Romeo and Juliet key facts

"parents rage" = Act 1 Prologue, line 10

"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes/A pair of star crossed lovers take their life" = Act 1 Prologue, lines 5-6

"Have at thee, coward" = Act 1 Scene 1, line 66. Tybalt to Romeo

"This is not Romeo, he's some other where" = Act 1 Scene 1, line 198. Romeo

"How stands your dispositions to be married?" = Act 1 Scene 3, line 68. Lady Capulet to Juliet

"My grave is like to be my wedding bed" = Act 1 Scene 5, line 135. Juliet to Romeo

"My only love, sprung from my only hate!" = Act 1 Scene 5, line 138. Juliet

"Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie, And young affection gapes to be his heir" Act 2 Prologue, lines 1-2

"But passion lends them power, time means, to meet, Tempering extremities with extreme sweet" Act 2 Prologue, lines 13-14

"O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!" = Act 1 Scene 5, line 44. Romeo to Juliet

"O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied/What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?/Th'exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine" = Act 2 Scene 2, lines 125-127. Dialogue between Romeo and Juliet

"These violent delights have violent ends" = Act 2 Scene 6, line 9. Friar Lawrence to Romeo

"A plague a' both your houses!" Act 3 Scene 1, line 106. Mercutio to Tybalt and Romeo

"I am fortune's fool!" = Act 3 Scene 1, line 136. Romeo

"cut him out in little stars" = Act 3 Scene 2, line 22. Juliet to Nurse

"Wisely and slow: they stumble that run fast" = Act 2 Scene 3, line 94. Friar Lawrence to Romeo

"I have forgotten that name, and that name's woe" = Act 2 Scene 3, line 46. Romeo to Friar Lawrence

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea" = Act 2 Scene 2, line 133. Juliet to Romeo

"Wherefore art thou Romeo?" = Act 2 Scene 2, line 33. Juliet to Romeo (soliloquy)

"Well, we were born to die" = Act 3 Scene 4, line 4. Capulet to Paris

"More light and light: more dark and dark our woes!" = Act 3 Scene 5, line 36. Romeo to Juliet

"Thy face is mine, and thou hast slandered it" = Act 4 Scene 1, line 35. Paris to Juliet

"Disobedient wretch" = Act 3 Scene 5, line 160. Capulet to Juliet

"Henceforward I am ever ruled by you" = Act 4 Scene 2, line 22. Juliet to Capulet

"All our whole city is much bound to him" Act 4 Scene 2, line 32. Capulet to audience (about Friar)

"What if this mixture does not work at all? Shall I be married then tomorrow morning?" = Act 4 Scene 3, lines 21-22. Juliet to Friar Lawrence

"I defy you, stars!" = Act 5 Scene 1, line 2. Romeo in response to news about Juliet's death

"All are punished" = Act 5 Scene 3, line 295. Prince

"For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes This vault a feasting presence full of light" = Act 5 Scene 3, lines 85-86. Romeo about Juliet's dead body

"For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo" = Act 5 Scene 3, lines 309-310. Prince to audience. Last lines of the play

"Verona brags of him/To be a virtuous and well governed youth" = Act 1 Scene 5, lines 67-68. Capulet to Tybalt (about Romeo)

"Death lies on her like an untimely frost/Upon the sweetest flower of all the field" = Act 4 Scene 5, lines 28-29. Capulet about Juliet

In love with Rosaline but she doesn't love him back

Falls in love with Juliet at the Capulet's ball (Act 1 Scene 5)

Declares his love for Juliet at asks her to marry him on the balcony (Act 2 Scene 3)

Marries Juliet (Act 2 Scene 6) but kills her cousin Tybalt and is exiled (Act 3 Scene 1)

Returns to Verona with poison believing Juliet is dead (Act 5 Scene 1)

Kills Paris and dies in Juliets tomb before she wakes up (Act 5 Scene 3)

