tone

Question 4

“a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life”

Answer 4

• plot given away at the start - creates a sense of dramatic irony as the audience watches the play unfold before them, knowing what will happen and yet are unable to do anything about it

Question 5

context of the prologue

Answer 5

• 14 lines - sonnet - instantly depicted as a love story
• Elizabethans believed in astrological signs and superstitions, which meant that these words had a more literal meaning and therefore a more profound effect on the audience
• This was performed by a chorus not the characters which shows that their fate has been dictated by powers outside of their own hands
• Set in Verona, Italy - a powerful setting associated with love, but also where upper class gang feuds were common

Question 6

“with their death bury their parents strife.”

Answer 6

• imagery of death - insinuates it is their parents fault for their deaths - immediate clash between their powerful love and hate

Question 7

“therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall.”

Answer 7

• violence, conflict and female subservience
• sexual innuendo, part of proving their masculinity
• suggests that women are the weaker sex, only fit for producing babies

Question 8

“bite my thumb”

Answer 8

• introduces theme of male honor and pride - an insult to establish his masculinity
• profound impact of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets is evident in how it permeates through all levels of society, even reaching lower-status characters like the servants.
• repetition emphasizes how he is trying to provoke him
• aggressive, provocative tone

Question 9

“peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.”

Answer 9

• Tybalt as the characterization of anger and conflict of the feud
• constant seek of a fight and a way to uphold his honor mimics the attitude of all gang members at the time

Question 10

“if you ever disturb our peace again, your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.”

Answer 10

• authority figure of Verona
• dramatic irony - lives are the price to pay for the forfeit of the peace, by not by the hands of the Prince, but by the hands of fate

Question 11

“Alas that love, whose view is muffled still…”

Answer 11

• launches into bad, dramatic love poetry, suggesting that his love for Rosaline was superficial as he is only trying to mimic the love he saw in love poetry
• oxymorons, asyndeton - portrays how he himself is confused of his feelings
• trying to conform to the stereotypical role of a woman-chaser - context of courtly love
• Shakespeare’s criticism of societal standards and gender roles, shown as their love as a prospect of freedom.
• however, this was made impossible by the feud, also suggesting his criticism of petty gang fight merely as a display of masculine honor, suggesting such fights only end in tragedy

Question 12

“My child is yet a stranger in the world.”

Answer 12

• protective and caring father, possessive pronoun perhaps used to suggest that Juliet is his property, as all girls were back in time before being married off

Question 13

“She is the hopeful lady of my Earth”

Answer 13

• uses imagery to suggest she is his entire world
• contrast to scene where he curses at her, calls her a “girl” as opposed to “lady”
• suggests he only shows love for her when she conforms to his wishes, again context of role of women

Question 14

“Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.”

Answer 14

• contrast between loving nature of the Nurse, who uses this hyperbole to portray how she cares about juliet, to the mother, who cannot even be in the same room alone with her and has to ask the Nurse of her ager
• context of wet nurses, suggests distant relationship between Juliet and her mother

Question 15

“It is an honor I dream not of.”

Answer 15

• unwillingness to conform to societal expectations/ marital pressures, as she was expected to, as the only role of a woman was to find a suitable husband
• Shakespeare’s criticism of societal standards and gender roles, shown as their love as a prospect of freedom.
• however, this was made impossible by the feud, also suggesting his criticism of petty gang fight merely as a display of masculine honor, suggesting such fights only end in tragedy

Question 16

“fear too early, for my mind misgives / some consequence yet hanging in the stars.”

Answer 16

• dramatic irony
• premonition of his death

Question 17

“O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!.. For I ne’er saw true beauty until this night”

Answer 17

• at his first sight of juliet, he thinks of original, enchanting poetry, in comparison to Rosaline, shows his true feelings of love for Juliet,
  (irony as he recently announced he would never love another)
• references to fire - instant, fiery passion
• hyperbolic contrasts between light and dark, emphasizes juxtaposition between their love and families’ hate

Question 18

“my lips , two blushing pilgrims, ready stand.”

Answer 18

• starts a sonnet (a form of love poetry)
• rhyming couplets mimic the two of them as a couple
• religious imagery represents how their love mimics the passion and purity of the divine - escapes earthly limitations

Question 19

“Ay, pilgrim…” , “dear saint”

Answer 19

• imagery of going on a pilgrimage and finding what he is looking for
• worships her (courtly love)
• R and J share all the lines of the sonnet, instead of traditionally one speaker, suggesting they are both active participants in the relationship

Question 20

“by the stock and honor of my kin, to strike him dead is not a sin”

Answer 20

• importance of family pride and masculine honor - to kill i in this instance would not be unlawful, further emphasizes Tybalt’s need to validify his masculinity and uphold his family name

Question 21

“You are a saucy boy…I’ll make you quiet.”

Answer 21

• extremely patronizing description, especially though his use of the adjective “saucy”
• threat shows the hierarchy even within the household - “Am I the master here or you?”
• internal conflict

Question 22

“It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.”

Answer 22

• imagery of light and darkness - presents contrasting ideas of passionate love and deathly feud
• “sun” - connotations of happiness, purity, fire, etc.

Question 23

“two of the fairest stars in all the heaven”

Answer 23

• beauty beyond this Earth, light imagery
• reference to “star-crossed lovers”

Question 24

“call me but love, and I’ll be new baptised.”

