Name: ___ANSWER KEY__________ Period: _____
Romeo and Juliet- Act 2 Guided Notes
Prologue- Act 2, Scene 1
The Chorus speaks in the form of a __sonnet_____
A sonnet is a __poem_____ written in Iambic Pentameter
Each line has _14___ syllables
Each ___syllable_____ alternates between unstressed and stressed accents
“Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie…”
Poetic Devices: ___personification______, ___alliteration_________
Romeo’s old desire for __Rosaline____ is now ‘dead’ since he met __Juliet____
“Being held a foe, he may not have access/ To breathe such vows as lovers used to swear”
Romeo is Juliet’s _enemy__; it will not be easy for them to profess their love
“But passion lends them power, time means, to meet/ Temp’ring extremities with extreme
sweet.”
Romeo and Juliet will mix great __difficulties____ with great ___love____
Act 2, Scene 1
Setting: After the Capulet Party, in the early hours of the morning
Romeo: “Can I go forward when my ___heart____ is here?” (2.1.1)
Benvolio and Mercutio are leaving and looking for Romeo
Mercutio: “Nay, I’ll __conjure____ too. Romeo! Humors! Madman! Passion! Lover! Appear
though in the likeness of a sigh” (2.1.7-10)
Benvolio: “Blind is his love and best befits the dark.”
Mercutio: “If love be __blind___, love cannot hit the mark” (2.1.35-36)
Act 2, Scene 2
This scene is famously referred to as the “__Balcony Scene______”
Romeo trespasses on the Capulet property to try and get another glimpse of Juliet
He sees her in her bedroom
“But soft, what __light___ through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the
__sun___” (2.2.1-2)
Juliet appears on the balcony outside of her room
1
Romeo: “O speak again, __bright angel__, for thou art as glorious to this night, being o’er my
head, as is a winder messenger of _heaven____” (2.2.29-31)
Juliet: “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse
__name_____. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I’ll no longer be a Capulet”
(2.2.36-39)
Romeo listens to her speak, but does not yet let her know that he is there
Juliet: “Tis but thy __name___ that is my enemy. Thou art __thyself___, though not a
Montague. What’s Montague? It is nor hand, not foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
belonging to a man” (2.2.41-45)
Juliet: “What’s in a name? That which we call a __rose__ by any other name would smell as
sweet” (2.2.46-47)
Romeo finally speaks: “I take thee at thy word. Call me but _love_ and I’ll be new baptized”
(2.2.53-54)
Romeo says only refer to him as love, and he will no longer recognize the name Romeo
Juliet is startled by his response; she thought she was alone: “What man art thou, thus
bescreened in night, so stumblest upon my _counsel___?”
Romeo: “My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself because it is an enemy to thee” (2.2.60-61)
Juliet asks how Romeo got into the orchard; Romeo responds, “With _love’s light wings___ did I
o’verperch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out” (2.2.71-72)
Juliet: “If they do see thee, they will murder thee.” (2.2.75).
Romeo: “I have night’s cloak to hide my from their eyes, and, but thou love me, let them find me
here. My life were better ended by _their hate__ than death prorogued, wanting of thy love”
(2.2.80-83).
Romeo and Juliet profess their love for each other
Romeo wants “the exchange of thy love’s __faithful___ for mine” (2.2.134) and Juliet replies, “I
gave thee mine before thou didst request it” (2.2.135).
Juliet says that if Romeo is serious about marrying her, then send word tomorrow about where
and what time the ceremony will happen
Juliet reminds Romeo that “_bondage_ is hoarse and may not speak aloud, else would I tear
that cave where Echo lies and make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine with repetition of
‘My Romeo!’” (2.2.171-174).
Juliet is still under her father’s rule and must keep her love _a secret___ and whisper
hoarsely
She alludes to Echo, a mythological nymph who fell in love with Narcissus but could not
be with him
After three warnings from the Nurse, Juliet finally says “Good night, good night. Parting is such
___sweet sorrow____ that I shall say ‘good night’ till it be morrow” (2.2.199-201).
2
Act 2, Scene 3- Friar Lawrence
Friar Lawrence is an unusual character who speaks with backwards phrases and words
Example: “I must upfill this osier cage of ours” instead of “I must fill up this osier cage”
(2.3.7)
He is known for his __ominous____ sense of __foreshadowing___
“Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied and vice sometime by action dignified”
(2.3.21-22)
Act 2, Scene 3
Romeo has not slept and visits Friar early in the morning
Romeo comes to ask for help: “My __intercession_____ likewise steads my foe” (2.3.58).
Friar: “Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift. Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift”
(2.3.59-60).
Romeo: “Then plainly know my heart’s dear love is set on the fair daughter of rich Capulet. As
mine on hers, so hers is set on mine, and all combined, save what thou must combine by holy
marriage…this I pray, that thou consent to _marry us today__” (2.3.58-68).
Friar’s reaction: “Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here! Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so
dear, so soon forsaken? Young men’s love lies not truly in their __hearts__, but in their
__eyes___” (2.3.69-72).
Romeo retaliates, “I pray thee, chide me not. Her I love now doth grace for grace and love for
love allow. The other did not so” (2.3.91-93)
Romeo explains that while his love for Rosaline was ___unrequited___, his love for
Juliet is the real deal
Friar agrees to help Romeo: “In one respect I’ll thy assistant be, for this alliance may so happy
prove to turn your households’ __rancor____ to pure ___love___” (2.3.97-99).
Act 2, Scene 4
Romeo reunites with __Mercutio____ and ___Benvolio______
They give him a hard time for deserting them after the party, but Romeo said he had important
business to attend to
They also notice that Romeo is in a good mood
Suddenly, __the Nurse_____ arrives to speak to Romeo
The Nurse cuts to the chase: “If you should lead [Juliet] in a ____fool’s paradise____, as they
say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say” (2.4.168-170).
She warns Romeo not to __betray_____ Juliet
3
Romeo: “Bid her devise some means to come to __shrift____ this afternoon, and there she shall
at Friar Lawrence’s cell be shrived and married” (2.4.184-6).
Romeo will send a friend with a __rope ladder_____ so he can climb the orchard walls
at the Capulets
Act 2, Scene 5
Juliet waits impatiently for the Nurse to return
The Nurse is (comedically) out of breath when she returns, and Juliet is trying to get information
from her
Juliet: “How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath to say to me that thou art out of
breath?.. Is thy news __good___ or _bad__?” (2.5.33-37).
Nurse: “Hie you hence to Friar Lawrence’s cell. There stays a __husband___ to make you a
___wife_____” (2.5.73-74).
Act 2, Scene 6
Juliet meets Romeo at Friar’s cell to be married
Romeo: “But come what __sorrow_____ can, it cannot countervail the exchange of joy that one
short minute gives me in her sight. Do thou but close our hands with holy words, then love-
devouring _death___ do what he dare, it is enough I may but call her mine” (2.6.3-8).
Friar: “These violent __delights___ have violent ___ends___ and in their triumph die, like fire
and powder, which as they kiss, consume…Therefore, ___love moderately___. Long love doth
so. Too swift arrives as tardy too slow” (2.6.9-14).
Themes
Love at first sight
Romeo and Juliet have known each other for ___one day_____
Identity and secrecy
Romeo and Juliet overlook their ___last names_________
They love each other despite coming from rival families
Marriage
Friar and the Nurse serve as __witnesses_____ at Romeo and Juliet’s marriage
ceremony- it is legal!
Rebellion
Romeo and Juliet’s decision to marry represents rebellion on all fronts
They have defied their __parents__, __families__, and ___friends___, all in the name of
love
