The following questions should be used to guide you in your reading of the play and to ensure that you recognize important parts of the play. PLEASE USE COMPLETE SENTENCES! ACT 2 SCENE 1 1. What does the Act 2 Prologue say happened to Romeo’s love for Rosaline? It says “dying new love will not kill him” and “it is a deathbed and going to die” 2. What does Romeo mean by “dull earth” in Scene 1, line 2? I think that this means that romeo is her soul's center when he says “dull earth”. 3. Who does Mercutio think that Romeo is in love with in his speech in Scene 1, lines 6-21? Mercutio thinks that romeo is in love with Rosaline. He also makes fun of romeo because he thinks he is in love with rosaline making juliet cry. ACT 2 SCENE 2 1. Juliet is on the balcony outside her bedroom but cannot hear the words that Romeo says to himself as he looks at her from the hiding place below. Answer the following questions about lines 2-23: a. Romeo repeats the light and dark images he introduced when he saw Juliet for the first time. Why does Romeo compare Juliet to the sun? He compares ther to the sun sicnce the sun is bright and beautiful he sees it like juliet. b. Why does he want the sun to kill the envious moon? The reason that he wnats the sun to kill the moon is becausese it tahes away juliet's beauty. c. Why is the moon envious? The moon is more envious because romeo thinks that juliet is more beautiful than the moon. d. Why does he compare Juliet’s eyes to the stars?
One of the reasons Mercutio is most responsible for the tragedies in this play is that he is the one who convinces Romeo to go to the party at the Capulets. This is what started the chain of events that led up to the deaths of himself, Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt and Mrs. Montague. Mercutio tells Romeo that he is a lover. Borrow Cupids wings and soar with them above a common bound”
‘’The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,’’ shows readers that Juliet is now Romeo’s everything and nothing could compare against her. (2.2.19) Shakespeare convinces the audience that Juliet is the most important to Romeo by writing, ‘’But soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!’’ (2.2.2-3). Before meeting Juliet, Romeo had a bad heartbreak. He had convinced himself that he will never find love again, and his life will forever be consumed by darkness. By comparing Juliet to the sun, that gives bright light to everyone, Shakespeare is conveying the message that Juliet is the light to overcome Romeo’s darkness. Juliet is the one that Romeo will fall in love with and once again will be happy. The sun is not only a provider of light, but is essential for survival. By having Romeo call Juliet, the sun, Shakespeare means that without Juliet, Romeo will not be able to survive. Juliet has become Romeo’s everything and is the reason why he is happy and is able to love life again. This also shows Romeo’s infatuation with Juliet, because by comparing Juliet to the sun, Shakespeare is also saying that everything now revolves around Juliet for Romeo. Due to applying metaphors in his dialogues, Shakespeare is able to persuade readers that Juliet is Romeo’s true love and how much she means to
With the idea of light representing love already established, Shakespeare uses it reinforce the impossible odds the lovers are facing. Romeo and Juliet constantly talk of and call on astronomical and light emitting objects to change the dark world they live in. Romeo says when he encounters Juliet on her balcony, “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,” (2.2.5). The courses of all of these celestial objects is set in stone and is celestially difficult to change, and yet Romeo and Juliet nonetheless constantly call on these forces to do the impossible. They do the same with their love, too. The lovers believe that their love and light can indeed destroy the corruption and dark of their society even though they know it is astronomically arduous to accomplish. Romeo and Juliet’s love, they hope, will shine out the dark, letting them live together in a world that accepts them.
Tybalt intended to fight Romeo because he disliked his presence at the Capulet’s party but after Romeo refuses to fight Mercutio feels the need to fight for him instead. This is not the only time Mercutio is a display of masculinity in the play. As Romeo’s friend he likes to mock him, calling him an petrarchan lover and joking about his version of love. The difference to Romeo is also found when juxtaposing how Romeo and Mercutio speak. For instance, when Romeo talks about the girls he is in love with or has a crush on he talks in poetic sentences. In comparision, Mercutios:” Laura was a kitchen slave. Surely she has a better love to make rhymes for her. Dido was shabbily dressed. Cleopatra was a gypsy girl. Helen and Hero were sluts and harlots.
" Mercutio was correct in his predictions. The love between Romeo and Juliet ends up a tragedy for both families. Mercutio's character is essential in driving the action forward in this play. He foreshadows the devastating events, serves as Romeo's friend, and gives the audience important information throughout the play. Mercutio's death is the turning point in the play.
