Romeo and Juliet Questions

Fact Questions:

1. What does Mercutio say while he is dying? How does Romeo react?

2. What does Friar Lawrence tell Romeo to do when he is distraught in his cell?

3. What ultimatum does Lord Capulet give Juliet? How does Juliet and her Nurse respond?


Discussion Questions:

1. Why is it significant that Juliet's Nurse sided with her father? Why did the Nurse do this and how did it make Juliet feel?

2. Why do you think Shakespeare chose to have Mercutio curse both of the families before his death? What was Shakespeare's aim in including this and how did it affect Romeo?

Romeo and Juliet's Journal Entries

Imagine that after the balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet go somewhere and write in their diaries. Explain how you would stage this scene and write a 100 word diary entry for each of these two characters. Be sure that the entries are both creative and believable.

In this scene, I would set up Juliet's bedroom on one side of the stage and have Romeo sitting on a stone bench in the town square while journaling their entries. Both characters would be unable to see the other, and they would speak the sections they out loud while writing them. Further, I would have them alternate between who is speaking when. For example, after Juliet’s first sentence, I would have Romeo say his first two. This random order would allow a natural flowing feeling in the scene. It would illustrate to the audience that what they were writing was coming to them spontaneously.

Juliet:

“I never imagined that our family’s feud with the Montagues would have as big as an affect on me as it now does. Before tonight, I was contempt, however, now I am filled with conflicting emotions, for I believe I have fallen in love with the one who I am expected to hate. Why must Romeo be a Montague? It is only a name, but a name that my family has taught me to despise and look down upon. If I told my parents about my love for Romeo- or that we are planning to be married, I know they would forbid it. They could shun me if they find out! Yet, I know my love for Romeo is more important than what my family expects of me. They could never fathom that our love is something I would die for.”

Romeo:

“I was so foolish before tonight. I thought I knew what I wanted, but now I know I am meant to be with Juliet, not Rosaline. If only our love could be accepted, we would be able to be with one another, not having to worry about family rules. It cannot stop me from loving her. Once I saw her on her balcony tonight, I knew her love for me was true. After our exchange, I began to question how our families are capable of loathing one another when a love like ours is so prominent. Hopefully, Friar Lawrence will feel the same way and agree to marry us, for I feel I might die without her love.”

Some of the Many Romeo and Juliet Balcony Scenes

The first version I watched was from the 1968 movie; which I believe did the best job in portraying the scene to it’s full potential. In this adaptation, the young actors were dressed in clothing from the play’s original time period and stuck to the script; there was not any modern language used. In the background, flute, and then some string instruments, set the scene with dim lighting outside of Juliet’s balcony. The lighting, music, and the use of all earth tones gave the scene a natural and calm, soft feeling. That being said, there was light which poured out of Juliet's bedroom created a natural spotlight on her. Because of this, Juliet became a center for attention in the scene and Romeo could easily find her.

In the second version I watched, Gnomeo and Juliet, the entirety of the scene was different from the 1968 adaptation. Personally, I think that Gnomeo and Juliet would be an ideal version of Romeo and Juliet to show to children or a younger group of people who may be struggling with understanding the original shakespearean work. It would be perfect to show them this version because while it uses modern language, it incorporates humor (and not just by having the characters be gnomes) and demonstrates clearly the  feud between the two families by dividing them up into teams of red and blue. During the scene, vibrant colors are used to represent which side the gnomes belong to, and there is even light-hearted music (that is very Disney-esc) to set the scene. After Gnomeo begins to interact with Juliet, there is a tremendous amount of innocent comedy when he sets off her towers display, which prompts loud music and colorful banner to pop up- which in reality, acts as comedic relief in a dramatic, romantic scene by changing the mood of scene.

Next, I watched the Royal Shakespeare Company’s version. While I thought it did a good job of portraying the emotions between the two characters, it was my least favorite adaptation. I believe that this scene was too informal; at one moment Juliet was sitting while hanging her barefeet over the balcony and Romeo was fussing with his hoodie. Unfortunately, these minor details distracted me from the scene. Further, I felt that Juliet was dressed more properly than Romeo, which  made me think that they belonged in different social classes. Additionally, the director decided to not have any background music and to limit the lighting. On the stage, there was limited illumination, however on Juliet, there was a bright stream of light.  

Finally, I watched the version with Dicaprio and Danes. I liked this version, specifically for the repeated use of water. To me, water resembles rebirth. This was very symbolic because once Romeo and Juliet exchange vows, it is as if they become a new person. I think the director specifically had this scene be in water for that reason. When Juliet runs into Romeo and then falls back into the water, this shows her innocence and youth. At the same time, it shows that Juliet may not be able to completely control her emotions with Romeo either.

While each version had many similarities, their differences is what make them stand apart from one another. Overall, each adaptation was well executed in portraying emotion and Romeo’s and Juliet’s goals in the scene.  

