ROMEO AND JULIET – STUDY QUESTIONS – ACT 1
Act I Scenes 1 and 2
Paragraph: Make an assertion about the character or personality of Romeo based on your impression of him in scenes 1 and 2. Make sure to use appropriate quotations and commentary to prove your assertion.
Act I Scenes 3-5
- Explain the operation of fate and how it has worked in Scenes 1 and 2 to help bring the lovers together.
- Identify all the major conflicts established in the first scene.
- Describe the state of mind of Romeo in Scene 2.
- Explain the purpose of the Prologue: introduction of theme, the introduction of the idea of fate, the idea of one’s ability to control one’s life.
- Take apart the speech made by the Prince at the end of Scene 1. What does he say is the history of the feud? What will be the consequences of future feuds? Explain the foreshadowing here.
- When Romeo makes his speech about love, he uses a series of oxymorons to present the theme of love coexisting with hate or death. Choose any three from the passage (beginning with “O brawling love…”); explain how, although the concepts of love and hate do not naturally go together but represent opposites, Romeo’s use of these images intensifies his descriptions of love.
Paragraph: Make an assertion about the character or personality of Romeo based on your impression of him in scenes 1 and 2. Make sure to use appropriate quotations and commentary to prove your assertion.
Act I Scenes 3-5
- The Nurse has been more of a mother to Juliet than her birth mother. Pick out three specific examples that reveal this, explaining how the example reveals the Nurse as the one with a more just claim as mother.
- Look at Juliet’s response to the Nurse and her mother. Identify how she feels about each, making sure to tell me what clues gave away the tone of your feelings.
- List five religious images used in the meeting scene of Romeo and Juliet; explain the effect of the use of these images and what it tells you about the love between the two.
- List 5 examples of the imagery of light and dark in Act 1, analyzing each for the effect of the imagery on the subject.
- Describe the character/personality of Mercutio and what appears to be both his goal in life and his function in the play.
- Act 1 functions as the exposition of the play creating tone. Identify what you think the tone is thus far, explaining why you think this.