KRSS English Department – Romeo & Juliet Teaching Guide Act 1

Plot Summary: Main Characters:

- Sampson/Gregory; Benvolio
Prologue A guy comes on stage and tells the whole story at the very beginning of the play – spoiler alert!
- Abram; Tybalt (Juliet’s cousin)
Sampson/Gregory bite their thumbs at Abram; Benvolio tries to break it up and is challenged by Tybalt; mayhem - Capulet/Lady Capulet
Sc. 1 ensues. Old M/C and all their merry men get involved; much anarchy in the streets until the Prince rides up to - Montague/Lady Montague
Sunday sort it out and gives the old guys a mental slap. Lady M wonders what is disturbing Romeo – Benvolio finds out - Prince Escalus
morning that Romeo is in luuuvvv, but that she (Rosaline) doesn’t love him in return and certainly won’t have sex with - Romeo
him. Benvolio vows to help Romeo forget his troubles, and they go off together. - Paris
Prospective-suitor-to-Juliet Count Paris chats up Capulet, who says that she is still too young to marry, but invites - Peter (servant to Capulet)
Sc. 2
Paris to this evening’s party to meet her anyway. Capulet sends servant Peter with a list of party guests to invite - the Nurse
Sunday
= problem, since Peter can’t read. Peter comes across Benvolio & Romeo, who read the list to him, and then - Juliet
afternoon
decide to crash the party so B can show other beauties to R so he can get out of his blue funk. - Mercutio (R’s friend, and
Lady Capulet, Juliet, and the Nurse have a chat about the fact that Count Paris wants to marry J; J is taken aback, kinsman to the Prince)
Sc. 3
but looks forward to meeting him at the party. The Nurse is full of her usual banter and saucy wit, which tries
Sunday
LC’s patience. Juliet promises not to allow herself to go too far as far as Paris is concerned, and then Peter rushes
evening
in to tell them that the guests are arriving, and that they are all wanted downstairs.
R, B, Mercutio and their posse make their way to the party (it’s a masque, which means they’ll be wearing masks Symbols:
Sc. 4 and so won’t be recognized). Romeo is still depressed, and Benvolio and Mercutio try to cheer him up. Mercutio  Thumb-biting = insulting
Sunday goes a bit overboard with his Queen Mab speech, which shows him to be an unstable character with a bit of an gesture given to enemy
evening “idle brain”. They continue on their way, although Romeo admits to having some misgivings about what may  Swords = violence & hatred
happen once they get to the party.  Romeo’s melancholy =
The boys arrive at the party, and are greeted by Capulet, who encourages them to have a good time under their unrequited luuuvvv…
masks. Romeo spies Juliet, who “teaches the torches to burn bright”, and is immediately smitten with her. He  Queen Mab = opposite of
murmurs sweet nothings about her out loud, and his voice is recognized by Tybalt, who immediately goes to his Cupid; also alluding to a
Sc. 5
Uncle Capulet to demand Romeo’s removal – C disagrees, and gets mad at Tybalt when Tybalt again tries to prostitute/”base” ≠ “pure”
Sunday
convince him to let him deal with Romeo. Meanwhile, Romeo is wooing Juliet (Rosaline is now completely love…
night
forgotten) and there is much talk of prayers and lips and eventually, kissing. However, as the party starts to  Juliet is joyful at Romeo’s
break up, they both separately learn the true identity of the other () and realize their love is, at the best, presence at the party; Tybalt is
flawed. furious = both sides of passion!
Make sure students understand:
- The now-clichéd, but very real, hatred between the two families – the Luhrmann film does this well – treats them like rival
thug-gangs, which is really what they are.
- Remind the students of the ages of the main characters – Romeo is supposed to be 15, Juliet: 13, so they are still fairly
young and rash in their actions. This is the main problem the Capulet has re: Paris’ marrying Juliet – that she is still “yet a
stranger in the world”.
Teaching Tips:
- Use, and encourage students to check out, www.sparknotes.com, and its associated App – great resources for student understanding!
- As this may be the first time some of the students have been exposed to Shakespeare, go through the language in fairly good detail – the blue and pink No Fear:
Shakespeare texts are great for this, since they have both the original text and translations on each page.
- Ask and keep track of readers for all the various parts, and then review the action with the class at the end of each scene – have the class then come up with a
summary “tweet” for their summary sheets.
 KRSS English Department – Romeo & Juliet Teaching Guide Act 2
Plot Summary: Main Characters:
- Romeo
Prologue More unnecessary explanations – just skip it…
- Benvolio
Sc. 1 This scene follows on from the end of Act 1 – the party breaks up, and everyone goes home. On an impulse, - Mercutio
Sunday Romeo decides to give his friends the slip and break into the Capulet’s garden in the hopes of seeing Juliet again. - Juliet
night Benvolio and Mercutio call for him, but he doesn’t return, and so after a while they leave. - Friar Lawrence
Sc. 2 Romeo hides in the garden, until he conveniently sees Juliet standing on her bedroom’s balcony. She is, also - the Nurse
Sunday conveniently, talking to herself out loud about her love for Romeo, whom she has known for a grand total of - Peter
night into about 2 hours. Romeo just listens to her until about line 50 when he can’t stand it any longer and replies. The
Monday rest of the scene is basically the 2 of them speaking romantic nothings to each other, until, in the wee hours of
morning the morning, they agree that Romeo will go and see about them getting married. MANY FAMOUS LINES!!!
We meet Friar Lawrence, working in his garden, mumbling to himself. Romeo rushes up to him, and the friar
greets him fondly – they are obviously well-acquainted. Lawrence kids Romeo about being up all night, and
Sc. 3
hopes that it was not with Rosaline, over whom he has had to put up with Romeo mooning for some time. FL is
Monday
shocked at Romeo’s request (not only because Romeo has seemed to change his love so quickly) and initially is
morning
reluctant to perform the marriage, but hopes that the event will bring end the fighting between the 2 families.
(Naïve?)
Benvolio and Mercutio are hanging out and are bored. They talk about Romeo’s smittenness, and of Tybalt, who Symbols:
is supposed to be a good swordsman. Romeo comes along, and joshes with them for a while about where he was  Literal separation of R& J in
Sc. 4
and what he was doing. The Nurse enters, and wants to speak to Romeo. Mercutio gets in some sexist and balcony scene echoes their
Monday
cutting comments about the Nurse before Romeo takes her away for a private chat. He tells her to tell Juliet that social and familial separation
morning
Romeo has arranged for the wedding to take place that afternoon! He also says that his servant will give the  Rose = beautiful thing, but will
Nurse a rope ladder so that Romeo can climb up to Juliet’s room tonight for the consummation… not last long.
Meanwhile, impatient Juliet paces up and down in her room, fuming that the Nurse is taking so long. The Nurse  Nurse and Friar act as symbolic
Sc. 5
finally does arrive, but plays with Juliet awhile by pretending to be exhausted from the walk, and doesn’t tell parents to the two lovers;
Monday
Juliet what Romeo said. In the end, the Nurse does give Juliet Romeo’s message, and tells her to get going – her though are their decisions done
noon
husband awaits! for the right reasons? Are they
Sc. 6 Friar Lawrence and Romeo are waiting for Juliet to arrive – FL a little worried about what they are going to do, right in concealing the deed
Monday and hopes that Heaven will not punish them for it (ironic foreshadowing!). Juliet rushes in, and FL has trouble from R&J’s real parents?
afternoon keeping the two of them separated long enough to perform the rite – in fact he says it had best be done quickly,
since he doesn’t think he could leave R&J alone for a moment without them getting at each other…
Make sure students understand:
- The speed at which the play moves – R&J only met last evening, and are married less than 24 hours later – the entire play
takes less than a week!
-

