Questions and Answers

1. ROMEO AND JULIET
ACTTWO
M. Riddell
February 2019

2. What does the Act 2 Prologue say
happened to Romeo’s love for Rosaline?
How is this an example of foreshadowing?
■ The first line of the sonnet says that the love is dead and
buried.The irony is that this is exactly what will happen to
Romeo and Juliet’s young love, as well.

3. SCENE ONE
1. What does Romeo mean by “dull earth” in
Scene 1, line 2?
■ He means that his body feels lifeless (he is the earth here)
because he can’t be next to Juliet right now. He wants to
turn himself inside-out so he can go find the heart that’s
missing (Juliet) and put it back where it belongs (inside of
him).

4. 2. Who does Mercutio think that Romeo is
in love with in his speech in Scene 1, lines
6-21? What’s funny about these lines?
■ Mercutio thinks that Romeo is still hung-up on Rosaline.
The scene is humorous because Mercutio is mocking
Romeo and his love here. He’s pretending to use witchcraft
to conjure Rosaline’s image, hoping that Romeo will show
up to stare at the apparition.

5. SCENETWO
1. When Romeo says, “He jests at scars that never
felt a wound,” what does he mean?
■ He means that Mercutio jokes about Romeo’s loving
feelings because Mercutio himself has never been in love.

6. 2. What does Romeo compare Juliet to in
his first speech in Sc. 2, lines 2-3?
■ Just as he did in 1.5, Romeo refers to Juliet as a brilliant
luminous light thing in the dark.This time she is the sun in
the nighttime sky. She’s so bright and pretty that she
makes the moon jealous, he says.

7. 3. In your own words, rewrite Juliet’s
speech in Scene 2, lines 36-39. Go line-by-
line as you restate her meaning.
■ O Romeo, Romeo, whereforeart thou Romeo?
■ Oh, Romeo, why do you have to be a Montague?
■ Deny thy father and refuse thy name.
■ You should turn your back on your family and change your
name.
■ Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love
■ Or, if you can’t do that, then tell me you love me
■ And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
■ And I’ll change my name/leave my family.

8. 4. a) When Juliet says “That which we call a rose / By
any other word would smell as sweet,” what does she
mean?
■ She means that Romeo would be wonderful, no matter
what name he was called.

9. 4. b) Do names matter in our lives?
■ Names, might actually matter and Juliet is somewhat
wrong. If, for example, your parents were hippies and
named you Moonbeam Smith, you might have grown into
a different version of yourself because of the way the world
treats someone named Moonbeam. It’s fun to think about
how your name influences people’s reactions to you.

10. 4. c) If you had a different first name, do
you think you might have grown up to be
a slightly different person?

11. 5. Why does Juliet ask Romeo not to swear
his love’s allegiance by the moon?
■ The moon is not constant; it’s always changing in a cycle
from full to a barely there crescent. She says she doesn’t
want to think that his love will be similar to such a here-
today-gone-tomorrow cycle.

12. 6. Which one is the first to mention
marriage? What does this show us about
this character?
■ Juliet mentions marriage first.
■ This shows us that she is a good girl; there won’t be any
hanky-panky. If he likes it, Romeo needs to put a ring on it.

13. 7. Romeo says he will make the wedding
arrangements and send a message to
Juliet when he gets things settled. At what
time tomorrow morning can Juliet expect
to hear from him?
■ Nine o’clock

14. SCENETHREE
1. At the beginning of Scene 3, what is
Friar Laurence doing?
■ He’s gathering herbs and flowers in a basket. His hobby is
herbology, and he likes to investigate the medicinal and
poisonous qualities of the plants and flowers he’s
gathering.

15. 2. According to the Friar, how are
humans like plants?
■ Inside both plants and human lies goodness and
darkness/medicine and poison. We all have both qualities
within us, but it is how we use those things given to us
from Mother Earth that determines the health and
happiness of our lives.

16. 3. With whom does Friar Laurence assume
Romeo has spent the night?
■ The Friar thinks Romeo was with Rosaline, his old crush.

17. 4. Why does the Friar begrudgingly agree
to marry Romeo and Juliet?
■ He hopes the marriage will stop some of the fighting
between the warring families. He sees that good things
could come out of this union.

18. SCENE FOUR
1. Who are Laura, Dido, Cleopatra, Helen,
and Hero?
■ These women are all famous beautiful women from history
and literature.

19. What does Mercutio say about them?
■ Mercutio is saying that Romeo thinks all of these gorgeous
ladies are nothing more than kitchen wenches and
prostitutes when you compare them to the glorious
Rosaline. Obviously, Mercutio doesn’t yet know that
Romeo has moved on to a new love.

20. 2. Write down three subjects Mercutio and
Romeo make puns about in
Scene 4, lines 44-70:
■ slip/slip (counterfeit coin);
■ courtesy/curtsy;
■ sole (of shoe)/sole (alone);
■ goose (to eat)/goose (pinch bottom)

21. 3. How does Mercutio treat the Nurse?
■ c. He makes rude jokes about her

22. 4. What instructions does Romeo tell the
Nurse to pass on to Juliet?
■ He says that Juliet should make up an excuse that she
needs to go to confession at the church this afternoon.
■ When she gets to the church, Romeo will be there waiting
with the Friar to marry them.

23. 5. Who does the Nurse say also wants to
marry Juliet?
Count Paris
What does she say Juliet’s feelings are for this
other suitor?
Juliet’s not interested in him at all. Juliet,
the Nurse says, looks sick and pale
whenever the subject of Paris arises.

24. 6. What is a “tackled stair?”
■ A rope ladder. Romeo will have one delivered to the Nurse
in about an hour so that he may use the rope ladder
tonight to be with Juliet.

25. SCENE FIVE
1. At the beginning of the scene, Juliet is
fretting because it’s taken the Nurse so
long to return with news.The Nurse left at
9 a.m., but now it’s what time of day?
■ Noon

26. 2. What’s humorous about the way the
Nurse treats Juliet in this scene?
■ The Nurse is deliberately stalling because she knows how
anxious Juliet is to hear the news from Romeo.This is a
cute scene and should be played for laughs.

27. SCENE SIX
1. In your own words, explain the Friar’s
warning in these lines: “These violent delights have
violent ends And in their triumph die like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume.”
■ The Friar is saying that loving quickly and sharply like this
means that your love will end quickly and sharply, too.
■ This intense-type of love consumes itself with its heat, like
gunpowder is burned up by fire when they touch.
■ The Friar is trying to warn Romeo here to slow down and
contain his passion.

28. 2. In your own words, explain the Friar’s
message in these lines: “Therefore love moderately;
long love doth so: Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.”
■ Again, he wants Romeo to slow down a little bit so that his
love with Juliet can be a lasting love.
■ When it comes to love, falling too quickly in love is just as
bad as being too slow to act on your loving feelings.
■ You have to time these things just right, if you want to
build a love that will last a long time.

29. 3. What happens at the very end of this
scene?
■ Romeo and Juliet get married, but it happens off-stage.
The audience knows, though, that they are now officially,
if not publicly, Mr. and Mrs. Romeo Montague.