Many of Romeo's choices determine the outcome of the play

Has a good reputation amongst everyone

Rosaline makes him depressed until Juliet comes into his life

Loyal and devoted to Juliet and proves it by killing himself just to be with her in heaven

Meets and falls in love with Romeo at the Capulet's ball (Act 1 Scene 5)

Shows her love for and agrees to marry Romeo on her balcony (Act 2 Scene 2)

Marries Romeo without telling her parents (Act 2 Scene 6)

Spends one night with Romeo just before he is banished for murdering Tybalt (Act 3 Scene 5)

Disobeys her parents when they decide she will marry Paris (Act 3 Scene 5)

Takes the potion given by Friar and makes her family believe she is dead (Act 4 Scene 3)

Wakes up in the tomb next to Romeo and kills herself to be with him (Act 5 Scene 3)

She is an independent and strong character who develops throughout the play

Seen as being beautiful by Romeo and Capulet

She is inferior to most people in the play and most people try to control her life and emotions

(Mercutio) Montague - Romeo's friend and servant to the Prince

Goes with Romeo to the Capulet's ball (Act 1 Scene 4)

Attempts to cheer up Romeo when Rosaline does not love him (Act 1 Scene 4)

Duels with Tybalt and dies when Romeo intervenes whilst cursing them both (Act 3 Scene 1)

A hot tempered, funny character

(Nurse)Capulet - Juliet's servant and closest friend who has brought her up since birth

Involved in discussions about Paris with Lady Capulet and Juliet (Act 1 Scene 3)

Organises the marriage with Romeo (Act 2 Scene 4)

Suggests that Juliet marries Paris after Romeo's exile which leads to their friendship breaking (Act 3 Scene 5)

(Friar) Able to marry Romeo and Juliet and is a close friend to Romeo

Considered to be a source of destiny as he foreshadows their deaths and is wise

Agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet (Act 2 Scene 3)

Shelters Romeo after he kills Tybalt and makes a plan to reunite them (Act 3 Scene 3)

Gives Juliet a drug but is unable to send a message to Romeo (Act 4 Scene 1 and Act 5 Scene 2)

(Benvolio) Montague - well mannered, quiet and mature person who tries to keep peace

Tries to stop the original fight (Act 1 Scene 1)

Tries to help Romeo feel better after Rosaline (Act 1 Scene 1/2)

Tries to stop the second fight but is unsuccessful (Act 3 Scene 1)

(Tybalt) Capulet - a fiery, dangerous character who is constantly trying to fight

Insists on fighting at the street fight (Act 1 Scene 1)

Tries to challenge Romeo at the ball but is stopped by Capulet (Act 1 Scene 5)

Kills mercutio and is killed by Romeo (Act 3 Scene 1)

One of the main catalysts in the family feud and Romeo and Juliet's deaths

(Capulet) A supposedly concerned and caring person who is actually commanding and fierce

Reluctantly discusses marriage proposals with Paris (Act 1 Scene 2)

Invites Paris to a party so he can meet Juliet (Act 1 Scene 2)

Prevents Tybalt from challenging Romeo at the ball (Act 1 Scene 5)

Insists Juliet marries Paris after Tybalt's death (Act 3 Scene 5)

Love

Romeo loves Rosaline and is depressed because of it - love means a lot to him

Attends Capulet's ball to see Rosaline - obsessed with her (love has consumed him)

Romeo and Juliet quickly marry - young love is desperate and hastily done (dangerous consequences)

Fate and Free will

"a pair of star crossed lovers" (A1 P, L6) - their deaths are fated from the very start

Fate is to blame for their tragedy

All characters make a reference that foreshadows their deaths

Romeo blames fate for Juliet's death ("I defy you stars" A5 S1 L24)

Death and Life

Young men are very eager to fight

There are multiple times throughout the play where fights almost begin

There is a lot of bloodshed that could have been avoided - men are immature

Lots of young lives are lost - fate 

The older characters make the most references to death

The older characters learn more about life as a result of the younger character's deaths