Teaching Tips:
- LOTS of opportunity for student reading through Act 2 – the balcony scene along can take an entire class! (Have “Juliet” stand on a chair at the front of the
room, with “Romeo” hiding in the “bushes” on the floor at the back of the room – the class will appreciate the hilarity. It helps to have comfortable readers do
the scene, so they can get through the language with no problem.)
-
 KRSS English Department – Romeo & Juliet Teaching Guide Act 3
Plot Summary: Main Characters:
Benvolio and Mercutio, are again hanging out and bored – B wants to go inside, since it is too hot, and he knows - Benvolio
the Capulets are out, and in this heat, there is sure to be trouble. Mercutio is stubborn, and doesn’t want to go - Mercutio
anywhere. Tybalt and some friends enter looking for Romeo, to get revenge for his appearance the party last - Romeo
night, and Mercutio tries to get Tybalt to fight him. However, Romeo suddenly enters, freshly married, and eager - Tybalt
Sc. 1 to make peace with everyone. He is accosted by Tybalt, but tries to diffuse T’s anger with peaceful words, which - Prince
Monday no one believes are true, since no one knows that he is no married to Juliet. Out of frustration with the situation, - Montague/Lady M
afternoon and Romeo’s apparent cowardice, Mercutio has a go at Tybalt. Romeo comes between them to try to break up - Capulet/ Lady C
the fight, and Tybalt (accidentally) stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm. Enraged at M’s death, Romeo races after - Juliet
Tybalt and kills him in revenge, only realizing afterwards that it wasn’t the best thing to do. Benvolio yells to - Nurse
Romeo to leave quickly before the Prince sentences him to death. The Prince and the various parents then arrive, - Paris
and in the end the Prince decrees that Romeo is exiled from Verona, and if he ever returns, he will be killed.
Sc. 2 Meanwhile, Juliet is having happy girly daydreams about Romeo and being married (and what new pleasures the
Monday night will bring!), when the Nurse rushes in weeping, and tells her what has befallen. Juliet is understandably
late upset, and the Nurse says that she will go and find out where Romeo has gone and arrange for him to visit Juliet
afternoon that evening.
Romeo has escaped to Friar Lawrence’s, and is overcome with emotion when he hears the news about being Symbols:
Sc. 3
banished. However, Friar Lawrence gives him the mental slap, and says that Romeo should be happy that the  Swords = hatred & violence
Monday
sentence was not immediate death! The Nurse enters, and Romeo is comforted as he talks to her of Juliet. They  Blood = both kinship and
evening
arrange that he shall go and see Juliet tonight before Romeo escapes to Mantua. death; reasons why Tybalt
Sc. 4 Paris has dropped in to the Capulet ranch to see Juliet, but it isn’t a good time. However, Capulet suddenly thinks challenged Romeo, and why
Monday that a happy event like a wedding would cheer everyone up, and so suggests that Paris and Juliet be married on Romeo slew Tybalt
evening Thursday!  Birds: the nightingale = night’s
Sc. 5 R&J wake up and don’t want to get out of bed. Much talk of larks and nightingales, and then Romeo really must safety and protection vs. the
Tuesday get up and begone before day breaks – besides, the Nurse says that Juliet’s Mum is coming. R&J say a fond and lark = brings the daylight and
morning foreshadowed farewell, before Romeo hurries out. Lady Capulet enters, says nasty things about that Romeo the danger…
Montague, and then says that Juliet will wed Paris on Thursday. Juliet (oddly, to LC!) vehemently refuses, saying
that she will only be that villain Romeo’s wife. LC throws up her hands, and then it is up to Capulet to threaten
Juliet with being kicked out of the house and family if she does not follow orders. While her father storms out,
Juliet beseeches her mother to intervene, but Lady Capulet has had enough and wanders off. Her parents having
given up on her, Juliet turns to the Nurse as a last refuge of comfort, but even she thinks that Juliet should try to
forget about Romeo, and go along with this new marriage, since Paris is the better match. Betrayed on all sides,
Juliet pretends to be going to confession at Friar Lawrence’s, and says to herself that if the Friar cannot think of a
way out this, at least she can kill herself to prevent the second marriage from happening…
Make sure students understand:
-

