Students analyze Romeo and Juliet’s first encounter at the Capulet Ball (1.5.92–109). Students explore how Juliet’s response to Romeo’s initial overture (1.5.96–109) shapes the dialogue that follows and what this increasingly intricate interaction might reveal about these two complex characters.
Read
Romeo and Juliet Act 2.2, lines 1–61 (from “He jests at scars that never felt a wound” to “Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike”). Think about he effect of Shakespeare’s structural choices in these lines, as well as how he develops the central idea of individual identity versus group identification.
Vocabulary
- aloft (adv.) – high above
- discourses (v.) – talks
- wherefore (adv.) – why
- baptized (v.) – given a name through a ceremony that officially makes someone a member of the Christian Church
Romeo & Juliet Vocabulary Quiz: Lessons 1-5 http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=mtgwntg3mar3r0
Discuss
How does Romeo’s initial attitude toward Juliet compare to his approach toward Rosaline?
Answer Questions
- To whom is Romeo speaking in lines 1–9? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.
- What is Romeo doing as he speaks these lines? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.
- Where is Juliet and what is she doing?
- Explain the significance of Romeo’s remark that “[Juliet’s] eye discourses … / ’tis not to me she speaks” (lines 13–14)
- How are figurative language and structural choices related in lines 25–32? (*answered for you)
Romeo describes Juliet as a “bright angel” (line 26) and “being o’er [his] head” (line 27), showing that Romeo thinks of Juliet as something wonderful and emphasizing that Juliet is “aloft”(lines 9–10) while Romeo is on the ground below.
Romeo consistently refers to Juliet as being above him: he compares Juliet to a “winged messenger of heaven” (line 28) and refers to “the white-upturned wondering eyes” of “mortals” such as Romeo who look at her (lines 29–30). Shakespeare’s choice to place Juliet above Romeo physically onstage underlines his belief that she is better than mere mortals like him (line 30). - (from “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo” to “which is no part of thee, / Take all myself”) : To whom is Juliet speaking in these lines? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.
- What effect does Shakespeare create through Romeo’s question in line 37 (“Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?”)?
- How does Juliet develop a central idea in lines 33–36 and further develop it in 38-49?
- (from “I take thee at thy word” to “Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike” ): How does Romeo develop a central idea in these lines?
Open Response
- Analyze the effect of Shakespeare’s structural choices in this scene.