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Romeo Balcony Scene Analysis

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Romeo Balcony Scene Analysis

Read the self-contained scene extract and context below. Then answer the questions, using short quotations as evidence where you can. Shakespeare’s original spelling is retained in the quotations.

Scene context and extract

After the Capulet feast, Romeo stays in the orchard below Juliet’s window. Juliet, unaware that he can hear her, wonders why the man she loves must belong to the family her own family hates. Romeo reveals himself; they speak of love and arrange to marry. The lines below are from Act 2, Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet. JULIET: O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet. ROMEO: Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? JULIET: ’Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. ROMEO: I take thee at thy word. Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptised; Henceforth I never will be Romeo. JULIET: What man art thou that, thus bescreen’d in night, So stumblest on my counsel? ROMEO: By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am: My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself, Because it is an enemy to thee. JULIET: My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words Of that tongue’s uttering, yet I know the sound: Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague? ROMEO: Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike. JULIET: The orchard walls are high and hard to climb, And the place death, considering who thou art, If any of my kinsmen find thee here. ROMEO: With love’s light wings did I o’er-perch these walls; For stony limits cannot hold love out… JULIET: If they do see thee, they will murder thee. ROMEO: I have night’s cloak to hide me 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. JULIET: Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say ‘Ay’; And I will take thy word: yet, if thou swear’st, Thou mayst prove false… ROMEO: Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear… JULIET: O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable. Later, they agree to marry. Juliet asks Romeo to send word the next day about the time and place. Their private meeting is tender, but it is also dangerous: their families are enemies.

A. Understand the scene

1.Where is Romeo when he first hears Juliet speak, and why is he at risk there?

2.In Juliet’s question, “wherefore art thou Romeo?”, what does “wherefore” mean? Explain what she is really asking.

3.Juliet says a rose would smell as sweet by any other name. What point is she making about names and identity?

4.Which contrast best captures the conflict in the scene?

Their private love is set against public family hatred.
Juliet wants to leave Verona, but Romeo wants to stay.
Romeo trusts the moon, while Juliet fears the night.
Both characters want to end the family feud by fighting.

B. Explore Shakespeare’s choices

5.Match each quotation to the most relevant language feature.

“What’s in a name?”
“With love’s light wings”
“the inconstant moon”

Metaphor
Rhetorical question
Personification and natural imagery

6.Romeo says love’s “light wings” carried him over the orchard walls. Explain the metaphor and what it suggests about his feelings or behaviour.

7.Juliet rejects Romeo’s promise by the moon because it is “inconstant”. What does the moon’s changing shape suggest about the kind of love she fears?

8.Choose two emotions that the extract supports. For each, give a quotation or detail as evidence.

C. Build an interpretation

9.The scene moves from secret conversation to an agreement to marry. Why might Shakespeare make the lovers’ decision feel both romantic and worrying? Support your response with two details from the extract or context.

10.Write a focused analytical paragraph answering: How does Shakespeare present love as powerful but risky in the balcony scene? Use at least two short quotations and explain the effect of a language choice.