MIDLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Family Activity/Educational Guide

2013

www.mcfta.org

Purpose: Learn, Excel & HAVE FUN!!!

The Magic of Theatre entertains, educates and enriches lives. Studies consistently show that students exposed to the arts score higher than the median, demonstrate higher self- esteem and confidence and have a higher awareness of other cultures and races. The audience is a huge part of the show; therefore, we are offering activity sheets to share before and after the performance for student enjoyment and enrichment.

Drama Terms: Do you know (Quiz your students or classmates)

Producer: Develops and presents theatrical productions; Provides financial, administrative and marketing support; Secures rights to the play; Selects and manages the director and his or her artistic vision; Develops and supervises the budget and advertising. Playwright: the person who writes the play; wright is the suffix found in many English words meaning maker or fashioner of. (i.e., millwright, shipwright). If the play is an original work, and the playwright is a part of the artistic process, this role would include working with the director on script changes, etc. Artistic Director: Responsible for overall Artistic Excellence of performance- may be the director. Director: Develops, defines and communicates the artistic vision of the play or production to the design staff; Instructs and directs the actors in their roles. Meets with production staff on a regular basis to ensure the vision is being achieved. Assistant Director: Works as an assistant to the Director in producing the show; May be the cast prompter with script dialog. Musical Director: Works closely with Director to understand artistic vision for the production and ensures music fits vision; Hires the musicians and rehearses with the orchestra. Works with actors on learning vocal technique and vocal score. Actor: Individual who performs a role or represents a character in a play or production. Production Manager: Responsible for the technical preparations and scheduling of rehearsals and productions; Works with MCFTA/Center Stage to develop operating budgets. Stage Manager: Responsible for overseeing all the backstage elements of a production and cueing actors, lights, and sound changes during the run of the show. Scenic Designer: Using the script, works with the Directors artistic vision of the production to create a setting for the show. Stage crew: Backstage technical staff responsible for moving set and props as needed for production. Property Master: Person responsible for acquiring articles needed to produce the play and placing them where and when they are needed in the play. Lighting Designer: Develops a lighting plan to reinforce and support the Directors artistic vision using the set and action on stage. Sound Designer: Supplies all the sound effects needed for the show. Sets and mixes microphones during the show to create balance. Costume Designer/Mistress: Person who designs and creates clothing and costumes to be worn by actors in the performance; Responsible for the care of the costumes.

Makeup Artist: Person skilled in using cosmetics and hair pieces to transform actors into characters. Historian/Dramaturge: Person who does research and background investigation regarding the play and its performances. Choreographer: One who designs and directs dance and stage movements in a musical production in conjunction with the directors vision.

Biography of the Playwright: William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was baptized on the 26th of April in 1564; he died on the 23rd of April 1616. Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. Father: John and Mother: Mary. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others. Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognized as Shakespeare's. Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry" In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

About the Play:

In Verona, Italy, Romeo and Juliet, the teenaged children of two feuding families (Montagues and Capulets, respectively), meet at a feast and fall in love. They are secretly married by Romeo's confessor and father figure, Friar Laurence, with the assistance of Juliet's nursemaid. Unfortunately, a street duel breaks out between Juliet's cousin Tybalt and Romeo's friend Mercutio when Tybalt insults Romeo. However, since Romeo has just been married to his cousin, he refuses to fight, leading Mercutio to be a loyal friend and fight for him. This leads to Mercutio's death. Romeo retaliates by fighting Tybalt and killing him, and is penalized by the Prince of Verona with banishment instead of a death penalty. Unaware of Juliet's secret marriage, her father has arranged for her to marry wealthy Count Paris. In order to escape this arranged marriage and remain faithful to Romeo, Juliet consumes a potion prepared by Friar Laurence, intended to make

her appear dead for 42 hours. Friar Laurence plans to inform Romeo of the hoax so that he can meet Juliet after her burial and escape with her when she recovers from her swoon, but the news of Juliet's death reaches Romeo before the friar's letter. In despair, he goes to the tomb and there drinks a poison, killing himself. Awakening shortly after he expires, Juliet discovers a dead Romeo and proceeds to stab herself with his dagger. Later, the two families attend their joint funeral together and agree to end the feud.