Teaching Tips:
- There is good evidence that Tybalt did not mean to kill Mercutio, since T has no real quarrel with him, and he is the Prince’s kinsman – it’s just that T is so keyed
up over Romeo’s strange behaviour that T’s emotions got the better of him. This is echoed by Romeo’s killing of Tybalt, which was also unpremeditated and was
done in the heat of grief, but is all the more tragic because of it due to Romeo’s new (secret) status in the Capulet household…
-
 KRSS English Department – Romeo & Juliet Teaching Guide Act 4
Plot Summary: Main Characters:
Paris is organizing the wedding with Friar Lawrence, saying that Capulet has hastened their marriage to help - Friar Lawrence
Juliet get over her grief at Tybalt’s death. Friar Lawrence is having to do some quick thinking on the fly to try - Paris
and slow things down when Juliet appears to come to “confession”. Paris leaves her to it, and J threatens that - Juliet
Sc. 1 - Capulet
if FL cannot come up with a way out of the mess, she is willing to kill herself to prevent her marriage to Paris.
Tuesday - the Nurse
Desperate to calm her down, FL says that, if she is strong enough to kill herself for real, then she may be strong
morningish - Lady Capulet
enough to do it falsely. He outlines a plan wherein Juliet will drink a potion he will give her, and then be in a
death-like state for 42 hours. In the meantime, her family will have buried her in the family tomb, and there FL
and Romeo will come to get her when she wakes up, and Romeo will whisk her off to Mantua. Juliet agrees!
Sc. 2 Juliet apologizes to her father for her behaviour, and her father is so happy he advances the day of the wedding
Tuesday to Wednesday (tomorrow) (l. 39). In order to get everything prepared is so short a time, Capulet says he will
evening stay up all night in order to make sure everything is ready – a loving gesture, after all the fireworks earlier!
Juliet and the Nurse pick out Juliet’s wedding clothes, and Lady Capulet comes in to say goodnight. Juliet sends Symbols:
Sc. 3 them both away, since she is “sure they have lots to do to get everything ready”, but really she needs to be  Juliet’s knife/ the vial/poison =
Tuesday alone to take the potion. She is willing to do it, but worries about what she may wake up to, there in the tomb ways of ending life, but yet
night surrounded by ghosts and dead people, etc.. However, she trusts in the plan and that FL and R will be there not… depending on one’s POV…
when she wakes up, and so drinks the potion as a toast to Romeo.  Juliet’s “death” = dies in the life
Sc. 4 she doesn’t want; will be
3:00 a.m., and people are still rushing around getting things ready for the wedding. Traditionally, the “reborn” into the life that she
Early!
bridegroom arrived very early, and people say they can hear his hired band approaching. Capulet sends the wants to have…
Wednesday
Nurse to wake Juliet up and get her ready, while he makes small talk with Paris.
morning
Sc. 5
Moments later – the Nurse goes into Juliet’s room and finds her “dead”. Much grief and woe as they now all
Wednesday
prepare for a funeral, rather than a marriage.
morning
Make sure students understand:
-

