Romeo and Juliet Literary Terms Quiz

1. Although no specific date is given, most scholars say the action of the play probably takes place
around the 14th Century in Verona when Italian families were feuding. This is an example of:
A) Character C) Foreshadowing
B) Setting D) All of the above

2. Morning after their wedding, Romeo is leaving… Juliet, from her balcony looks down at Romeo and
says, “Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, / As one dead in the bottom of a tomb. / Either my
eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale” (3.5.54–57). This is an example of:
A) Point of View C) Setting
B) Flashback D) Foreshadowing
3. In Act 1, Scene 1, line 181, Romeo uses an ________ to describe the relationship of love and hate. He
says, “O brawling love, O loving hate.” This is an example of:
A) Imagery C) Oxymoron
B) Allusion D) Simile
4. In Act 1, Scene 1, line 217, Romeo says that Rosaline “hath Dian’s wit.” He is using an _________ to
Diana, goddess of chastity, who opposed love and marriage. In other words, Rosaline thinks like Diana
and will not fall in love with Romeo. This is an example of:
A) Aside C) Allusion
B) Oxymoron D) Imagery
5. In Act 1, Scene 4, lines 14-16, Romeo is feeling sad, so he does not want to dance. He says to the
others, “You have dancing shoes / With nimble soles. I have a soul of lead / so stakes me to the
ground I cannot move.” This is an example of a:
A) Metaphor C) Paradox
B) Simile D) Pun
6. In Act 1, Scene 5, Romeo uses________ to describe Juliet’s beauty when he says, “So shows a snowy
dove trooping with crows / As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.”
A) Imagery C) Conflict
B) Tragedy D) Inference
7. In the Prologue to Act 2, the Chorus speaks in a _________ , a form of a poem. The first four lines
contain alternating rhymes (abab):
A) Sonnet C) Personification
B) Soliloquy D) Tragedy
8. In Act 2, Scene 2, Romeo uses a _____, saying, “Juliet is the sun,” meaning that Juliet is bright and
beautiful. This is an example of:
A) Aside C) Simile
B) Metaphor D) Foreshadowing
9. Romeo starts his famous_______ about Juliet with the words, “But soft, what light through yonder
window breaks” He is speaking to himself about Juliet. This is an example of:
A) Theme C) Simile
B) Allusion D) Soliloquy
10. Romeo uses _______ as he is listening to Juliet’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 2. He says, “She speaks.” He
is not talking to Juliet, the only other person on stage.
A) Oxymorons C) asides
B) allusions D) Imagery

11. In Act 2, Scene 2, Juliet says that her “bounty is as boundless as the sea.” In other words, she says
what she has to offer Romeo is wider than the ocean. This is an example of:
A) Allusion C) Metaphor
B) Hyperbole D) Pun
Romeo and Juliet Literary Terms Quiz
12. In Act 2, Scene 6, Friar Lawrence uses a ______ to warn Romeo about being too passionate too soon.
He says: These violent delights have violent ends/And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
/Which, as they kiss, consume.
A) Simile C) Metaphor
B) Pun D) Oxymoron

13. In this play, Juliet is one of the ________.

A) Antagonist C) Protagonist
B) Conflicts D) Theme
14. Tybalt is one ________ in the play, because he opposes Romeo.
A) Hyperbole C) Theme
B) Protagonist D) Antagonist

15. One ______ of Romeo and Juliet might be that “haste makes waste.” In other words, hurrying too
much often leads to problems.
A) Oxymoron C) Theme
B) Tragedy D) Simile

16. Romeo and Juliet is a _______, because the main characters, along with four other people, die.
A. Tragedy C. Pun
B. Setting D. Metaphor
17. An obvious example of ________ is Tybalt’s hatred of Montagues, and especially Romeo, which ends
with a fight.
A) Imagery C) Theme
B) Conflict D) Hyperbole
18. Indeed, I never Shall be Satisfied with Romeo, till I behold him-dead. Is an example of ______ because
Lady Capulet thinks Juliet hates Romeo because of the death of Tybalt but we, as a reader, know better.
A) Iambic pentameter C) Dramatic Irony
B) personification D) Inference
19. In the prologue of Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare uses ______ , where he uses an unstressed: then a
stressed syllable in every line. “Two households, both alike in dignity In fair Verona, where we lay our
scene….”
A) Rhyme C) Personification
B) Soliloquy D) Iambic pentameter

20. In Act II, scene iii, the Friar notes about Romeo: Young mens’s love then lies / Not truly in their hearts, /
but in their eyes. It appears that the Friar sees men and women in their traditional perspectives. One place in
the text particularly lead me to believe this. This is an example of:

A) Inference C) Personification
B) Foreshadowing D) Imagery

21. The following lines have an example of what? Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir, / My daughter
he hath wedded. I will die, /And leave him all-life, living, all is death’s.
A) Personification C) Oxymoron
B) Symbol D) irony