Compare and Contrast
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Who is your favorite character and why? Who do you dislike, why?
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If you were acting in a production of the play, which character would you want to be? Why? Who would you not want to play? Why?
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Compare Romeo and Juliet to the story of Cinderella. Think about how they are similar and different in time frame, characters, settings, and ending.
Relational
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Who is to blame for each of these deaths: Mercutio, Tybalt, Paris, Romeo, and Juliet? Is there a real hero or villain?
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Should Juliet have agreed with her parents to forget Romeo and marry Paris? Is it ever right to disobey?
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How could the Montagues and the Capulets have settled their problems? What effect does violence have on the feelings of the characters?
Textual
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Look at what Juliet says to Romeo about love in 2.2.116–124. Do you think she is wise?
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What does the prince mean when he says at the end of the play, “All are punished”?
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The words fate, fortune, and star-crossed appear in the text many times. Also, both Romeo and Juliet say that they have a bad feeling about how things will turn out. Does this mean that they couldn’t change the way things ended? Was it destiny or bad choices that led to their deaths?
Shakespeare’s World
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Is fourteen a good age to get married? What did Shakespeare think?
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What would it be like to see this play at Shakespeare’s theatre, The Globe, in the hot afternoon, standing up, with men playing all the roles (even Juliet)?
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How do you think Shakespeare would react if he knew that you were learning about his play more than 400 years after he wrote it?