Teaching Tips:
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-
 KRSS English Department – Romeo & Juliet Teaching Guide Act 5
Plot Summary: Main Characters:
- Romeo
Meanwhile, Romeo has been cooling his heels in Mantua for all of 24 hours, and is eager to know what is going - Balthasar
on back at home. He has had a strange dream in which Juliet found him dead, and kissed his lips to try and bring - the Apothecary
him back to life – weird, dude! (Also, ironic inverse foreshadowing!) His servant Balthasar arrives with the news - Friar John
that Juliet is dead. (The funeral was yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, and so what with having to see the - Friar Lawrence
Sc. 1 funeral, decide to tell Romeo, actually ride to Mantua, (a 5-hour journey) and then tell him, Balthasar has had a - Paris
Thursday busy time!) Much wailing and gnashing of teeth from Romeo, who then pulls himself together and gets B to - Paris’ page (servant)
afternoon arrange for horses to take them back to Verona tonight. B is unsure about this, and about R’s mental state, but - Friar Lawrence
he has no choice but to follow his instructions. In the meantime, Romeo finds an Apothecary, and demands to be - The Watch
sold poison. The A is unwilling, but R wins him over with much gold. The poison is very powerful, and the A says - the Prince
that even if Romeo had the strength of 20 men, it would still kill him. Romeo thinks this is just fine – he has his - Capulet/Lady C
own plans about how to see Juliet again. - Montague

