Romeo and Juliet (Savouring the Classics)

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)

The Writer

Shakespeare needs little introduction!

A writer of plays - tragedies, comedies, and histories, and also the composer of poems and sonnets. He lived in Elizabethan England, in the sixteenth century. But he belongs not to any particular place or time. As his friend and contemporary writer Ben Jonson puts it: “He was not of an age, but for all time!”

A Shakespearean drama, according to the Elizabethan convention, is divided into five Acts. Each Act may have a number of scenes.

The Elizabethan stage had no curtains in the front. Hence, the writers arranged each section in a way all characters left the stage at the end of a scene. Even if there is a dead body, there will be someone to carry it away. Because there is no back curtain depicting any scenery or background, the plays will have lots of descriptions explaining what all can be seen.

The Play

“Romeo and Juliet” is one of the early plays from Shakespeare. The plot is developed from an Italian tale translated as “The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet” by Arthur Brooke.

Acclaimed as a great Romantic Tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet” is the story of two young lovers, whose families are enemies.

The Plot

The play is set in Italy, especially in its town of Verona.

The Montagues and the Capulets, the two noble families of Verona, are mutual enemies.

Romeo belongs to the Montagues and Juliet to the Capulets. He was in love with Rosaline of the Capulet family, but is sad that she doesn’t return his love. Juliet’s parents are planning her marriage to the Count Paris, who is related to the Prince of Verona.

The Capulets host a party – a mask ball, which is a dance party where the guests wear masks as a matter of fun, so as to hide their identity; people in the party try to guess the real persons behind the masks. The party is arranged so as to give Juliet a chance to meet Count Paris.

Romeo and friends come there, hiding their identity behind masks, so that Romeo could meet Rosaline. It turns out that Romeo meets Juliet at the party; he falls in love with her. 

Later, Romeo hears Juliet confess her love towards him. Romeo responds. They decide to get married. Romeo is helped by Friar Laurence, a man of religion, who hopes that this marriage will help unite the two enemy families. But, Romeo had to flee to Mantua, because of a murder he had committed, and he is banished by the Prince of Verona. Before that, Romeo and Juliet manage to get married in secret.

Juliet’s parents encourage her to marry Count Paris. Friar Laurence advises Juliet to take a medicinal drink. This will keep her immobile, as if she is dead, for forty-two hours. In the meantime, Laurence can send messengers to get Romeo back within this time, and the both can escape together.

Before the messenger from Friar Laurence could meet Romeo, he gets news of the death of Juliet. Romeo reaches the Capulet crypt where she is kept, and kills himself. Juliet wakes up, and finds Romeo dead. She too commits suicide.

The feuding families and the Prince meet at the tomb to find the dead lovers. Friar Laurence recounts the story of the two "star-cross'd lovers". The families are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud. The play ends with the Prince's elegy for the lovers: "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

The Excerpt for Our Study

Our lesson is an excerpt from the play, which takes us to Act II, scene ii. Popularly known as the balcony scene, this scene brings together Romeo and Juliet for the first time after the party.

It is night, and Romeo has climbed down the walls of the Capulet courtyard. Juliet is seen on the balcony of her house, talking to herself. They acknowledge their love, and decide to get married.

For the sake of easy understanding, let us divide the scene into three sections. We follow the page and line numbers given in the text, “Savouring the Classics”:

Section 1: Lines 1 – 48 (pages 36, 37) – till …Take all myself

It is night time. Romeo is in the Capulet courtyard. He sees a light through a window. For him, that is the east, and Juliet is the sun. He asks Juliet, the sun, to rise up and kill the envious moon. Here, Romeo is thinking of his earlier love, Rosaline, who has refused his requests of love.

Juliet is seen entering on the balcony, and Romeo feels that she is talking. But he can’t hear her words. He starts describing her beauty. To him her eyes are two bright stars.

Now Romeo hears Juliet speak. She is confessing her love to Romeo. She knows the difficulty of their marriage, as their families are enemies. She just wishes he is known by some name other than “Montague”. Here we have one of the famous lines from Shakespeare: “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose/ Bu any other word would smell as sweet…”

Section 2: Lines 49 – 106 (pages 37- 39) – till Which the dark night hath so discovered.

Romeo speaks out in response. Juliet is startled to see and hear a stranger in her garden. Soon she recognizes Romeo. She tells him that her love towards him should not be taken lightly; from Romeo too, she expects a faithful declaration of his love.

Section 3: Lines 107 – 190 (pages 39 – 42)

Romeo responds to Juliet, and starts with words of promises, swearing his love.  But Juliet asks Romeo for more serious arrangements for marriage. She wants him to inform her the next day about the possibilities of the time and place where the marriage can be conducted. She promises her faithful love to him: “And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay;/ And follow thee my lord throughout the world”.

Juliet’s nurse calls her again and again from inside the house. She moves in, but comes out again twice, to continue her conversation with Romeo. They arrange that Juliet will send her messenger to Romeo by 9 o’clock next morning, to get from him details of the arrangements.

Juliet goes back into the house. Romeo decides to visit Friar Laurence to get his help in the marriage arrangements.

Select Questions and Answers

Answer in two or three sentences:

1.     Why is Juliet compared to the sun?

Romeo enters Juliet’s courtyard at night, and he sees light at a window. He says that the light is the rising sun, which is Juliet. He compares Juliet to the sun because she is radiant.

2.     Why is Juliet dissatisfied with her lover’s name?

Juliet’s lover’s name is Romeo, and his family name is Montague. Juliet’s family, the Capulets, are enemies with the Montagues. So, they will be angry if they hear that Romeo is in their courtyard.