Hamlet's Goals

In the scene where Hamlet spoke to his mother alone as a way to try to convince her that her hasty marriage was a mistake, his specific goal is to make her realize what an oversight she had made by marrying his uncle. This goal is crucial to the play for many reasons. The first was that it made Hamlet confront his mother, which lead him to murder Polonius and the second, most important reason was that by the end of this scene, Hamlet was no longer able to tell who is being genuine with him and who is lying to him. When Hamlet arrived at his mother’s room to try to make her aware that her marriage was a mistake, Hamlet’s stakes are very high. It is clear that because Hamlet was trying to make his mother understand how corrupt his uncle was, he had mass amounts of pressure put upon himself. With that much stress on him, it is no surprise that this scene very quickly went awry. Additionally, it is obvious that another goal Hamlet had set for himself was that he wanted an explanation for her actions. Despite his father informing Hamlet that his mother was unaware of what she was doing, Hamlet still decided to create the goal that he would make her explain to him why she did what she did. In more of a wide scale view, I believe this relates to Hamlet’s overarching goal of avenging his father’s death. I think that Hamlet needed to have an explanation for her actions so that he could determine for himself whether or not he could have forgiven her. Because of how much he respects and cares for his father, it is evident that Hamlet has an extreme amount of pressure on himself. However, it is important to note that this may be one of Hamlet’s vulnerabilities, as well as one of his strengths.

Originally, Hamlet’s father tells him to pardon his mother. He explains that she was unaware of the mistake she had made by marrying Hamlet’s uncle. In addition to wanting to decide whether or not her could forgive her, I think Hamlet also believed that if he had his mother to realize how awful her choices had been, he would have been one step closer to achieving his main goal of the play: to exact revenge for his father’s death, and to restore the old order of his life. However, it does not go in the direction he had hoped. This scene only hurt Hamlet further because once he killed Ophelia’s father, something he had no intention of doing, his mother truly views him as insane. Before Hamlet killed him, he was able to confront his mother to some degree, but once he mistakenly stabbed Polonius, his mother was in complete distress and could not comprehend Hamlet’s rash actions.

Hamlet approached this scene longing for honesty from his mother, but once he became aware that he was being watched Polonius, he became paranoid and broke down.  At this very moment in the play, Hamlet came to the conclusion that everyone surrounding him wasn’t treating him normally. Because of this, Hamlet then created a new goal for himself: to only trust himself, and to not confide in anyone surrounding him. In a sense, this new goal was able to help Hamlet revenge his father’s death and to complete his main goal. If Polonius had not been hiding, there is a strong chance that Hamlet would not have been able to form this new goal and to murder his uncle.

The Most Interesting Scene in Hamlet

Many scenes in Hamlet were memorable, so it is difficult to chose only one that stood out to me. Personally, the scene that I find most interesting from Hamlet is when Hamlet sees the ghost of his father. This scene amazed me because I loved reading and watching Hamlet’s reaction to not only seeing his father’s spirit, but his reaction to learning how he was murdered. Hamlet is so flabbergasted, yet he doesn’t question whether or not he is imagining the ghost nor does he not believe the ghost when he informs Hamlet that his Uncle has killed him. I find it interesting how Shakespeare chose to have Hamlet completely abide by his father’s spirit wishes to kill his uncle. By doing this, Shakespeare showed the audience how devoted Hamlet is to his father.  I also like the scene because I believe this is a turning point in the play. From this scene on, the entire dynamic of the show has changed. The audience is now able to question whether or not Hamlet is sane during the duration of the play. Some may think that he was automatically mad; that seeing his father’s ghost would be impossible, while other’s may think that Hamlet is playing the part of a mad man to fool the other characters. Additionally, when Shakespeare reveals that Hamlet’s uncle had murdered his father for his throne, it further developed Claudius’s character. From this information, the audience can now picture Claudius as a cynical and greedy person. I also liked this scene because it made me emphasize with Hamlet’s character on a deeper level. Yes it is tragic when one loses a close family member, but I could not imagine what it would be like actually seeing the ghost of the deceased person. Overall, I believe that because of its heavy subject matter and emotions, that this was by far one of the most memorable and interesting scenes from Hamlet.

"To Be or Not To Be": A Reflection

Personally, I believe that anyone who reads Hamlet will be able to emphasize with this speech. While it is about contemplating whether or not he should continue on living, it is easy to relate this speech to many things. I believe the speech continues to be well known because people who read it have witnessed similar feelings to which Hamlet is experiencing. While it may not be about suicide in specific, The reader has no doubt at some point in their life questioned the path they are on and whether or not what they are doing is worth it.

Throughout the speech, Hamlet discusses many issues that he is facing in his life. With the use of strong metaphors and emotion, the reader is able to get an insight to what exactly is going through his mind. Hamlet expresses how he feels betrayed by his mother, how his love for Ophelia has wounded him, but most importantly, why he cannot choose to continue living or to kill himself. It is clear through his speech that Hamlet is afraid of death because he is unsure what will happen to him in the afterlife. Above all, Hamlet makes a strong argument: because we will eventually all die, does it matter who has killed us? This is a turning point in Hamlet’s speech. When he makes this point, many readers will assume that Hamlet will choose to end his life, but instead he continues on living. In my opinion, this is another reason why this speech has stayed so famous throughout the years. Hamlet has many relatable emotions and is clearly indecisive.

Because this is such a personal topic and in the form of a soliloquy, the reader can assume that Hamlet is being completely honest with himself. This may not have been the case if he was talking to either Horatio, Ophelia, or even the Queen for example. Furthermore, Hamlet starts off his speech with very plain and simple language. Then as it progresses, and he talks about deeper concepts, his vocabulary becomes more complex. This not only shows how troubled and sophisticated Hamlet is, but it also shows the complexity of Shakespeare's writing. As Hamlet indulged and became more passionate during the speech, Shakespeare challenges the audience and the actor by advancing Hamlet’s language.    

                        I believe that Hamlet’s speech will continue to stay relevant and famous for many years. Shakespeare was able to create a relatable soliloquy that allows anyone watching or reading “Hamlet” to get a closer look at who the antagonist truly is.