Module 3 Lessons: Romeo and Juliet - Act 2

4. Romeo and Juliet - Act 2

Lesson 77

Romeo and Julietï¿½Act 2

Read the sonnet at the beginning of Act 2. Then respond to the following questions about the sonnet.

Part of the sonnet gives a summary of Act 1, and part of it implies what will happen next. Paraphrase lines 1 to 4.
If you were reading the part of the Chorus, what words would you emphasize? Why?

Scene 1

Scene 1 begins some time after the ball is over. Romeo has decided he must return to see Juliet, and he climbs over a wall to enter the Capulet property. It's a dangerous act, but his heart rather than his head guides his actions.

Meanwhile, Mercutio and Benvolio are searching for Romeo because he didn't tell them of his plans. All the while, Mercutio mocks Romeo by making reference to physical love.

Read Scene 1. Then read the following discussion.

Mr. Haas: Why do you think Shakespeare includes this short scene?

Chelsea: To let us know about Romeo's plans.

Lin: To show us that Romeo's main interest is romantic love. His words are a real contrast to Mercutio's crude ways.

Dominic: Romeo is unwise but still brave.

Brandon: Yeah. You worry about the guy, but you still cheer him on.

Scene 2

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This is probably the most famous scene in the play. Even if people haven't read Romeo and Juliet, most are familiar with the "balcony scene." Romeo begins the scene with a soliloquy, declaring his love for Juliet without her actually listening. Not realizing that Romeo is in the courtyard, Juliet comes out on the balcony and swears her never-ending love for him. Once he hears her words of love, Romeo makes his presence known. They begin to talk, and the courtship continues from where it left off in "the palmers speech" at the end of Act 1.

Read Scene 2. Then respond to the following questions.

What are the images Romeo uses in lines 2 to 23 to describe Juliet? Write the images in your own words.
Why are the images effective?

In two to four sentences, discuss the points Juliet makes in lines 33 to 49.
Why does Romeo use the word baptized in line 50?
Give an example of personification from lines 58 to 60.
Give an example of hyperbole in lines 71 to 73.

4. Juliet reveals that she is both candid and intelligent in lines 85 to 106. Give at least one piece of evidence to support each personality trait. Remember to fill in your character-trait chart.

5. What does Juliet mean when she uses these figures of speech in lines 121 and 122? "This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, / May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet."

6. Who introduces the idea of marriage? Explain the plan.

7. Give two examples of "bird" imagery in Scene 2. Why is the imagery effective? Discuss your ideas with a partner or group.

8. How is the end of this scene a contrast with Romeo's words at the end of Act 1, Scene 4?

9. Even though Romeo and Juliet seem optimistic and joyful, foreshadowing in this scene suggests future difficulties for the couple. Quote the lines that foreshadow trouble for them.

10. The scene demands a balcony. If you were directing the play and found that a balcony wasn't possible, how would you improvise?

Journal Entry

Romeo and Juliet have hatched a plan to marry the next day. What obstacles stand in their way? Who is more at risk, Romeo or Juliet? What is unrealistic about their plan? On the other hand, why might it work? If you were able to give the young couple advice, what would it be? Remember to tie your ideas together.

Scene 3

Scene 3 introduces a new character, Friar Laurence. He is alone in his garden, making philosophical observations as he gathers herbs. When Romeo asks him to perform the marriage, the friar reluctantly agrees. However, he urges caution.

Read Scene 3. Then respond to the following questions.

11.

In light of Friar Laurence's speech, explain the appropriateness of Romeo's figurative language in lines 51 and 52: "both our remedies / Within thy help and holy physic lies."
Why does Friar Laurence not want to go ahead with the marriage of Romeo and Juliet?
Why does the friar agree to marry them? What do you think of his reasoning?
Is the mood dark or light in this scene? Positive or negative? Explain why.
What sort of person is Friar Laurence?

Scene 4

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This scene consists largely of comic relief, wordplay, and just plain "horsing around." Much of the humour and sexual innuendo is lost on contemporary audiences because Mercutio and Romeo speak in a series of complicated puns with language that is archaic, with words or phrases that many people living in the twenty-first century don't understand.

When Juliet's nurse enters the scene, she becomes the object of Mercutio's insensitive humour. Because the nurse is Juliet's trusted messenger, Romeo takes pity upon her, drawing her away from Mercutio's cruel mockery.

