Act I, scene 1 Sampson (Capulet servant) Gregory (Capulet servant) Benvolio Tybalt Abraham (Abram) (Montague servant) Officer / Citizens (short part) Capulet Lady Capulet Montague Lady Montague Prince

Very Punny! Carry coals- submit to humiliation Colliers- people who work with coal In choler- angry Collar- hangman’s noose Pun: a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

R&J starts with a fight!

"Do you bite your thumb at me?"

Aside Aside A conversation two actors have on stage that other characters cannot hear.   Contrast what the servants are willing to say openly to what they whisper to each other in an aside. What does this contrast reveal about Sampson and Gregory? When they speak opening, their words are bold and rash. What they speak in asides are cautious and rather timid. This reveals that they are not as brave as they claim.

Character Foil A foil is a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight particular contrasting qualities in each person.

Character Foil #1 Benvolio: Cousin to Romeo. He is the peacemaker of the play, always trying to deescalate the tension between the two families. Tybalt: Cousin to Juliet. Tybalt is an instigator. He loves to start fights and wants to see the conflict between the Capulets and the Montagues continue.

Add the definition and an example from the text to your notes. Oxymoron Oxymoron Two contradictory words are placed right next to each other, as in “cold fire” or “bright smoke”   Add the definition and an example from the text to your notes.

Act I, Scene 2 In Scene 2, we are introduces to Paris, a noble kinsman of the Prince. He is telling Lord Capulet that he wants to marry Juliet. Capulet is happy, but also states that Juliet is too young to get married. (She’s currently 13.) He asks Paris to wait two years. He invites Paris to the masquerade ball he is holding that night so that Paris might begin to woo Juliet and win her heart. Capulet sends a servant to pass out the invitations, but the servant cannot read! He doesn’t tell this to Capulet for fear of getting in trouble. Romeo and Benvolio happen by, still arguing about whether Romeo will be able to forget his love. The illiterate servant asks Romeo to read the list to him; Rosaline’s name is one of those on the list. The servant invites Romeo and Benvolio to the party—assuming, he says, that they are not Montagues (oh, the irony!) Benvolio tells Romeo that the feast will be the perfect opportunity to compare Rosaline with the other beautiful women. Romeo agrees to go with him, but only because Rosaline herself will be there.

Act I, Scene ii

Act I, scene 3 Lady Capulet needs to speak with Juliet. When Juliet enters, Lady Capulet dismisses the Nurse to speak with her daughter alone, but she immediately changes her mind because she has never been alone with her own daughter for any long period of time. Before Lady Capulet can begin to speak, the Nurse launches into a long story about how she nursed Juliet as a baby and how innocent she has always been. This shows us that the Nurse has a better relationship with Juliet than her own mother. Lady Capulet asks Juliet what she thinks about getting married. Juliet replies that she has not given it any thought. Lady Capulet observes that she gave birth to Juliet when she was around Juliet’s current age. She excitedly continues that Juliet must begin to think about marriage because Paris is interested in marrying her. Juliet dutifully replies that she will look upon Paris at the feast to see if she might love him. Nurse: religious; acts familiar with Lady Capulet even though she is the servant; crude sense of humor

Character Foil #2 The Nurse and Lady Capulet Nurse: course and unrefined; crude-humored; warm; the real mother figure to Juliet. She wants what’s best for her. Lady Capulet: formal; refined; detached; Juliet’s biological mother, but only cares to keep up appearances.

Act I, scene 4 summary Romeo, Benvolio, and their friend Mercutio, all disguised with masks, are on their way to the Capulets’ feast. Still melancholy, Romeo wonders how they will get into the Capulets’ feast, since they are Montagues. When no one else seems concerned, he states that he will not dance at the feast. Mercutio begins to gently mock Romeo. Romeo refuses to listen to his best friend, and explains that in a dream he learned that going to the feast was a bad idea. Mercutio responds with a long speech about Queen Mab of the fairies, who visits people’s dreams. Mercutio gets caught up in the moment, and Romeo has to step in to stop the speech and calm Mercutio down. Romeo voices one last concern: he has a feeling that the night’s activities will set in motion the action of fate, resulting in untimely death… (foreshadowing)

Foil Pair #3 Romeo Mercutio Mercutio: Romeo’s best friend. A relative of the Prince, but sides with the Montagues. He’s a realist. He only believes in what he can see and thinks that romantic ideas / dreams are for the weak-minded. Romeo: A dreamer with a sensitive heart. He believes in love and trusts in dreams / his intuition to guide his decisions. Romeo Mercutio

Act I, scene v Capulet Second Capulet Romeo Servant Tybalt Juliet Nurse http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xlhuto_cliffsnotes-romeo-and-juliet_creation Speech: the change to rhyming couples shows that his depression over Roseline has ended and it marks a change in his character; it is a turning point in his life. Rhyming couplets are more romantic. Irony: it is possible – and indeed her fate – to love someone whom you have been taught to hate.

Masquerade

Lazy SonnetS Think about and review the scenes in Act I. What were the major events and conflicts? Then, choose an event, conflict, or scene and write a “lazy sonnet” to describe it. Regular sonnets contain 14 rhyming lines, but a lazy sonnet contains 14 words (one per line) that describe the event. They do not have to rhyme, but you should be CREATIVE and choose your words carefully!