Characters:
Romeo and Juliet: Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are immature teenagersin fact, Juliet is not yet fourteenwho fall deeply in love even though their families are bitter enemies. Impatient and rash, they seize the moment and marry in secret. But further efforts to conceal their actions go awry and end tragically. In world literature they have become archetypical ill-fated lovers, and countless other literary and artistic works, including the Academy Award-winning film West Side Story, have been based on this Shakespeare drama. Montague, Capulet: Heads of feuding families. Lady Montague: Wife of Montague. Lady Capulet: Wife of Capulet. Escalus: Prince of Verona. Paris: Young nobleman, kinsman of Escalus. The Capulets pressure Juliet to accept his marriage proposal. Nurse of Juliet: The nurse is Juliet's attendant, confidante, and messenger. At Juliet's behest, she meets with Romeo to sound him out on his intentions. Her homely language and her preoccupation with the practical, everyday world contrast sharply with the elevated language of Romeo and Juliet and their preoccupation with the idealistic world of love. Old Man: Cousin to Capulet Mercutio: Kinsman of the prince and friend of Romeo. He the utter stupidity of the feud between the Capulets and the Montagues and understands that overpowering, passionate lovethe kind of love that ignores reason and common sensecan lead to tragedy. Benvolio: Nephew of Montague, and friend to Romeo. Tybalt: Headstrong nephew of Lady Capulet. Ever ready to fight the Montagues at the slightest provocation, he personifies the hatred generated by feuding families. Friar Laurence, Friar John: Franciscan priests (robed Catholic monks who follow the rule of St. Francis of Assisi). Friar Laurence marries Romeo and Juliet, hoping the marriage will end the Montague-Capulet feud, and tries to help them overcome their problems with a scheme that, unfortunately, goes awry. Friar John, a minor character, is charged with carrying a letter to Romeo. Balthasar: servant of Romeo. Sampson, Gregory: Servants of Capulet. Peter: Servant of Juliet's nurse. Abraham: Servant of Montague. Apothecary: Poverty-stricken with "famine" in his cheeks, he illegally sells Romeo a deadly poison. Thus, he provides an

interesting contrast to Romeo in that he breaks a law to stay alive whereas Romeo breaks a law (the moral law against suicide) to die. Rosaline: The girl with whom Romeo is infatuated before he meets Juliet. Rosaline does not appear in the play, but is referred to by Romeo, Benvolio, Mercutio, and Friar Laurence. Chorus: The chorus recites the prologue preceding the first act. The prologue sets the scene, Verona, and tells of the "ancient grudge" between the Montague and Capulet families. It contains two of the plays most famous lines: From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life. The chorus also recites a prologue before Act II. First Servingman, Second Servingman, Third Servingman: Workers in the Capulet home. Maskers: Masked guests at the Capulet party in the first act. Musicians Various Citizens of Verona Relatives of the Capulets and Montagues Guards, Watchmen, Attendants Page of Paris Another Page An Officer

From Page to Stage:

