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QUESTIONS
1. Explain the importance of the opening scene of the play.
2. Describe the significant events that happen at Lord Capulet's party.
3. Explain the elements that make the balcony scene so memorable.
4. What part does Mercutio play in the play? What purposes are served by it?
5. Explain Romeo's refusal to fight with Tybalt.
6. What premonitions occur in the play? What is their dramatic purpose?
7. Give an account of the fight in which Mercutio and Tybalt are killed? Show
how they precipitate the action of the tragedy?
8. How do Romeo and Juliet receive the news of Romeo's banishment?
9. Explain how Count Paris contributed to Juliet's demise.
10. Describe what role Friar Lawrence plays in the tragedy.
11. Compare and contrast the characters of Capulet and Montague.
12. Explain the personality and major characteristics of Lady Capulet.
13. Why is the Nurse important to the play?
14. How does the supposed death of Juliet affect Capulet, Lady Capulet, the
Nurse, Paris, and the Friar?
15. Describe the meeting of Paris and Romeo in the churchyard at night. What
is its outcome?
16. What part does the Prince of Verona play in the feud between the Capulets
and the Montagues?
17. Romeo and Juliet are "a pair of star-crossed lovers". Explain
how the family feud and fate lead to their suffering and tragedy.
18. Give examples of wit and humor in the play.
19. Explain how the play is a tragedy of Chance.
20. Explain how the play is a tragedy of Haste.
21. Write a character sketch of Friar Lawrence.
22. Explain how love is developed as the central theme of the play.
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COMMENT ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE
The study of literature is not like the study of math or science, or even history.
While those disciplines are based largely upon fact, the study of literature
is based upon interpretation and analysis. There are no clear-cut answers in
literature, outside of the factual information about an author's life and the
basic information about setting and characterization in a piece of literature.
The rest is a highly subjective reading of what an author has written; each
person brings a different set of values and a different background to the reading.
As a result, no two people see the piece of literature in exactly the same light,
and few critics agree on everything about a book or an author. In this set of
PinkMonkey® Literature Notes for a well-known piece of literature, we at
PinkMonkey.com have tried to give an objective literary analysis based upon
the information actually found in the novel, book, or play. In the end, however,
it is an individual interpretation, but one that we feel can be readily supported
by the information that is presented in the guide. In your course of literature
study, you or your professor/teacher may come up with a different interpretation
of the mood or the theme or the conflict. Your interpretation, if it can be
logically supported with information contained within the piece of literature,
is just as correct as ours. So is the interpretation of your teacher or professor.
Literature is simply not a black or white situation; instead, there are many
gray areas that are open to varying analyses. Your task is to come up with your
own analysis that you can logically defend. Hopefully, these PinkMonkey®
Literature Notes will help you to accomplish that goal.
Table of Contents
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