At the beginning of the scene, the audience members see a more relaxed Romeo than they've seen up to this point. He is also very witty. The latter part of the scene reveals the final details of the wedding plans.

Read Scene 4. Then respond to the following questions.

12.

Most of this scene is written in prose as opposed to blank verse. Why do you think Shakespeare made this choice?
Paraphrase Romeo's comments from lines 172 to 185.
Directors have been known to cut this scene from the play entirely. Give one or two reasons to support the cut, and give one or two to challenge it.

Scene 5

Approximately 24 hours have passed since the Capulets and the Montagues were found brawling in the streets by Prince Escalus. The scene opens with Juliet speaking in a soliloquy before she and the nurse talk about marriage plans.

Jane Cowl as Juliet
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Read Scene 5. Then respond to the following questions.

13.

Shakespeare gives Juliet a soliloquy at the beginning of this scene. What qualities do you discover about her character as she speaks? Note: Add this information to your character-trait chart.
Throughout the scene, the nurse teases Juliet and refuses to be straightforward in her responses. What does this tell you about the nurse's character?
What words of the nurse cause Juliet to blush with excitement?

With a partner, act out lines 29 to 35 until the lines are done to your satisfaction. Let the following observations and questions guide your dramatization.

The nurse's words in lines 29 and 30, "Can you not stay a while? / Do you not see that I am out of breath?" cause Juliet to repeat the word breath three times in the next two lines.

Discuss the following questions about the role of Juliet:

What tone will you use for lines 31 to 35?
What words will you emphasize?
How will you position your body?
What expression will you have on your face?

Discuss the following questions about the role of the nurse:

Where will you stand in relation to Juliet?
In what ways will your voice be different from Juliet's?
What expression will you have on your face?
What tone will you use?

Journal Entry

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In her soliloquy, Juliet makes an allusion to Cupid. Remember that Cupid is sometimes portrayed as blindfolded; hence the expression "love is blind."

What does the expression mean to you? What are your opinions about the nature of love? Do you agree? Disagree?

Scene 6

Up to this point in the play, Romeo and Juliet have spent only two brief bits of time together, yet they're determined to marry immediately.

In this very short scene, Friar Laurence urges caution: "These violent delights have violent ends" (line 9). However, Romeo and Juliet profess their love for each other, and the friar agrees to perform the marriage ceremony.

Read Scene 6. Then respond to the following questions.

14.

As in his soliloquy in Scene 3, the friar speaks now in a series of contrasts. What is his main point?
In Act 1, Scene 5, line 135, Juliet's comments foreshadowed a tragic ending. In Act 2, Scene 6, line 7, Romeo states "love-devouring Death do what he dare." What does he mean? How are his words similar to Juliet's?
In lines 24 to 29, Romeo insists that love should be expressed with sweet, poetic words. Juliet's response is somewhat of a contrast to Romeo's ideas. Paraphrase lines 30 to 34, drawing a contrast between Juliet and Romeo.
How does Shakespeare maintain suspense? What makes the audience want to read on?
Does Act 2 end on a positive or negative note? Explain.
The marriage ceremony does not take place on stage. Why do you think Shakespeare makes this choice—for practical or dramatic reasons? Explain.

Discuss the following questions with a partner or small group.

If you were adapting this stage play for the screen, would you include the wedding ceremony? Why or why not?
What are the potential difficulties?
If the wedding were to be included, what would be gained? What would be lost?

Journal Entry

Only four people—five, if you count Romeo's man—know of the secret marriage. Write a journal response to the following questions:

What, if anything, have Romeo and Juliet done to prevent discovery?

Do you agree with Friar Laurence's hope of Act 2, Scene 3, lines 90 to 92? "In one respect I'll thy assistant be; / For this alliance may so happy prove, / To turn your households' rancour to pure love." Discuss this quote.

Compared to the first act, Act 2 is more optimistic in tone. Romeo and Juliet's plans for marriage, although impractical and unwise, seem to be working out. There are hints of future tragedy, but the rising excitement of the love affair allows the young couple—as well as Friar Laurence, the nurse, and the audience—to forget the grim reality of the situation.

