Shakespeare, Year 10: the story and how the tragedy is built (Romeo and Juliet option)

The Capulets' and the Montagues': Capulet servants provoke Montague servants

HintNo lords or young heirs are involved yet, only the people who work for them.

The whySampson and Gregory, servants of Capulet, deliberately provoke Abram, a Montague servant, by biting their thumbs. Benvolio and Tybalt then join in, and the Prince arrives to stop it.

At a feast given by Juliet's father, Capulet

HintHe is wearing a mask.

The whyIn Act 1 Scene 5 Romeo and his friends go masked to the Capulet feast. Romeo sees Juliet and forgets Rosaline at once.

Friar Laurence

HintA Franciscan who studies herbs and plants.

The whyThe marriage takes place in the Friar's cell the day after the feast. Some editions spell his name Lawrence, and the text on Project Gutenberg does.

Banishment from Verona

HintHe is sent away, and to return would cost him his life.

The whyThe Prince spares his life because Tybalt had first killed Mercutio, the Prince's kinsman. Banishment separates Romeo from Juliet on their wedding night, and sets the tragedy in motion.

The friar carrying it is shut up in a house because of fear of the plague

HintNo one plans the delay; it is bad luck.

The whyFriar John is held up with the sick, so Romeo hears of Juliet's death from his servant Balthasar in Act 5 Scene 1 and sets off for the tomb believing it. The plan fails by a matter of hours.

They shake hands and promise to raise a golden statue of each other's child

HintA tribute in precious metal from both fathers.

The whyBoth fathers speak of the cost of the feud. The Prince's last lines say that no story was ever so sad as that of Juliet and her Romeo.

5

HintThe standard number for a printed Shakespeare play.

The whyVery roughly: the feud and the meeting, then love and marriage, then the fight and the banishment, then Juliet's plan, and last the tomb.

sonnet

HintCount the lines, and look at how the last two rhyme.

The whyIt tells the audience in advance that the lovers will die, so the question is not what will happen but how. The Chorus speaks a second sonnet before Act 2.

The death of Mercutio

HintUp to that moment he has been the funniest speaker on stage.

The whyUntil Act 3 the play has jokes, a feast and a secret wedding. After Mercutio is stabbed, one killing leads to another and the mood darkens.

Two hours

HintA short evening at the theatre, by modern standards.

The whyThe Chorus speaks of “the two hours’ traffic of our stage”. The play on stage takes two hours, but the story it tells covers about four to six days. The squeeze is part of what makes the pace feel so headlong.

Prince Escalus

HintHe rules Verona.

The whyHe appears three times: he threatens death for brawling here, banishes Romeo after the fight with Tybalt, and speaks the last lines in Act 5 Scene 3. Because he stands outside the feud, he has the last word.

dramatic irony

HintThe effect is that we watch the characters step towards what we already know.

The whyIn Romeo and Juliet it works from the first lines, so every hopeful speech sounds doubtful. Romeo's lines in the tomb about death not yet touching Juliet are painful because we know she is alive.