Romeo Montague absolutely adores Juliet Capulet. Juliet Capulet absolutely adores Romeo Montague. However, the Montague family absolutely despises the Capulet family, and vice versa, because of an old grudge. How is it possible for Romeo and Juliet to love and live happily in so poisonous an atmosphere? That is the central issue of this play. .......In a prologue to Act I, an actor called the chorus recites a sonnet in which he describes the bitter hatred separating the Montagues and Capulets (residents of Verona, a city in northern Italy about sixty-five miles west of Venice and the Adriatic coast) and identifies Romeo and Juliet as lovers who had the misfortune to be born into warring families: From forth the fatal loins of these two foes [the Montagues and the Capulets] / A pair of star-crossd lovers take their life" (5-6). Take their life appears to have a double-meaning: first, that they come into existence; second, in a foreshadowing of events to come, that they go out of existence by taking their own lives. So it is that, from the very beginning of their existence as human beings within the wombs of their mothers, Romeo and Juliet are doomed by Fate as children of hatred. .......So deep is the enmity between the two families that the friends of the Montagues and the friends of the Capulets are also enemies. In the first scene of Act I, two servants of the Capulets, Sampson and Gregory, encounter two servants of the Montagues, Abraham and Balthasar, on a street. Sampson places his thumb between his teeth, then flicks it forward at the Montague servants. This insulting gesture carries the same meaning as an upturned middle finger in modern America. Verbal insults follow and swords cross. Tybalt, a belligerent Capulet ally, lashes out at Benvolio, a friend of Romeo Montague, for attempting to make peace, saying: . . . Peace! I hate the word, / As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee" (1.1.52-53). The ruckus attracts citizens, peace officers, supporters of the Montagues and Capulets, and eventually Lord and Lady Capulet and Lord and Lady Montague. A brawl ensues. The Prince of Verona, Escalus, intervenes and ends the fray with these stern words: If ever you disturb our streets again, / your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace" (1.1.8283). .......Romeo is not among the street brawlers, for he has been off brooding in a sycamore grove and nearby woods over a young lady who is his hearts delight, a young lady who denies him her affections. But her name is Rosaline, not Juliet. Rosaline, Lord Capulet's niece, is so fair, Romeo says, that when she dies, all that is beautiful in the world will die with her. However, Rosaline vows to live a life of chastity. She will not yield to love. Nor will she bide the encounter of assailing eyes, / Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold (1.1.205-206). .......When Lord Capulet holds a dinner party attended by everyone who is anyone in Veronaincluding the city's most winsome young ladies, Rosaline among themRomeo attends to see Rosaline and measure her against the other comely

maidens. Surely she will outshine them all. Because of the hatred dividing the Capulets and the Montagues, Romeo wears a mask. His friends Benvolio and Mercutio also attend, likewise disguised. Lord Capulet welcomes all the gentlemen attending the party, including the masqueraders, and invites them to dance, saying, "Ladies that have their toes / Unplagu'd with corns will have a bout with you" (1.5.11-12). And then Romeo notices Juliet. She is flawlessly exquisite; she is stunning, gorgeous, ravishing; she is beyond compare. All thoughts of Rosaline vanish. There is only Juliet. Unable to contain himself, Romeo declares: O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! .............It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night ...........Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; ..........Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! (1.5.41-44) .......Tybalt, Lord Capulet's nephew, recognizes Romeo's voice and threatens violence, asking a boy to bring him his rapier. But Lord Capulet, not wishing to ruin the party, steps in to keep the peace, noting that Romeo is behaving in a gentlemanly manner. Juliet, meanwhile, has noticed Romeoand fallen deeply in love. She and Romeo exchange beautiful words that seal their love. ..............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. (1.5.93-100)

.......Later that night, Romeo climbs the wall behind the Capulet house and enters an orchard on the Capulet property. Benvolio and Mercutio, following behind, call out for him, but Romeo does not respond. Mercutio, sensing that Romeo's sudden obsession with Juliet will go amiss, says: "If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark" (2. 1. 38). His words foreshadow the tragic events that follow. When Juliet appears alone at a window overlooking the Capulet orchard, Romeo, observing her from below, says: ............. ........... ............. .............. .............. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she. (2.2.4-8)

... .

Juliet then unburdens the weight of her thoughts: .............. ............. .............. ............ O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? .Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet. (2.2.37-40)

.......After Romeo announces himself to her, they vow undying love. Romeo visits a priest, Friar Laurence, the next day to tell him of his love for Juliet, and the good Franciscan approves of the relationship, believing it will be the key to ending the Montague-Capulet feud. Later, Juliet sends her nurse to Romeo to sound him out on his intentions, and he tells her that Juliet should come to Friar Laurence's cell to confess her sins, then marry Romeo. After the nurse reports back to Juliet, all goes according to plan, and Romeo and Juliet become husband and wife, although they make no public announcement of their marriage. .......