The action has moved along quickly; this is most apparent in the hasty marriage of Romeo and Juliet. You probably noticed that you were able to read Act 2 faster, and understand it more easily, than Act 1. This skill that you're developing will increase as you continue to read the play. The activities that you completed have given you a comprehensive understanding of the plot, themes, and dramatic techniques of Act 2.

Suggested Answers

1. a. Romeo's love for Rosaline has been replaced with his new love for Juliet. The fair Rosaline, whom Romeo loved and for whom he would have died, now pales in comparison to Juliet.

b. Responses will vary. The choices you make is not the central issue. However, the reasons for making the choices that you have are crucial. Think about what sort of effect you want to create.

2. a. The images Romeo uses in lines 2 to 23 to describe Juliet are as follows:

Juliet is the sun.
Her eyes are two of the fairest stars.
Her eyes twinkle in their spheres.
Her cheeks are as bright as daylight.
Her eyes are so bright that they make the darkness light; as a consequence, birds sing.

b. The images are effective because they portray Juliet as a creature from the sky. She becomes the sun and stars. Every other woman pales in comparison and is green with envy.

3. a. Juliet wonders why her true love has to be a Montague, the enemy of her people. She hopes that Romeo will cast off his name so that they can be together. If he won't give up his name, Juliet will gladly give up her name. In other words, she is ready to marry Romeo and endure the wrath of her family. Juliet believes that their love can be stronger than family hate. If it's the family names that forbid their love, then the family names—and the families themselves—must be sacrificed.

b. Romeo means that in order to win Juliet's love, he will willingly sever his relationship with the Montagues, his family. In the ceremony of baptism, the person baptized is often given a new name.

c. "My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words / Of that tongue's utterance."

d. ". . . there lies more peril in thine eye / Than twenty of their swords!"

4. Candid: "In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond." (line 98)

Intelligent: "Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say `Ay,' / And I will take thy word; yet, if thou swear'st, / Thou mayst prove false." (lines 90 to 93)

5. Juliet suggests that their love, because it's young, will grow and mature naturally. Therefore, the next time they meet, their love will be even stronger than it is now.

6. Juliet introduces the idea of marriage in lines 143 to 148. She tells Romeo to think things over, and to send word to her tomorrow if his intentions are honourable. In his message, he should indicate where and when the marriage will take place.

7. In line 22, Romeo imagines birds singing and basking in the glorious light of Juliet's eyes—eyes that light up the night. In line 159, Juliet describes a falcon, "tassel-gentle." She equates the gentle, yet powerful, falcon with Romeo, wishing she were a falconer so that she could bring him back to her again. In lines 176 to 183, Juliet and Romeo play with the image of Romeo being a little bird that is tied by a silken thread to Juliet. Discuss with a partner or in a group why the imagery is effective.

8. At the end of Act 1, Scene 4, Romeo's mood was dark; his words sounded ominous. At the end of Act 2, Scene 2, he looks forward to the future and seems to have forgotten that ". . . my mind misgives / Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars." (Act 1, Section 4, lines 106 and 107)

9. Responses may vary. One possibility is line 70: "If they [the Capulets] do see thee, they will murder thee." A second possibility is Romeo's response on lines 77 and 78: "My life were better ended by their hate, / Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love."

10. Responses will vary. Remember to be practical, and think of the effect you want to make. An audience is willing to suspend its disbelief if it is caught up in the drama of a play. You may find it helpful to remember how you dramatized driving in the one-act play "Learning to Drive" from Module 5: Section 4.

11. a. Romeo extends the medicinal metaphor of Friar Laurence, believing that a remedy to his and Juliet's wounds of love lie within the power of the friar. Unlike Friar Laurence, however, Romeo sees only the positive side to human action and human will.

b. Friar Laurence is reluctant because just recently Romeo was in love with Rosaline. He doubts Romeo's commitment to both a new love and marriage.

c. The friar agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet because he hopes that the "alliance may so happy prove, / To turn your households' rancour to pure love." (lines 91 and 92)

Responses will vary in the second part of the question. Some people think Friar Laurence's hope reveals a naïve attitude, while others think he's foolish, and still others think the frair is irresponsible. On the other hand, certain readers agree with the optimism of the friar, believing that an age-old grudge can be erased through a romantic alliance.

d. The mood is both light and dark and both positive and negative. Friar Laurence's opening soliloquy introduces the contradictory mood, which continues to the end of the scene. Even though Romeo's comments are "light" and "positive," the possibility of disaster is just beneath the surface. Friar Laurence's warning at the end of Scene 3: "Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast" reinforces images of negativity and darkness.

e. Friar Laurence is intelligent and philosophical, noting that humans hold within them the possibilities of both vice and virtue. He wants peace, and is willing to take action as well as give advice to achieve it. He is sympathetic to the problems of the young.

