Love Between Romeo and Juliet Act 2

Question 1

Act 2 quotes

Answer 1

JULIET:

‘Too like the lightning’
‘My bounty is as boundless as the sea’
‘That which we call a rose … would smell as sweet’
‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo’

ROMEO:

‘That I may touch that cheek!’
‘Two of the fairest stars in all of heaven’
‘Juliet is the sun … kill the envious moon’

Question 2

Analyse ‘Too like the lightning’

Answer 2

• Simile is used to advocate the speed at which their love is progressing - is it really genuine?
• Lightning is a powerful force of nature used to mirror the power of their love - nature is often associated and linked with purity and love
• Happens quickly - fleeting love
• Juliet is pragmatic - ‘too’ highlights her concern about whether their love is genuine
• However, lightning is also destructive, foreshadowing that their relationship will cause devastation to themselves, but also their family
• Temporal reference links to how their marriage was moved forward - could not get the letter
• Foreshadows how the passionate impulsivity of their love lead to their downfall

Question 3

Analyse ‘My bounty is as boundless as the sea’

Answer 3

• ‘Bounty’ suggests that Juliet was always meant to find her love through Romeo
• Compares her love to an vast thing (the sea) to portray that their love is all-consuming
• Semantic field of endlessness, ‘infinite, boundless’ is dramatic irony as their love eventually ends

Question 4

Analyse ‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?’

Answer 4

• Repetition of ‘Romeo’ is used to convey her frustration as Romeo is a Montague - rhetorical question used to symbolise the importance of a name
• Ecphonesis ‘O’ is used to express her desperation for Romeo

Question 5

Analyse ‘That which we call a rose … smell as sweet’

Answer 5

• Likens the imagery of a rose to the importance of a name - names are arbitrary
• Juliet wishes to challenge the idea that a name and heritage defines a person’s identity, yet the audience believes someone’s identity is a pre-determined fate (critique of social conventions)
• Sensory language and gentle sibilance contrast the idea of roses having thorns to represent the duality of love being interlinked with violence

Question 6

Analyse ‘That I may touch that cheek!’

Answer 6

• Romeo speaks in Blason form, a form of writing where (typically a male) would express his intense feelings for the physical beauty of a woman
• Depicts his extreme devotion and lust for Juliet as her ‘cheek’ is a synecdoche of her body - his passion is seen through the exclamation mark
• Shakespeare famously rejected this form in a poem, perhaps suggesting that Romeo’s love is insincere and superficial

Question 7

Analyse ‘Juliet is the sun … kill the envious moon’

Answer 7

• Likens her to the ‘sun’ to portray her positivity and warmth that she brings to Romeo - outrageously hyperbolic to advance her to a celestial esteem
• She is a source of everlasting happiness for Romeo
• The moon is a symbol of fertility, and the verb ‘kill’ suggests that Romeo wants to take this away from her - demonstrating his physical desire for Juliet

Question 8

Analyse ‘Two of the fairest stars in all of heaven’

Answer 8

• Compares her eyes to the ‘stars’ - imagery of sparkling and purity - ethereal presence
• Audience resonates with the stars being symbols of fate - strong beliefs in astrology with fate
• ‘Heaven’ brings Juliet to a religious, holy status - celestial and divine beauty beyond compare
• She is physically higher up than Romeo, representing how he idolises her and worships her as his ‘goddess’ and superior (he DEIFIES her)