Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: Many of you wrote in your first paper about how men and
women write (and speak) differently, and ascribed specific sonnets to either
sex based on how candid or florid they were. With this in mind, examine how
Romeo and Juliet use poetry in Act 2, scene 2. Are they both idealistic fools
blinded by love? Is one more realistic than the other? Is one a better poet
than the other? How does Shakespeare characterize them through their use of
poetry in this scene?
Q2: Why does Act 2, scene 4 begin in verse and quickly
descend into prose for the rest of the scene? Who starts the “prose-fest”?
Also, why does the Nurse speak in prose to her superiors (Romeo and his
friends)? How might this scene read/sound differently in verse?
Q3: Mercutio is sort of the antidote for the poetry and
idealism of this play; and yet, Shakespeare kills him relatively early on, in
Act 3, scene 1. Are we supposed to read his death as tragic or comic? If you
were the actor, how would you play it? What does his language suggest? Is he
ultimately here for comic relief, or does his death truly begin the play’s
descent into tragedy?
Q4: Note that Juliet dominates this play much more than
Romeo, and in Act 3 is given numerous long speeches while Romeo has very few.
Why does Juliet seem to interest Shakespeare more than Romeo? What does he say
through her that might not make sense through Romeo? Also, what does she say
that might remind us more of the Shakespeare from The Sonnets?
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