1. Who Are the Two Feuding Families?

Study Sheet

Act One

Scene One

1. Who are the two feuding families?

2. What are the servants discussing in the opening of the play?

3. Why is Romeo upset?

4. What does Benvolio vow to do?

5. What suggests that Romeo is a man looking for someone to love?

6. There are references to the mythological god and goddess Cupid and Diana in this scene. What significance do they have for Romeo in this scene?

7. The quarrel of the servants renews the feud. What does this illustrate?

8. Describe Benvolio.

9.Describe Tybalt.

10.What does the color purple mean?

11. Explain “dark curtains from dawn’s bed.”

12. What is Romeo’s obsession?

13. Why is it ironic that Romeo dismisses the idea of a feud?

14.What is a sorrow to Romeo?

Scene Two

1. How old is Juliet?

2. Who is in love with her?

3. What does Capulet tell Paris?

4. Where do Romeo and Benvolio decide to go at the end of the scene?

5.Why is Capulet not eager to renew a feud?

6. What is the main plot of the play?

7. What is the subplot of the play?

8.Where does the subplot begin?

Scene Three

1. What does Lady Capulet ask Juliet?

2. What is Juliet’s response to this question?

3. What is important about her response?

4. Now that you’ve met Juliet do you think she and Romeo will make a good pair? How do their attitudes about love compare?

5. To what extent do you believe that Juliet is capable of making mature decisions about love and marriage at this point in the play?

Scene Four and Five

1. What happens at the party that causes Romeo to forget Rosaline?

2. What do Romeo and Juliet realize about one another at the end of Act One?

3. Why wouldn’t Capulet let Tybalt attack/kill Romeo at the ball?

4. How do you account for Romeo and Juliet falling in love so quickly?

5. Most fairy tales suggest that love will triumph in the end and that everyone in the story will live happily ever after. How does Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech differ from the usual fairy tale format? Is his speech a warning to Romeo?

6.What does Romeo call Juliet just prior to kissing her?

7. What did she first ask the nurse about two other guys?