On his way back from the wedding, Romeo encounters his friend Mercutio quarreling with Tybalt. Romeo tries to pacify them, to no avail, and Tybalt mortally wounds Mercutio. Mercutiowho understands the stupidity and folly of the Montague-Capulet feudcurses the two families, saying, "A plague o' [on] both your houses!" (3.1.61). He repeats these words three times before dying. Romeo, in turn, kills Tybalt. The fighting has attracted citizens of Verona, including the prince; he banishes Romeo. .......When Juliet asks her nurse for news of Romeo, the nurse says, "Ah, well-a-day! he's dead, he's dead, he's dead!" (3.2.41). She is referring to Tybalt, her good friend; Juliet thinks she is speaking of Romeo and wonders whether he has killed himself. The nurse then recounts the events of the violent encounter: Romeo killed Tybalt, Juliet's kin. At first, Juliet criticizes Romeo for committing such a deed but moments later scolds herself for speaking harsh words about her beloved husband. .......Before leaving the city, Romeo returns to Juliet and spends the night with her. At dawn, as the lovers gaze out the window, Romeo tells Juliet: ............. .............. .............. ............. .............. Juliet replies, .............. ............ ............. .............. .............. Yon light is not daylight, I know it, .It is some meteor that the sun exhales, .To be to thee this night a torch-bearer, And light thee on thy way to Mantua: Therefore stay yet; thou needst not to be gone. (3.5.14-18) Look, love, what envious streaks Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east: Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. I must be gone and live, or stay and die.(3.5.9-13)

Romeo tarries awhile longer, then flees to Mantua, a city in Italy's Lombardy region to the west. Meanwhile, Juliet's mother announces that her daughter must marry Paris, a nobleman. Desperate for help, Juliet asks Friar Laurence for advice. He tells her to consent to the wedding, then drink a potion that will make her appear dead. After the Capulets lay her to rest in the family burial vault, the friar tells her, he and Romeo will rescue her. Juliet agrees to the plan, and Friar Laurence sends Friar John to deliver a message to Romeo that will inform him of the scheme. But, by accident, the message goes undelivered. .......In her bed chamber, Juliet takes out the vial containing the potion. She is fearful that it may not work. Overcoming that fear, she then worries that the potion may actually be a poison that Friar Laurence had prepared for her so that he will not have to be dishonored by marrying her to Paris while she is already married to Romeo. However, she overcomes this fear as well, then takes the drug and collapses onto the bed. When wedding preparations are under way in the Capulet household, Lord Capulet tells the nurse to awaken Juliet. But the nurse discovers her lying lifeless and stiff. Lord Capulet observes that "Death lies on her like an untimely frost" (4.5.34). .......When news of Juliet's "death" reaches Romeo, he purchases a potion of his owna deadly onefrom an apothecary and returns to Verona to die alongside Juliet. At the burial vault, he encounters Paris and his page. Paris is there to lay flowers at Juliet's grave. The adversaries quarrel, exchanging insults, then fight. While the page runs out for help, Romeo slays Paris, then takes a last, longing look at Juliet, saying, ............. O my love! my wife! .Death, that hath suckd the honey of thy breath, Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty: Thou art not conquerd; beautys ensign yet s crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, And deaths pale flag is not advanced there. (5.3.94-99)

............. .............. .............. .............. ..............

.......Romeo then swallows the poison and dies. After Juliet awakens and discovers the bodies, grief overwhelms her and she kills herself, using Romeo's dagger. When the page returns with three watchmen, they discover the bloody scene and one of the watchmen fetches the Montague and Capulet families and the Prince of Verona. Others come running to the

scene. Lord Montague arrives alone, telling the prince that his wife died during the night of grief brought on by Romeos exile. When everyone sees the bodies, the prince calls for quiet and calm while he inquires about the cause of the deaths. Friar Laurence comes forth and explains in detail the plot he conceived to feign Juliets death. Next, Romeos servant, Balthasar, says he conveyed news of Juliets apparent demise to Romeo, who then returned from Mantua. Finally, the page of Paris recounts what he saw at the tomb. The prince reproaches the Montagues and the Capulets, saying, "See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, / That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love" (5.3.313-314). The feuding families then reconcile, and the prince observes: .............. ............. ............. .............. .............. .............. A glooming peace this morning with it brings; .The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head: Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things: Some shall be pardond, and some punished: For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. (5.3.327-332)