3.     What is Juliet afraid of?

Juliet knows that her people, the Capulets, will not be happy to see Romeo in their courtyard. If they catch him, they will kill him. Juliet is afraid that this will happen.

4.     Why does Juliet not want Romeo to swear by the moon?

Romeo started to swear by the moon about his love for Juliet. But Juliet asks him to stop it. The moon is inconstant, with changes inside it every month. A love promised in the name of moon will be similarly unstable.

5.     What does Juliet demand from Romeo in order to prove his honourable “bent of love’ towards her?

Juliet wants a promise from Romeo that he is ready for marriage. She will send a messenger to him the next day. Romeo should send her details of the place and time where the marriage will be conducted.

6.     How will Juliet give testimony of her true love for Romeo if they get married?

If they get married, Juliet will lay all her fortunes at the foot of Romeo. She will also follow him throughout the world.

7.     “Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say good night till it is morrow.” Explain.

This line is from Act 2, scene 2 of “Romeo and Juliet”., The words are spoken by Juliet before she leaves Romeo. They have decided that Romeo will inform Juliet about the plans of marriage the next day. So, there is something happy to wait for, though there is the sorrow in parting.

8.     Whose help does Romeo plan to seek in order to marry Juliet?

Romeo and Juliet are in love. Romeo is planning to arrange their marriage soon. For this, he plans to get the help of Frair Laurence, his spiritual lord. This is indicated in the closing lines of the scene: “Hence will I to my ghostly sire’s close cell, his help to crave and my dear hap to tell”.

Answer in 100 words:

1.     Comment on the images used by Shakespeare in order to depict the intensity of the passion of the lovers.

“Image” is a word or phrase in a literary text that appeals directly to the reader's taste, touch, hearing, sight, or smell. In Act II scene ii, Shakespeare uses many images to speak of people and their emotions. Romeo speaks of Juliet as the sun, and her eyes as two stars. Juliet is an angel – “… a winged messenger of heaven”. Romeo himself is a bird “with love’s light wings”. Juliet compares her generosity and love to the deep and boundless sea. In a story where love is the main theme, Romeo says that the parting of lovers are like schoolboys who go “toward school with heavy looks”. The sound of lovers’ call is “like softest music”.  

2.     Juliet’s soliloquy examines the importance of words and names. Discuss.

Soliloquy is the act of speaking one's thoughts aloud. In Act II, scene ii of “Romeo and Juliet”, Juliet’s first words come as a soliloquy. She confesses her love for Romeo. She is worried that the name “Romeo” and his family name “Montague” will create problems as her family, the Capulets, are enemies with the Montagues. A name is not an essential part of anyone, and she wishes that there will be some other name to replace “Romeo” and “Montague”. Here we listen to one of the famous lines quoted from Shakespeare: “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose/ By any other word would smell as sweet”. Juliet calls into the night for Romeo to "refuse thy name". Juliet’s words bring out the conflict in the play: two young people in love find it difficult to be together, because of names.

3.     The atmosphere of mutual admiration in Act II scene ii of “Romeo and Juliet” creates a sense of equality between the lovers. Explain.

Right from the start of the Balcony scene, we see the mutual admiration of Romeo and Juliet, expressed through their words. The first words of both the characters are soliloquys, which are sincere expressions from the heart. Romeo considers Juliet as an angel, a ‘winged messenger from heaven’. Juliet enters, without knowing that Romeo is nearby, and pours out her agony that he belongs to the enemy family. Juliet’s worry is about the safety of Romeo when he is in the Capulet orchard. She declares her love for him, and wants him to swear not by the ‘inconstant moon’, but by his ‘gracious self’. Both Romeo and Juliet appear to us as mature lovers, who take serious decisions about their own lives and their love to each other.

Long Answer Questions:

Points to be included:

A note on the writer

The play

The scene

The characters

The story in the Balcony scene:

Act II, scene ii happens at night. Romeo manages to enter the courtyard of the Capulets. Juliet appears at a window above. Romeo compares her to the sun, far more beautiful than the moon it banishes. He nearly speaks to her, but thinks better to keep quiet for a while and listen to what she says. Juliet, unaware that Romeo is in the garden, asks why Romeo must be Romeo—a Montague, and therefore an enemy to her family. If he would refuse his Montague name, she would give herself to him; or if he would simply swear that he loved her, she would refuse her Capulet name.

Romeo responds, surprising Juliet, since she thought she was alone. She wonders how he found her and he tells her that love led him to her. Juliet worries that Romeo will be killed if he is found in the garden, but Romeo refuses to go, claiming that Juliet’s love would make him invisible to his enemies. Juliet admits she feels as strongly about Romeo as he professes he loves her, but she worries in a hasty decision, without knowing Romeo well. Romeo begins to swear to her, but she stops him, concerned that everything is happening too quickly. He reassures her, and the two confess their love again.

The Nurse calls for Juliet, and Juliet goes inside for a moment. When she reappears, she tells Romeo that she will send someone to him the next day to know his plans about her. The Nurse calls again, and again Juliet withdraws. She appears at the window once more to set a time when her messenger should call on him: they settle on nine in the morning. They exult in their love for another moment before saying good night. Juliet goes back inside her chamber, and Romeo departs, hoping to visit Frair Laurence, his spiritual guide, and get advice from him.

(Please use points from answers to short questions above, to add details to your answer.)

Conclusion

Act II, scene ii of “Romeo and Juliet” reveals the true love between Romeo and Juliet. We understand that their love relation will face difficulties as they are from two enemy families. Shakespeare beautifully brings out the depth of love, the glory of mutual admiration and the tension of possible difficulties through the Balcony scene in “Romeo and Juliet”.

Prepared by

Jacob Eapen Kunnath