Exploring Key Themes and Characters in 'Romeo & Juliet' Act I
Dive into the first act of "Romeo & Juliet" with discussions on conflict, characterization, motivation, foreshadowing, puns, asides, and family relationships. Explore the sources of tension, the Nurse's role, Romeo's friends and their plans, foreshadowing of events, witty puns, strategic asides, and the family tree of key characters. Gain insights into the intricate web of relationships and motives that set the stage for the tragic love story.
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Group Review of The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet DIRECTIONS: In your small group, you will have 30 seconds to discuss your answer to the question before delivering it to the class. Select one person to speak for your group. Act I, scene i Act I, scene v
Conflict. Discuss the sources of tension in the first scene. Why are these characters upset?
Characterization in Act I Characterization. Describe the Nurse. Describe her relationship with Juliet.
Motivation in Act I Motivation. Who are Romeo s friends and what is their plan in scenes 2-5? Discuss the debate they have with Romeo, as well as their motivations for this plan.
Act I Foreshadowing Foreshadowing: The Prologue states that this is the story of star-crossed lovers. There are four strong examples of foreshadowing of evil in Act 1. Identify at least one foreshadowing and explain its purpose.
Pun. A pun is a play on words. Usually a pun involves words that sound alike, even though they are spelled differently and have different meanings. In scene 4, Romeo is punning when he tells Mercutio why he cannot dance. You have dancing shoes / With nimble soles. I have a soul of lead / So stakes me to the ground I cannot move (1.4.14-16). What is Romeo s pun? Find another example of punning in Act I.
Aside. An aside is a remark whispered by one character to another, which other characters on stage are not supposed to hear. In Scene 1, for example, when Sampson and Gregory pick a fight with the Montagues, they plan their strategy through whispered asides. Find another example of an aside in Act 1 and explain how it is used.
Family Tree. Match each of the following characters to one the families: Montagues, Capulets, or Prince Escalus. Benvolio Mercutio Tybalt Nurse Paris Juliet Gregory Romeo
Analogy: In Act I, scene 5 lines 92-105 Romeo and Juliet speak to each other in a sonnet. Paraphrase the lines of the sonnet, explaining the analogy that Romeo uses to woo Juliet. ROMEO: If I profane with my unworthiest hand This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. JULIET: Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss. ROMEO: Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too? JULIET: Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. ROMEO: O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. JULIET: Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake. ROMEO: Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged. JULIET: Then have my lips the sin that they have took. ROMEO: Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again.