Themes:
Romantic love can be beautiful and ennobling. The love between Romeo and Juliet is sublimely beautiful. Not only do they feel deeply for each other, but they also respect each other. Neither attempts to impose his or her will on the other; neither places his or her welfare above the other. Realizing that love and lust are not the same, they prize each other spiritually as well as physically. Therefore, meeting in secret from time to time to gratify their powerful sexual desires without the permanent commitment of marriage is out of the question. Such an arrangement would cheapen their relationship; it would reduce their love to a mere bestial craving. Consequently, at great risk, they decide to sanctify their relationship with a marriage ceremony binding them to eternal love. Theirs is no Hollywood marriage for three months or three years, based on selfish sexual gratification; theirs is a marriage meant for eternity, based on unselfish commitment to the spouse. Passion Can Overtake Reason and Common Sense. So powerful is the love between Romeo and Juliet that it subjugates reason and common sense as guiding forces. True, their love has helped them achieve a level of maturity beyond their years, but it has also caused them to take dangerous risks. Their behavior, as well as events over which they have no control, vernalize their relationship, giving it little time to reach full growth. In the end, their overpowering feelings cause them to take their own lives. Likewise, so powerful is the hatred between the Montagues and Capulets that it promotes constant tension and violence, resulting in the deaths of Tybalt and Mercutioand, of course, the deaths of their own children, Romeo and Juliet . Immaturity and inexperience can lead to tragic endings. This theme, related to Theme 2, reaches its full development when callow Romeo and Juliet, believing all is lost, act out of the passion of the moment and commit suicide. If they had had the wisdom to consider that their whole lives lay before them, that other paths lay open to them, they surely would have embraced a fabian tactic to whittle away the opposition. Judge people by their character and personal qualities, not by their name or social standing. As Juliet observes: Whats in a name? that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet (2.2.47-48) . Innocent children sometimes pay for the sins of their parents. Romeo and Juliet forfeit their lives partly as a result of their parents' hatred and prejudice. Fate acts through human folly. As in Macbeth, King Lear, Julius Caesar, and other plays of Shakespeare, the force of Fate seems all-powerful and ineluctable. It is as if human beings are puppets who have no control over their actions. From the very beginning, Romeo and Juliet are "star-cross'd" as children of "fatal loins" just as Macbeth is doomed by the prediction of the witches, Julius Caesar by the ominous words of a soothsayer, and King Lear, Cordelia, and others around them by "the gods," who, as Gloucester says, "kill us for their sport." But Shakespeare knows that the events leading to tragedy cannot be explained away so simply. Human beings have free will; they have the power to create their futures.

Unfortunately, too often they lack the wisdom or moral strength to make the right decisions and, instead, pursue a course of action which seems "fated" for disaster.

