Romeo & Juliet

CHARACTERS
Montagues
	Lord Montague	wealthy nobleman father of Romeo
	Lady Montague	wife of Lord Montague mother of Romeo
	Romeo	protagonist young man son of Lord and Lady Montague in love with Juliet
	Benvolio	Romeo's friend nephew to Montague's
	Balthasar	servant to Romeo
Capulets
	Lord Capulet	wealthy nobleman father of Juliet excitable, rash
	Lady Capulet	wife of Lord Capulet mother of Juliet concerned about her image
	Juliet	protagonist daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet young girl, 13 years old in love with Romeo
	Tybalt	Capulet's nephew hot head
	Nurse	servant of family caretaker of Juliet confidante to Juliet
Others
	Prince Escalus	ruler of Verona related to Mercutio
	Mercutio	Romeo's friend, talkative
	Friar Lawrence	friend of Romeo Catholic priest pharmacist, herbalist
	Count Paris	relative of Prince Escalus suitor to Juliet

SETTING
Geography	Verona, Italy Mantua, Italy (10 miles from Verona)
Time	14th century
Social Environment	patriarchal society father arranged marriages morals and ideals of Elizabethan England: astrology, fate; moderation
moderation . . . moderation . . . moderation . . . moderation . . . moderation . . .

PLOT
Two young people from feuding families fall in love and marry secretly. Complications arise and Romeo must leave Juliet after he slays her cousin. Juliet fakes death to avoid marriage to another, but Romeo thinks she is dead. He kills himself; Juliet awakes, sees Romeo dead and kills herself.

Conflicts

Man versus Man	Man versus Society	Man versus Fate
Romeo vs. Tybalt	Families vs. town	Romeo vs. fate
Montagues vs. Capulets	Romeo & Juliet vs. town	Juliet vs. fate
Juliet vs. Lord Capulet	Juliet vs. environment	Friar vs. fate
Tybalt vs. Mercutio

Man versus Self	Juiliet vs. self - poison or not
	Romeo vs. self - Petrarchan love

THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS
Soliloquy	speech when character is alone on stage expressing character's innermost feelings
Puns	play on words; two or more words sound the same but are used differently; same word with different meanings
Irony	Verbal: meaning is the opposite of what is said Situational: happening is the opposite of what is appropriate or expected Dramatic: audience knows something critical that actors don't know
Couplet	Two consecutive lines that rhyme
Personification	giving life and human attributes to inanimate objects
Foreshadowing	clues that hint at what is to come

ASSIGNMENTS & PROJECTS
Daily Work	Students will be assigned parts in the play to be read aloud in class Students will complete vocabulary and reading guide work sheets
Tests	A test will follow the completion of each Act and a final following the conclusion of the play
Projects	Students will select one of the following projects. Criteria for a grade willbe neatness, relevance to topic, interst, clarity, effort and mechanics 1. Select your favorite line(s) from the play. Create a poster or collage with the lines and pictures or illustrations that expand, explain, or relate to the lines. Be sure to place quote marks around the lines and state the speaker, act, scene and line numbers. 2. Select a theme from the play. Find lines that relate to the theme and create a poster. Illustrations will also help. Be sure to place quotes around the lines and cite the source. 3. Create a collage illustrating the personality and character of Romeo or Juliet. 4. Reread the Queen Mab speech in Act I. Create a poster, collage, or children's book from the impressions and imagery. 5. An epitaph is a short saying placed on a tombstone to commemorate the life of the deceased. The epitaph should indicate the character of the individual. Create tombstones with epitaphs for Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, and Romeo. (example)
Projects	Here lies Moogie. Beloved, mischievious cat of the Westenskow family. He willbe missed by the dogs and people whom he amused, annoyed, and tormented.

ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS

Select one of the following and develop a five paragraph essay. Include prewriting, rough drafts, peer editing guides and rewrites, and final copy. Be sure to support your thesis with examples and detail. This is your final essay of the year and will be counted as a final (twice). There will be no time for rewrites so make sure this is your best effort.

1. Discuss the theme of the power of love in Romeo and Juliet.

2. Discuss the role of fate in Romeo and Juliet.

3. Discuss the use of irony in the play.

4. Discuss three kinds of love as seen in Romeo and Juliet. Use specific examples.

5. Discuss the them expressed by Friar Lawrence, "virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied" Act II, scene i, line 17.

6. Trace the major conflicts and show the resolutions.

7. Compare three elements of Romeo and Juliet with the same elements in West Side Story.

8. Discuss the Elizabethan view of passion. Is passion the sin that causes the tragedy? What kinds of passion do we see during the play? Who warns against passion? What images are used as illustrations of passion? Do the warnings come true?

9. Trace the development of Romeo's or Juliet's character through the play. Be sure to use specific examples from the play.

DIRECTORY
	General Information	Setting
	Characters	Theatrical Conventions
	Plot	Important Ideas
	Assignments & Projects	Theme
	Essay Assignments	Shakespeare
	9th Grade Home Page

THEME CLUES
	power of love
	role of fate "Then I defy you, stars!" Romeo, Act V, scene 1, 24
	virtue turns to vice
	importance of moderation

	directory
True I speak of dreams; Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy. Mercutio, Act I, scene iv, 68-70

"A Pair of Star-Crossed Lovers"
	Prologue, Act I, line 6