12. a. Responses will vary. Considering the solemn nature of both Scenes 3 and 5, the prose in

Scene 4 accentuates a contrast in mood. There is a lot of jesting in the scene, and references to love are more crude than romantic. The antics of Mercutio and the nurse provide comic relief, a contrast from the serious and contemplative mood of Scene 3. Prose is a better vehicle for comic relief than is poetry.

b. Tell Juliet to come to confession at Friar Laurence's cell. There we will be married. In preparation for our wedding night, my man will bring a rope ladder to you (the nurse) at the Capulet household within an hour. We depend upon you to help him set up the ladder so that I may join Juliet in her room after our secret marriage.

c. Responses will vary. When you responded to this question, did you remember to think about the purposes of the scene and the effects that it creates?

Possible responses for supporting the cut include the following:

The crude comments detract from romantic notions of love.
The constant puns, although clever, are difficult for modern audiences to follow.
Apart from lines 164 to 190, the plot could proceed quite nicely without this scene.

Possible reasons for challenging the cut include that the scene

characterizes the nurse, showing that she has a temper, can be hurt by crude comments, is incapable of making puns, and is concerned about the well-being of Juliet
characterizes Mercutio as intelligent yet crude, caring but reckless
shows a jocular, fun-loving side to Romeo—something the audience hasn't seen before
conveys crucial information about the wedding plans and marriage night
provides comic relief from the solemnity of Scene 3

13. a. Juliet is impatient. She is skilled with language and able to use imagery. She thinks young people's characters and interests are different from those of older people.

b. Although she has little power in the Capulet household, the nurse enjoys exerting what little influence she has. She enjoys good-natured teasing. At times, she enjoys being pampered. She wants to be noticed.

c. "Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence' cell; / There stays a husband to make you a wife." (lines 68 and 69)

You must be an attentive reader to find the correct response to this question. What you must do is notice the line that follows: "Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks."

14. a. Take note of Friar Laurence's contrasting words.

Positive Imagery	Negative Imagery
violent delights sweetest honey marriage kiss slowness moderates	violent ends loathsome in his own deliciousness union of fire and powder too swift too slow

He urges caution and moderation, believing that speed and impatience will lead to disaster.

b. Just as death destroys life, it destroys love. Earlier, Juliet said she would rather her "grave is like to be my wedding bed" (Act 1, Scene 5, line 135) if she could not be with Romeo.

c. Juliet says that true love can't be expressed through words alone because words themselves are inadequate. What matters is the substance of love, not fine words about love. Romeo, on the other hand, finds joy and excitement in the words one chooses when speaking of love.

d. The pace is fast and relentless. Because Romeo and Juliet spend little time thinking about the consequences of their actions or the strength of their love, the audience can't help but wonder and worry about their future. For example, will Romeo be able to use the "tackled stair" to join Juliet in her chamber or will the Capulets find him in their garden? The audience knows Tybalt is hot-tempered, considers Romeo a villain, and could easily kill him. There's also the matter of Paris' romantic interest in Juliet—the audience wonders what will happen here.

e. Responses will vary. Most people would say there are both postive and negative aspects. The marriage brings joy and excitement to Romeo and Juliet and a hope for peace within the two powerful households. Yet the hopes are slim. Romeo and Juliet's action have been impulsive, and there are bound to be negative consequences.

f. Responses will vary, although the reasons are more dramatic than practical. Shakespeare has little need of the actual ceremony. The audience knows Romeo and Juliet are in love. They've professed this love many times. To do so again, in a formal manner, would add little to the play.

Lesson Glossary

archaic: being from long ago and, therefore, no longer in use
foreshadowing: arranging events and information in a narrative in such a way that later events are prepared for or hinted at beforehand
soliloquy: a speech that a character makes when no one else is present or listening; a genuine and heartfelt statement that expresses a character's innermost thoughts