Language Art Lessons to Explore in the Text Examples of Imagery: Figures of Speech
Language Romeo and Juliet explodes with verbal fireworks. As one of Shakespeares early dramas, the play was a vehicle through which he attempted to startle audiences with his ability to manipulate language, creating puns, rhyming poetry, and striking similes, metaphors, and other figures of speech. The play opens with the chorus reciting a poem in sonnet form, a device also used to open the second act. In the opening dialogue in Act I, Shakespeare spices his writing with puns and double-entendres, as when the servants Sampson and Gregory make veiled sexual references: GREGORY The quarrel is between our masters and us their men. SAMPSON Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids, and cut off their heads. GREGORY The heads of the maids? SAMPSON Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; take it in what sense thou wilt. (1.1.14-17) Such language is crude, but it serves a purpose: to contrast with elevated, lyrical imagery used later by Romeo and Juliet to express their love. Mercutio, a brilliant punster and shaper of imagery, uses his way with words to criticize the stupidity of the feuding families and the folly of blind passion. Sometimes, a single passage he speaks contains a gamut of language devices. Note, for example, the following prose passage, spoken when he sees Romeo approaching. It begins with a simile, then follows with alliterations, metaphors, hyperboles, and allusions to Petrarchs sonnets, to Dido (the Carthaginian queen in Vergils Aeneid), to Cleopatra (queen of Egypt), to Helen of Troy, to Hero (a priestess of the Greek goddess Aphrodite), and to Thisbe, a character in a mythological tale who kills herself after discovering the dead body of her lover, Pyramus. Now is he [Romeo] for the numbers that Petrarch flowed in: Laura to his [Romeos] lady was but a kitchen-wench; marry, she had a better love to be-rhyme her; Dido a dowdy; Cleopatra a gipsy; Helen and Hero hildings and harlots; This be a grey eye or so, but not to the purpose. Signior Romeo, bon jour! Theres a French salutation to your French slop. (2.4.21) 1....Ethiope: Black African in Ethiopia. 2... Palmer: Pilgrim visiting the Holy Land. 3....Soft: Hush; stop what you are doing; pay attention. 4....Wherefore: Why; for what reason. 5....Ensign: Sign, symbol. 6....Numbers: Verses; lines of poetry. 7....Laura: Young woman to whom the Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374) wrote love poems. 8....Marry: Archaic sentence introduction equivalent to well, as in Well, hes a fine fellow; interjection expressing surprise, as in No kidding! or Good grief! 9....Hildings: Low, base, contemptible persons. extinguisher and pain acting

Imagery: Light and Darkness

Perhaps the most memorable imagery in the play centers on figures of speech involving light and darkness. Following are examples of such imagery. One fire burns out anothers burning, One pain is lessend by anothers anguish. (1.2.42-43)

Paradox and repetition make memorable these lines spoken by Benvolio. There are two paradoxes: fire acting as a fire extinguisher and pain acting as a comforter. Likewise, there are two examples of repetition: One and anothers in the second line repeat one and anothers in the first. Like a rich jewel in an Ethiopes ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! (1.5.42-44) In a simile, Romeo compares Juliet to the earring of an Ethiopian. In a metaphor, he compares the darkness of night to a cheek. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she. (2.2.4-8) In a metaphor, Romeo compares Juliet to the light of the morning sun. An apostrophe addresses the sun (Arise, fair sun). These same words contain a metaphor and a personification comparing the sun to a person (Juliet). In another metaphor-personification, the moon also becomes a person. The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night, Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light, And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels From forth days path and Titans fiery wheels (2.3.3-6) After rising in his cell at dawn, Friar Laurence observes a sunrise overtaking the darkness. He personifies morning and night, with the former chasing the latter away. Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night; For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night, Whiter than new snow on a ravens back. (3.2.19-21) In a metaphor, Juliet compares Romeo to day in night.

Imagery: Nature
The play also abounds in nature imagery, as in the following passages: Many a morning hath he [Romeo] there been seen, 116 With tears augmenting the fresh mornings dew, Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs: But all so soon as the all-cheering sun Should in the furthest east begin to draw 120 The shady curtains from Auroras bed, Away from light steals home my heavy son. (1.1.116-122) Romeo's father compares the signs of his son's melancholy to dew and clouds. When the sun draws back curtains to reveal dawn, Romeo goes home. This bud of love, by summers ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet. (2.2.129-130) Juliet speaks metaphors comparing love to a budding flower and the growing season to the ripening breath of summer. My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite. (2.2.141-143) Here, hyperbole and paradox help Juliet express the depth of her love.

The earth thats natures mother is her tomb; What is her burying grave that is her womb, (2.3.11-12) Using personification and paradox, Friar Laurence observes that the earth is the mother of nature and that her life-giving womb is also a tomb. Whats in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. (2.2.47-48) In a metaphor, Juliet compares hers and Romeos surnames to a flower. What she is saying is that what counts in life is what a person is, not who a person is. In modern terms, she is saying it does not matter whether a person is rich or poor, black or white, Catholic or Jew, American or Chinese. What matters is what he thinks and what he feels. A rose would still smell sweet if it were called a turnip or a dandelion. A plague o both your houses! They have made worms meat of me. (3.1.70-71) Mortally wounded by Tybalt, Romeos friend Mercutio curses the Houses of Montague and Capulet. Worms' meat, a metaphor referring to his body, means that Mercutio knows he is about to die and that worms will feed on his flesh after he is buried.

