ROMEO AND JULIET

REVISION

• Main themes• Key scenes• Character

• Possible essay questions

In a nutshell• R is in love with Rosaline and is persuaded to got to a

party at Capulets’. Falls in love with J. Next day they’re married. Tybalt picks a fight with R who refuses to fight back so Mercutio is killed. R kills Tybalt and is banished from Verona. Spends wedding night with J first. Capulet forces J to agree to marry Paris. J flees to Friar Laurence who gives her a drug to make her appear dead. R hears from Balthasar, Friar John is detained due to quarantine, that J is dead. He finds her in the vault and poisons himself. J awakes and kills herself too. Houses unite as a result of the tragedy.

FATE“Oh, I am fortune’s fool!” “then I defy you stars!”

• The things that will happen to someone, especially unpleasant events

• A power that is believed to control what happens in people's lives

• The Fates: the three goddesses who, according to the ancient Greeks and Roman mythology, decided what should happen in each person’s life.

Act 1, scene 4

ROMEO

I fear, too early: for my mind misgives Some consequence yet hanging in the stars Shall bitterly begin his fearful date With this night's revels and expire the term Of a despised life closed in my breast By some vile forfeit of untimely death. But He, that hath the steerage of my course, Direct my sail! On, lusty gentlemen.

Act 3, Scene 1

BENVOLIO

O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead! That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds, Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.

ROMEO

This day's black fate on more days doth depend; this but begins the woe, others must end.

Act 5, Scene 1

SCENE I. Mantua. A street.

Enter ROMEO

ROMEO

If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep, My dreams presage some joyful news at hand: My bosom's lord sits lightly in his throne; And all this day an unaccustom'd spirit Lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts. I dreamt my lady came and found me dead-- Strange dream, that gives a dead man leave to think!-- And breathed such life with kisses in my lips, That I revived, and was an emperor. Ah me! how sweet is love itself possess'd, When but love's shadows are so rich in joy!

Romeo and Juliet Reconsidered

• What is tragic flaw of Romeo and Juliet’s love that leads to their deaths?

• Is Romeo and Juliet a tragedy because the main characters are fated to die or because they see death as their only option? In a society where the rules and norms are constructed by others, can young adults assert their beliefs or control their future, without resigning themselves to either submit to society’s expectations or to death?

Constructive (Dense) Question

Traditional Question

Love Vs Hate• Love versus hate and the many forms love takes; its power to challenge

hate; the impetuosity of young love; the irrationality of hate and its capacity to destroy love. Some related scenes:

• Act 1, Scene 1: The Capulets and Montagues fight in Verona's marketplace; Romeo tells Benvolio of his unrequited love for Rosaline.

• Act 1, Scene 5: Forgetting Rosaline, Romeo falls in love with Juliet at first sight.

• Act 2, Scene 2: In Juliet's orchard the two lovers agree to marry. • Act 3, Scene 1: Tybalt fatally wounds Mercutio under the newly-wed

Romeo's arm. • Act 3, Scene 5: Romeo and Juliet prepare to part after their wedding

night. • Act 5, Scene 3: Romeo and Juliet commit suicide; the Prince asks the two

families to reconcile.

Parents Vs Children• Parents and children and the struggle of young people to

make their own choices in the face of parents' vested interests. Some related scenes:

• The Prologue: the Chorus describes the parents' 'ancient grudge' which is the catalyst for the death of their children.

• Act 1, Scene 1: Lord Capulet approves Paris's request to ask Juliet to marry him.

• Act 3, Scene 5: Lord and Lady Capulet tell Juliet of their arrangements for her to marry Paris.

• Act 5, Scene 3: Romeo and Juliet commit suicide; the parents are faced with the consequences of their ancient feud.

KEY SCENES

• Mercutio’s death – Act 3 Sc 1• Romeo hears of Juliet’s death – Act 5 Sc 1

ROMEO

JULIET

• Juliet is the more mature character. In what ways do we know this?

MERCUTIO

FRIAR LAWRENCE

JULIET’S NURSE

• “As A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy darkened by something of the night, so Romeo is a tragedy that keeps surprising us with flashes of comedy.”

Questions on DramaAnswers to questions on drama should address

relevantly the central concern(s)/theme(s) ofthe text and be supported by reference to

appropriate dramatic techniques such as: conflict,characterisation, key scene(s), dialogue, climax,

exposition, dénouement, structure, plot,setting, aspects of staging (such as lighting, music,

stage set, stage directions . . .), soliloquy,monologue . . .

Choose from a play a scene in which manipulation, temptation or humiliation is an

important feature.Explain what happens in the scene and go on to

show how the outcome of themanipulation, temptation or humiliation adds to

your appreciation of the play as awhole.

Choose a play in which the dramatist creates tension at the beginning or at the end.

Explain how the tension is created and discuss how it contributes to an effective

introduction or conclusion to the play.

Choose a play in which a power struggle is central to the action.

Explain briefly the circumstances of the power struggle and discuss the extent to which it contributes to your appreciation of theme and/or character in the play as a whole.

Choose from a play a scene in which tension builds to a climax.

Explain how the dramatist creates and develops this tension, and discuss the extent to

which the scene has thematic as well as dramatic significance.

Choose a play in which a central character behaves in an obsessive manner.

Describe the nature of the character’s obsessive behaviour and discuss the influence

this behaviour has on your understanding of the character in the play as a whole.

Choose a play which you feel is made particularly effective by features of structure

such as: dramatic opening, exposition, flashback, contrast, turning-point, climax,

anticlimax, dénouement . . .Show how one or more than one structural

feature employed by the dramatist adds tothe impact of the play.

Choose from a play a scene which significantly changes your view of a character.

Explain how the scene prompts this reappraisal and discuss how important it is to

your understanding of the character in the play as a whole.