Essay - Love

Question 1

Thesis: At its heart, Romeo and Juliet is an illustration on…

Answer 1

• loves power to transcend social boundaries
• unchecked passion and impulsive love causes catastrophic consequences

Question 2

Thesis: The Elizabethan era was a period of ——— where love was seen in society as ———

Answer 2

• patriarchal control
• an act of familial honour and protection

Question 3

Thesis: Shakespeare challenges these societal norms by contrasting ———, portraying love’s ability to ———

Answer 3

• artificial conventional love with impulsive, uncontrollable pure love
• inspire profound joy as well as devastating tragedy

Question 4

Thesis: While Romeo and Juliet’s love can be seen as ——— it could also be seen as ———

Answer 4

• sincere and genuine
• superficial and coerced

Question 5

Thesis: Ultimately, Shakespeare intends to explore ——— that ——— Romeo and Juliet’s relationship

Answer 5

• the complexity of young love, the impulsiveness, intensity and naivety of young love
• characterises

Question 6

Big Idea 1: By using religious imagery, Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet’s relationship as ——— but could also be a notion to the negative connotations of religion such as ———

Answer 6

• saintly and pure
• sin and its punishment

Question 7

Ext. Big Idea 1: The pair share a ——— where they meet each other for the first time, displaying their ———

Answer 7

• Petrarchan sonnet
• instant mutual connection

Question 8

Example 1: Romeo begins the sonnet with ———

Answer 8

• “My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand,”, an elaborate religious conceit

Question 9

Technique 1: The metaphor ——— supports the idea of ———, perhaps linking to ———

Answer 9

• ‘pilgrims’
• devout and pure love
• journey from Rosaline to Juliet, changed perception of love

Question 10

Close Analysis 1: Instant and spontaneous nature could be seen as ——— could be seen as———

Answer 10

-romantic and innocent
- rash and impetuous, to omniscient modern-day audience

Question 11

Alternative Ev. 1: Nod to sin and trespassing foreshadows ———, particularly with ———, which could be interpreted as ———

Answer 11

• Romeo’s hubris
• ‘holy shrine’ and ‘dear saint’
• blasphemous

Question 12

AltEv Ext.1: He believes he has the authority to decide ——— subverting ———

Answer 12

• what is holy and pure
• Juliet’s innocent reply into an act of religious conceit
• manipulating a religiously inclined young girl through coercion

Question 13

Reader Response 1: In this way, the reader may infer a ——— to the shared sonnet, as the ——— in Romeo’s lines overpower the genuine intent of Juliet, even when they seem to lie in ———

Answer 13

• patriarchal sense
• sexual undertones
• equality

Question 14

Reader Response Ext. 1: This idea is compounded through ——— which is used typically for ———. While it could make her feel ———, modern-day audience could see her ———

Answer 14

• ‘shrine’
• veneration
• valued
• consequently exploited

Question 15

Writer’s intentions: One could thus suggest that while their relationship ———, simultaneously, it might not be ———

Answer 15

• seems beautiful externally
• the truest or purest form of love