Imagery: Oxymoron and Paradox

.......Paradoxes and oxymorons appear frequently in Romeo and Juliet. Perhaps the most famous oxymoron in the play is the one occurring in the last two words of this line: Good-night, good-night! parting is such sweet sorrow (2. 2. 201). An oxymoron consists of two contradictory words occurring one after the other. A paradox consists contradictory words separated by intervening words. In the second scene of Act III, when Juliet criticizes Romeo for killing Tybalt while praising him as her beloved, she manages to squeeze in six oxymorons and four paradoxes: Beautiful tyrant (oxymoron, line 80) Fiend angelical (oxymoron, line 80) Dove-feather'd raven (oxymoron, line 81) Wolvish-ravening lamb (oxymoron, line 81) Damned saint (oxymoron, line 84) Honourable villain (oxymoron, line 84) Despised substance of divinest show (paradox, line 83) Spirit of a fiend in moral paradise of such sweet flesh (paradox, lines 87-88) Book containing such vile matter so fairly bound (paradox, lines 88-89) Deceit should dwell in such a gorgeous palace (paradox, lines 89-90)

Other Examples of Imagery (Figures of Speech)

.......Following are examples of figures of speech in addition to those listed under Language and Imagery..

Alliteration
Bid a sick man in sadness make his will (1.1.194) She will not stay the siege of loving terms, Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes, Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold. (1.1.204-206)

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Do thou but close our hands with holy words, Then love-devouring death do what he dare. (2.6.8-9) This days black fate on more days doth depend. (3.1.84) Unseemly woman in a seeming man; Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both! (3.3.120-121)

Anaphora and Simile

Is love a tender thing? it is too rough, Too rude, too boisterous; and it pricks like thorn. 1.4.27-28) Anaphora: words boldfaced in red Simile: Comparison of love to a thorn

Apostrophe and Personification

Come, civil night, Thou sober-suited matron, all in black. (3.2.12-13) Apostrophe: Juliet addresses the night. Personification: Juliet compares night to a person.

Hyperbole
a sea nourishd with lovers tears (1.1.182)

Irony, Dramatic
In the fifth scene of Act III, lines 72-111, Juliet pretends to her mother that she hates Romeo for killing Tybalt and that she desires vengeance. The audience well knows, of course, what Lady Capulet does not: that Juliet desperately loves Romeo.

Metaphor
What ho! you men, you beasts, That quench the fire of your pernicious rage With purple fountains issuing from your veins (1.1.69-71) Comparison of the intensity of rage to fire Comparison of spurting blood to purple fountains An hour before the worshippd sun Peerd forth the golden window of the east, A troubled mind drave me to walk abroad. (1,1,104-106) Comparison of the sun to a seeing creature Comparison of the eastern horizon to a window

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I have a soul of lead So stakes me to the ground I cannot move. (1.4.17-18) Comparison of the soul to lead Care keeps his watch in every old mans eye, And where care lodges, sleep will never lie. (2.3.39-40) Comparison of care to an observer When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew; But for the sunset of my brothers son 136 It rains downright. (3.5.135-137) Capulet compares Tybalt's death to a sunset.

Oxymoron
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! (1.1.168)

Paradox
Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms! (1.1.167)

Personification
And more inconstant than the wind, who woos Even now the frozen bosom of the north, And, being angerd, puffs away from thence, Turning his face to the dew-dropping south. (1.4.109-112) Comparison of the wind to a person It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiopes ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! (1.5.42-44) In a simile, Romeo compares Juliet to the earring of an Ethiopian. In a metaphor, he compares the darkness of night to a cheek. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she. (2.2.4-8) In a metaphor, Romeo compares Juliet to the light of the morning sun. An apostrophe addresses the sun (Arise, fair sun). These same words contain a metaphor and a personification comparing the sun to a person (Juliet). In another metaphor-personification, the moon also becomes a person.