Most fighting is to get honour and respect from others - building up their place in society

Playwright

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564

Worked in London as a writer, actor and theatre manager

Romeo and Juliet was at the start of his career

Made other tragedy plays

Patriarchal society

Men were seen as more important than women

Capulet has lots of power of Lady Capulet and Juliet

Gives orders and expects no response

Juliet would not have been allowed freedom

Family feud

Their love is made to seem wrong because of their parents

The parents affect their lives

Known from the beginning but not what it is about

Young love

Juliet and Romeo are young teenagers

Marriage was young in the sixteenth century

Life expectancy was short

Women would have children at a very young age

Girls were pressured into marriage and it was chosen by their fathers

Play

It is designed to be spoken between characters in a theatre

There is no narration apart from in the Prologues

References are made from the play to the audience

Shakespearean play

Wrote plays based on comedy, history and tragedy

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy

Mainly written in verse and prose contrasting

Tragedy uses suffering and death as entertainment

Usually involves the downfall of a character

Five part structure

Starts with an initial incident (exposition), goes to a growth in tension (rising action), a high point (climax), the plot unravels (falling action) and finishes with an ending (denouement)

Blank verse and prose

Most is written in blank verse

Unrhymmed stanza of poetry with ten syllables in each line organised into five groups of two with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

It creates a rhythm in the dialgoue so it is not boring

Characters in higher status speak in blank verse

Characters in lower status speak in prose which is ordinary speech with no rhyme

Soliloquy

A character uses it alone on stage

They address it so that only the audience is listening

It sets out a certain scene, personality or event in the play

Can be used to remind the audience about earlier events

Shows a character's feelings and thoughts

Time

The play takes up the space of a few short days

The events are a result of arguments in the past causing the feud

Act 1 Scene 1 to Act 2 Scene 2

There is a street fight, Rosaline rejects Romeo's live and Paris asks Capulet if he can marry Juliet

Romeo and Benvolio go to the Capulet's ball to see Rosaline and Tybalt tries to fight Romeo

Romeo and Juliet meet and Juliet discovers that he is a Montague

Romeo climbs into the Capulet's orchard and speaks to Juliet about their love for each other

Act 2 Scene 3 to Act 2 Scene 6

Romeo asks Friar Lawrence to marry him and Juliet

Romeo sends a message to Juliet asking her to go to Friar Lawrence's cell

Romeo and Juliet marry in a secret wedding

Act 3 Scene 1 to Act 3 Scene 4

Tybalt kills Mercutio and Romeo kills Tybalt before being banished from Verona

Juliet learns of the events and sends Nurse to find Romeo

Romeo and Juliet spend a night together before he leaves for Mantua

Act 3 Scene 5 to Act 4 Scene 1

Juliet refuses to marry Paris after Capulet told him he could

Friar makes a plan for them

Friar gives Juliet a potion that will make her seem dead

Act 4 Scene 2 to Act 5 Scene 1

Juliet takes the potion

The Nurse finds Juliet and Romeo is told of the events

He buys a poison from an apothecary and leaves for Verona

Act 5 Scene 2 to Act 5 Scene 3

Romeo kills Paris to get into Juliet's tomb

Romeo takes the poison and Juliet starts to wake up

Juliet stabs herself and dies

The Montagues and Capulets make peace as a result of the tragedy

Sunday:

Morning - street fight

Evening - Paris speaks to Capulet, Romeo goes to the ball and meets Juliet, Romeo sees Juliet on the balcony

Monday

Morning - Romeo and Juliet marry at Friar Lawrence's cell

Afternoon - Tybalt kills Mercutio, Romeo kills Tybalt, Romeo is banished, Juliet hears of the events

Tuesday

Morning - Romeo leaves for Mantua, Juliet refuses to marry Paris

Afternoon - Juliet drinks the potion

Wednesday

Morning - Nurse find Juliet, Romeo finds out and buys a poison

Night - Romeo kills Paris, drinks the poison, Juliet stabs herself