R&J Q&A Act 1

Act 1, Scene 1

  1. Why do Tybalt and Benvolio fight?
    • “coward”(I,i,70)
    • “hate more than hell”(I,i,69)
    • Benvolio is “drawn”(I,i,64)
  2. Several examples of puns are found in this scene. Locate at least 3 puns.
    • coals, collier, choler, collar (I,i,1-4) (swears joke)
    • we’ll be garbagemen but not put up with garbage
    • moved, move “Montegue moves me”(I,i,10)(poopy joke)
    • wall “thrust to the wall”(I,i,15)(rape jokes)
    • “heads of the maids”(I,i,23)(virginity jokes)
    • “stand”(I,i,27)(erection jokes)
      “naked weapon”(I,i,33) sword is mightier than the pen__.
    • “heartless hinds”(I,i,64) rear end jokes
  3. To what does the expression “purple fountains” refer?
    • “pernicious rage”(I,i,81)
  4. Prince Escalus foreshadows what will happen if the street brawls between the Montagues and the Capulets occur again. Quote and explain this statement.
    • “lives will pay the forfeit of the peace”(I,i,95)
    • If any Capulet or any Montague brawl, Old Capulet and Old Montague die.
  5. Quote and explain the example of personification involving the sun.
    • “peer’d forth”(I,i,117) sun doesn’t  have eyes
    • “all-cheering sun”(I,i,131) sun doesn’t have cheer, no smile
    • “draw the shady curtains”(I,i,132) sun doesn’t have arms
  6. Why is Romeo unhappy? Quote a line to support your answer.
    • “pens himself”(I,i,135) Montague suggest Romeo is troubled by feeling like a prisoner or a domestic beast.
      • prisoner? held against his will, Rosaline shuts him down, “love won’t let him be free”.
      • domesticated beast? no soul, no freedom, no self, like a child being grounded for for getting into the “cookie jar”.
  7. What solution does Benvolio suggest to Romeo?
    • “forget to think of her”(I,i,222)
    • “examine other beauties”(I,i,224)
    • but Romeo says “Thou canst not teach me to forget”(I,i,234)

Act 1, Scene 2

  1. Capulet, Juliet’s father, gives her age and a plan for Paris. Quote these two pieces of information.
    • not quite “fourteen”(I,ii,9)
    • “Two more summers … bride”(I,ii,10-11)
    • “to her consent”(I,ii,17)
  2. Explain the humor in the servant’s speech. Explain why he asks Romeo to read the names.
    • He says he is as useless as a tailor with a last(I,ii,39) or a shoemaker with a yard(I,i,40), or a fisher with a pencil(I,ii,40) or a painter with a net(I,ii,41). He can’t read.
  3. Romeo also reads aloud the invitation. What does Benvolio suggest to Romeo? Why?
    • “Go thither…”(I.ii,85) go to Capulet’s party
    • compare Rosaline to other “admired beauties of Verona”(I,ii,84)
    • think “thy swan a crow”(I,ii,87)
    • judge your “lady’s love against some other maid”(I,ii,97)

Act 1, Scene 3

  1. How does Juliet react to her mother’s idea of marriage?
    • “It is an honour I dream not of”(I,iii,67)
  2. What does Juliet agree to do about Paris’s wooing her?
    • “I’ll look to like, if looking liking move”(I,i,98)

Act 1, Scene 4

  1. One piece of information about the setting – the time of day – is given by Romeo. Quote the clue, and give the time of day.
    • 8-10PM “torch”(I,iv,11)
  2. Romeo says it is not a good idea to go to the feast because of a dream he had. Quote an example of foreshadowing.
    • “But ’tis no wit to go”(I,iv,49) – not smart idea
    • “expire the term”(I,iv,109) – Romeo foretells his own death
    • “untimely death”(I,iv,111) –  “”
  3. Romeo’s uneasiness is very different from what Mercutio talks about. What is Mercutio describing, and what does this comment say about him.
    • Love causes one to be fearful, angry, guarded against dreams
    • “blisters”(I,iv,75) – pain in the lips
    • “drums”(I,iv,86) – pain in the ears
    • “enormous amounts of liquor”(I,iv,85) – hangovers
    • “maids lay on their backs”(I,iv,93) – sex
    • “good carriage”(I,iv,94) – childbirth
    • Merc is odd, fixated with negative consequences of dreaming about love.
    • Merc is cold and heartbroken, he is a buzzkill because his “buzz” has been “killed” many a time

Act 1, Scene 5

  1. Since the guests are masked, how does Tybalt recognize Romeo?
    • “This, by his voice, should be a Montague”(I,v,54)
  2. How does Tybalt react to Romeo’s presence? Also, tell what Tybalt’s uncle decides and what Tybalt does as a result.
    • “To strike him dead I hold it not a sin”(I,v,59) – Ty wants to kill him without consequence
    • “Therefore be patient. Take no note of him”(I,v,70)
    • “I will withdraw” but “convert to gall”(I,v,91-2) leave but deliver “bitterness” to Romeo.
  3. How do Romeo and Juliet feel about each other? How do they feel after they learn that each is from an enemy family?
    • Anonymous Juliet: “You kiss by the book”(I,v,110) Juliet must mean this as a compliment, alluding to the Book of Love, but perhaps a new book that bypasses the requirements of chivalry before love is permitted
    • Anonymous Romeo: “Let lips do what hands do”(I,v,103) – let’s smoochy smoochy.
    • Later Juliet: “I must love a loathed enemy”(I,v,141)
    • Later Romeo: “My life is my foe’s debt”(I,v,118)