The relationship that Mercutio has with Romeo is sturdy in all areas except love. This opposition can clearly be seen when Montague talks about Romeo’s depression over Roseline. “And private in his chamber pens himself, shuts up his windows,
Romeo’s lovesick moping for Rosaline sparks a need for a wild rant within Mercutio. Mercutio taunts and mocks Romeo, for his dream which tells him they should not crash the Capulet’s party. This, in the end, all falls back on the theme of fate. As a result, Mercutio’s rant persuades Romeo to attend the party because after all, dreams are ridiculous and not always truthful. Additionally, Mercutio is suggesting that, like Queen Mab, dreams (specifically Romeo’s) are petty and insignificant. All of this takes place in Act once Scene four. The purpose of this speech is to add comic relief amongst the tragic events, whilst foreshadowing what’s to come. Romeo is constructed as a juvenile character with a dreamy nature, who is romantic and lovesick , in comparison to his best friend, Mercutio, who takes on the role as a comedic, volatile, pessimistic and sharp-witted personality.
When Romeo arrives, he meets Juliet from the Capulet family. They talk, kiss, and fall in love. Romeo is more content than ever, and Mercutio mocks Romeo’s vision of love saying “Romeo, Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover! Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh, Speak but one rhyme and I am satisfied.” (A2SI) While Romeo is caught up in his romantic love, Mercutio mocks love and views love as merely a sexual
Throughout the works of William Shakespeare, the main character is complemented with another character that acts or serves as the protagonist's foil. In Romeo & Juliet, the protagonist, Romeo, is fickle, idealistic, impractical and naïve. To balance Romeo as a character, Shakespeare creates Mercutio; a good friend of Romeo's who acts as his conscience. While Romeo has an idealistic perspective of the world and more specifically of love, Mercutio balances Romeo's weak points as a dreamer. Mercutio is pragmatic, sensible, and clever and a master on word play. Throughout the play, Mercutio mocks Romeo's naïve and ridiculous fascination with love. Early in the play, Romeo goes on and on about his deep infatuation with the beautiful Rosaline.
Romeo is solely captivated with Juliet because of her physical appeal, having never felt this deep of an attraction before he confuses his lust with love. When Romeo first sees Juliet he seeks her out because “[her] Beauty [was] too rich for use”(692) and “that first did prompt [him] to inquire”(701) If Juliet had not been so fair then their
a. What should Romeo and Juliet have done, instead of what they actually did, at three or more points in the play?
Romeo and Mercutio have very opposite ideas about love. When Romeo is distraught over his unrequited love for Rosaline Mercutio goes on a long speech telling him of Queen Mab, a fairy who controls love. Mercutio says, “‘And in this state she gallops night by night Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;”(1.4.71-72). Romeo and Mercutio’s views of love contrast throughout their time together and Mercutio teases Romeo for his love sickened ways often. Romeo is always in love and jumping into into it headfirst eventually dying for love. Mercutio does not believe in the fickleness of love or dreams, shown here by him calling love simple as a fairy who rides by and fills dreams with whispers of love. Their opposing views give the audience insight into what motivates them, and how having different beliefs about what love is can affect decisions.The audience now feels that Romeo weeping is ridiculous, just like Mercutio’s story of Queen Mab. Romeo and Mercutio’s contrasting views on love allow for a better understanding of their character.
Romeo’s dear friend, Mercutio, greatly affects the events that lead up to the death of Romeo and Juliet. Although he is a loyal friend to Romeo,
Mercutio is a relative of the prince and friend to Romeo. He is an eloquent man and becomes the center of attention whenever he appears in the play. It seems like he dominates Romeo with his teasing and irony. He mocks Romeo as he thinks he is too sentimental and tells him how foolish he is; he turns all of Romeo’s thought about love into sexual metaphors.
The balcony scene in act two, scene two, also known as one of the most famous scenes in all of literature, Shakespeare shows us how Romeo is an “obsessive lover”, and expresses the love that both Romeo and Juliet feel towards each other. He shows us that Romeo is an obsessive lover since he was just mourning his love towards Rosaline, but he falls in love with Juliet with just one look at her. This passage has an important role in the play, because it is where the obstacles that they will both face begin, and will end in misery.