Back in Verona, Friar Lawrence is shocked to see Friar John show up with the letter that FL gave him to take to Symbols:
Mantua to give to Romeo – FJ wasn’t able to deliver them because he was locked up in a house that was under  Death of the lovers = together
Sc. 2 in a love that now never ends?
quarantine for fear of the plague. FL is now very worried, because a) Romeo still knows nothing of the plan, and
Thursday A “deathless” love?
b) Juliet will be waking up soon, and now Romeo will not get the message in time to be there with FL when she
evening  Love = a state that can
wakes up. FL decides that he will send another letter quickly to Mantua, and will have to break into the tomb by
himself, and spirit Juliet back to his cell to await Romeo there. transcend earthly concerns and
join two people forever?!
Sc. 3 The Capulet Tomb – Paris has arrived to leave some flowers for Juliet, but doesn’t want anyone to see him, so
Thursday warns his servant to hide in the bushes and whistle is anyone comes. The whistle sounds, and Paris hides in the
night into bushes to see who it is. Romeo and Balthasar then arrive, with B&E tools. Romeo gives B a letter to give to
Friday Montague, and then sends him away with many dire warnings if he should spy on what Romeo is doing. Despite
morning the warnings, Balthasar decides to hide in the bushes and see what happens. Paris sees that it is Romeo about to
break into the tomb, and challenges him to a duel. Romeo, not knowing what Paris was to play in the whole
thing, warns him to run away, but Paris refuses. They fight, and Paris’ page runs away to get the Watch. Romeo
kills Paris, only then remembering something Balthasar told him about Paris’ going to marry Juliet. He opens the
tomb, and lays Paris inside. Romeo goes over to Juliet, sorrowfully marveling how still undead she looks, says
famous last words, and then drinks the poison.
Friar Lawrence now arrives, fearing that he will be too late to catch Juliet’s waking and discovers from Balthasar
that Romeo has entered the tomb – much foreboding… FL enters the tomb and sees Romeo dead, and Juliet just
waking up. With the sounds of the Watch approaching in the distance, FL tells Juliet that the plan worked, but
Romeo is dead, and so he will send to her live as a nun. Juliet refuses to leave Romeo, so FL runs away to avoid
being caught. Juliet cradles Romeo, and kisses his lips to try and get some of the poison for herself. With the
 Watch arrived outside, Juliet takes Romeo’s dagger and stabs herself to be with him even unto death.
The Chief of the Watch questions Paris’ page about what has gone on, discovers the bodies, and sends men to
tell the Montagues and the Capulets. Other Watchmen find Balthasar and Friar Lawrence. The Prince,
Capulet/Lady C, and Montague all arrive, wondering what is going on; Montague says that his wife has killed
herself in grief over Romeo’s exile. The Prince wants to know what happened, and so Friar Lawrence tells his tale
of woe and apologises, even offering his life in return. The Prince forgives him, and hears Balthsar’s story about
their journey from Mantua and reads Romeo’s letter to his father. The Prince confronts Montague and Capulet
about their feud, and admits that, in “winking” at it, he has allowed this cruel event to occur. M&C cease
hostilities, each promising to make a statue of the other’s child in gold in remembrance of them. The Prince’s
sorrowful speech at the end concludes the action.
Make sure students understand:
- The timeline of Juliet’s “death”, and the fact that most of Wednesday is missed from the action, due to the funeral having
to take place, and Balthasar having to ride to Mantua to tell Romeo the news, getting there on Thursday morning.
- Interesting how the films treat the whole Romeo-kills-self-while-Juliet-wakes-up scene – can really increase the tension; the
Luhrmann version actually has Juliet wake up as he is still dying and knows it!

Teaching Tips:
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-

R&J Themes: (Suggested – they may come up with more in their groups)

 Love – power of; opposite of Hatred; tragic; also, with Duty, an underlying reason for the ongoing feud.
 Hatred – opposite of Love; flip-side reason for the ongoing feud.
 Death – can be preferable to life in case of Love; both R&J choose death (suicide) to be with each other in Death, rather than be apart in Life.
 Dreams – Both Romeo and Mercutio mention having dreams; not usually positive harbingers, but can bring meaning to events.
 Individuals vs. Society/ Children vs. Parents – familial roles and duties can conflict with personal feelings, ambitions, and desires.
 Fate – do R&J have a chance from the beginning? Romeo gives over the “steerage of my course” over to Fate(/God) (I.iv.114); he has misgivings about
what might happen, but does not allow this to dissuade him…
 Chance vs. Choice – like Fate – are R&J doomed from the beginning? We know from the Prologue that they are; is there ever a chance when either of
them could have changed things? (Eg.: why didn’t Juliet just run away to Mantua to be with Romeo? Why go through with the whole pretended 2 nd
marriage/potion death thing anyway?)