Answer 24

• physically asking her to replace his name, metaphorically saying to replace the hate that exists between both of their families with love

Question 25

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

Answer 25

• attempting to summon him, representation of how consumed she is by the thoughts of him, how distressed she is without him
• repetition of the name “Romeo” emphasizes how he is all that she can think about, lexically and literally at the forefront of all her thoughts

Question 26

“my bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep…”

Answer 26

• symbol of the sea to represent the endless nature of her love
• provokes the reader into imagining the vastness and depth of her feelings for him
• possibly darker undertones, foreshadows them both “drowning” in her sea

Question 27

“Good morrow, Father”
“son”

Answer 27

• although used in a religious context, can also be interpreted as alluding to their father-son relationship
• similar to juliet, Romeo turns to another as a source of parental comfort - shows close bond between him and the Friar

Question 28

“Young men’s love, then lies / not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.”

Answer 28

• pun on “lies” shows that the Friar believes that Romeo’s love is not genuine
• gently reprimanding him shows the close bond that they have, and how caring he is over him

Question 29

“Wisely and slowly, they stumble those who run fast.”

Answer 29

• insinuates that parental figures (“wisely and slowly”), are the cause for the kids (“run fast”) deaths - it is their parents’ feud and ultimately the Friar’s failed plan that cause the demise of both the lovers and their love

Question 30

“Doth not rosemary and Romeo/ begin both with a letter?”

Answer 30

• parallels between Romeo and rosemary - Romeo’s effeminacy by associating him with a traditionally feminine image
• associated with lust, doubtful of Romeo’s good intentions
• also a symbol of mourning - foreshadowing

Question 31

“O calm, dishonorable, vile submission!”

Answer 31

• exclamatory tone and exaggerated use of adjectives shows his contempt and disgust that Mercutio feels at Romeo’s lack of action -emphasizes the importance of upholding male pride and honor in their society

Question 32

“A plague a’ both your houses! Your houses!”

Answer 32

• blames the feud for his death - Shakespeare uses to portray the consequences and destruction that follow in the pursuit of upholding masculine honor through violence, which acts as criticism of patriarchal standards of the time
• repetition of “your houses” and exclamatory language emphasizes the bitterness of Mercutio’s tone
• “plague” used to foreshadow Romeo and Juliet’s deaths

Question 33

“O sweet Juliet beauty hath made me effeminate and in my temper softened valor’s steel!”

Answer 33

• blames Juliet as he describes himself as becoming like a woman and weak because of her - momentarily loses his passion for her in attempt to uphold his masculine honor
• metaphor, describing his valor to be of steel

Question 34

“Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.”

Answer 34

• description of how rage blinded him so much he no longer has regard for his own life - shows the love he had for Mercutio
• emphasizes impulsive nature of Romeo
• impulsive nature shown to ultimately be the cause for tragedy - in this instance, it causes him to be banished from Juliet, in the instance of taking the poison too quickly, it leads to both of their demises - reference to Friar Lawrence’s line
• “or both” - foreshadows both of their impending deaths

Question 35

“Give me my Romeo. And when I shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars.”

Answer 35

• visceral verb of “cutting” emphasizes the almost violent nature of her love
• metaphor and imagery is a reference to “star-crossed lovers” - foreshadows that Romeo shall return to the stars soon

Question 36

“O serpent heart hid with a flowering face…”

Answer 36

• asyndeton of oxymoronic phrases portray her confusion at Romeo’s actions - his killing her cousin taints the saintly image of him in her head, demonstrated by the comparison “O serpent head”, emphasizing the betrayal she feels

Question 37

“Art thou a man?”

Answer 37

• Friar Lawrence addresses Romeo in this way as it was uncommon for men to display emotion as Romeo had just wept
• rhetorical question, theme of masculinity

Question 38

“I will drag thee out… Out, you green sickness, carrion! Out, you baggage! You tallow face!”

Answer 38

• “drag” as a verb portrays the idea of her as a traitor
• repetition of “out” portrays his raging anger
• name calling his daughter contrasts to the beginning of the play, where he is portrayed as a good father
• this shows how he is only affectionate when his daughter conforms to his ideals, and disregards her as his relative when not
• conflict within the family - passion of feud and hate for the Montagues overrules any love he may have for his daughter

Question 39

“hang, beg, starve, die in the streets”
“my fingers itch.”

Answer 39

• polysynthetic listing suggests Lord Capulet’s words were quick and sharp, mimicking bullets
• threatens to use violence - first resort for males at the time, domestic violence was fairly common due to the hierarchal system that existed even within families

Question 40

“Death is my heir/ My daughter he hath wedded.”

Answer 40

• personification of death suggests that death is present on the stage with them, setting the scene for the many deaths yet to occur
• even in death, Juliet is defined by her marriage, stripping her of any individual identity

Question 41

“I will lie with thee to-night.”

Answer 41

• this line would generally be meant in a sexual manner, especially since they are newlyweds, presumably talking of lying in their wedding bed
• however, Romeo talks of killing himself and lying with her in her death bed, which ultimately emphasizes the sadness he feels, so recently wedded, and creates an amplified sense of pathos from the audience

Question 42

“O happy dagger!”

Answer 42

• adjective “happy” illustrates how Juliet welcomes her death, portraying how to the very last minute, they loved each other so ardently they died for each other
• could be interpreted as eternally purifying their love

Question 43

“poor sacrifices of our enmity.”

Answer 43

• eternally objectifies Romeo and Juliet as the damage of their feud
• instead of the happy ending they should have received, known for their passion for each other, they were condemned to die young, suggesting the feud was the primary cause for their deaths