Form and Structure Flashcards
Shakespeare's Techniques
True or False? Most of the comic scenes come in the first half of the play.
True. Lots of the comedy in these scenes comes from Mercutio or the Nurse.
The main part of the play starts with a fight. What effect does this have?
This immediately tells the audience that the feud between the Capulets and Montagues is violent and volatile. It means that for the rest of the play, the audience is aware of the risk Romeo and Juliet are taking by falling in love and marrying each other.
Juliet is left alone on the stage at the end of Act 3. Why do you think Shakespeare does this?
This shows how isolated Juliet has become, as she has been separated from her family and the Nurse after they refused to support her when she needed them most.
Explain why Act 3, Scene 1 could be seen as the turning point in the play.
Act 3, Scene 1 could be seen as the turning point in the play because it is the point at which everything starts to go wrong for Romeo and Juliet. Romeo’s impulsive killing of Tybalt means that he is banished from Verona and can’t be with Juliet. This leads the couple to take risks to try to be together, which eventually leads to their deaths.
Act 5, Scene 3 is much longer than Scenes 1 and 2. Why do you think Shakespeare structures the ending of the play like this?
The two short scenes mean that everything happens at a fast pace, creating the impression that events are hurtling out of control in the build up to the climax. The tension increases as the audience sees the tragic ending unfolding. The longer final scene slows the pace down again so there is time for the remaining characters, and the audience, to reflect on the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
What event is foreshadowed by each of these quotes?
a) “this intrusion shall /
Now seeming sweet,
convert to bitterest gall.”
b) “thou art so low, / As one
dead in the bottom of a
tomb.”
c) “make the bridal bed / In
that dim monument
where Tybalt lies.”
a) This quote by Tybalt
foreshadows the conflict
between him and Romeo
later in the play, which
leads to Tybalt’s, and
eventually Romeo’s
death.
b) This quote, spoken by
Juliet, foreshadows
Romeo’s death in the
Capulet tomb at the end
of the play.
C) Juliet’s words here
foreshadow her own
faked death — she is
taken to the Capulet tomb
on the day she was
supposed to marry Paris.
Give one way that Romeo and Juliet is a typical tragedy play.
In a typical tragedy, the heroes (in this case Romeo and Juliet) die at the end.
Why do you think there is a prologue before Act 2?
What effect does the prologue have on the audience?
The prologue reminds the audience that although Romeo and Juliet have met and fallen in love, the feud between their families will make it difficult for them — Romeo “may not have access” to Juliet because he is her “foe”. This creates an ominous atmosphere, as the audience already knows what problems are likely to be ahead.
Tybalt threatens to kill Romeo in the same scene that Romeo meets and falls in love with Juliet.
What effect do you think this has on the audience?
This structure makes the audience worried, because it shows how dangerous Romeo’s relationship with Juliet is likely to be. Tybalt’s aggression makes it clear that Romeo is risking his life just by being in a room with the Capulets. Although this scene is happy, it hints that Tybalt will cause problems for Romeo and Juliet soon,