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The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night, Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light, And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels From forth days path and Titans fiery wheels (2.3.3-6) After rising in his cell at dawn, Friar Laurence observes a sunrise overtaking the darkness. He personifies morning and night, with the former chasing the latter away. Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night; For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night, Whiter than new snow on a ravens back. (3.2.19-21) In a metaphor, Juliet compares Romeo to day in night.

Study Questions and Essay Topics:

1. The Capulets have ordered Juliet to marry Paris, a young nobleman. In an expository (informative) essay, explain the marriage customs in Europe in the Sixteenth Century, paying particular attention to arranged marriages. Discuss the customs of the lower classes as well as the upper classes. Include a section on wedding ceremonies and the activities surrounding them. 2. Imagine that Romeo and Juliet had run off after their marriageperhaps to France, Greece or Spainand lived the life of an ordinary married couple. Write an essay that describes them in their late forties, when their hair grays, their waists expand, and their own children fall in love. 3. Friar Laurence, who sympathizes with Romeo and Juliet and marries them, is a Franciscan priest of the Roman Catholic Church. Write an expository essay about the Franciscans, beginning with their founding by Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), who renounced his comfortable life to wear rags, beg for food, and help the poor. 4. Romeo and Juliet fall in love at first sight. Do you believe in love at first sight? 5. How would you react if your parents opposed your marriage to someone they did not like? 6. Why didnt Romeo and Juliet simply run away? 7. What is the most important lesson you learned from Romeo and Juliet? 8. In Act I, Scene V, the partygoers at the Capulet residence engage in a dance called the measure. It is a slow dance with dignified movements. Is this dance in any way symbolic of what happens in the play? If you were presenting a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, what dance would you choose for the Capulet party? Why did Puritans so vigorously oppose dancing in Shakespeares time?

Famous Quotations from Romeo and Juliet:

1. One fire burns out another's burning, One pain is lessen'd by another's anguish. (1.2.42-43) Speaker: Benvolio. Meaning: one person's suffering makes another's suffering more bearable. 2. It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;

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Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear! (1.5.42-44) Speaker: Romeo. Meaning: Juliet's beauty is like a bright star against a dark sky. Often in the play, Shakespeare uses figures of speech involving light and darkness. In the first line of this quotation is a metaphor and, in the second line, a simile. 3. But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief, That thou her maid art far more fair than she. (2.2.4-8) Speaker: Romeo. Meaning: Romeo compares Juliet with the dawning sun in a metaphor. So striking is her loveliness that the moon becomes sick with jealousy (another metaphor). 4. O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet. (2.2.7-40) Speaker: Juliet. Meaning: Juliet, unaware that Romeo is below (in the orchard), addresses him as if he were next to her. She wonders why (wherefore means why) he happens to be who he isa young man with a name her family despises. She then muses that he should deny who he is. If he won't, she will then deny who she is that is, she will "no longer be a Capulet." (See Quotation 5 for more about names. 5. What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. (2.2.47-48) Speaker: Juliet. Meaning: What counts, Juliet observes, is what a person is, not who a person is. In modern terms, she is saying it does not matter whether a person is rich or poor, black or white, Catholic or Jew, American or Chinese. What matters is what he thinks and what he feels. A rose would still smell sweet if it were called a turnip or a dandelion. 6. Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow. (2.2.201-202) Speaker: Juliet. Meaning: Juliet says goodbye to Romeo using a figure of speech (sweet sorrow) called oxymoron. An oxymoron juxtaposes opposites. Wise fool, little giant, and painful pleasure are other examples of oxymorons. 7. A plague o' both your houses! They have made worms' meat of me. (3.1.70-71) Speaker: Mercutio. Meaning: Mortally wounded by Tybalt, Romeo's friend Mercutio curses the Houses of Montague and Capulet. Worms' meat means that Mercutio knows he is about to die and that worms will feed on his flesh after he is buried.

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