Name:________________________________________________________________________________Pd:_________
ACT 2 PROLOGUE
1. Paraphrase the Prologue of Act 2. Again, why does Shakespeare use a prologue here?
“Now Romeo’s old feelings of desire are dying, and a new desire is eager to take their place. Romeo groaned for the
beautiful Rosaline and said he would die for her, but compared with tender Juliet, Rosaline doesn’t seem beautiful now. Now
someone loves Romeo, and he’s in love again—both of them falling for each other’s good looks. But he has to make his
speeches of love to a woman who’s supposed to be his enemy. And she’s been hooked by someone she should fear. Because
he’s an enemy, Romeo has no chance to see Juliet and say the things a lover normally says. And Juliet’s just as much in love
as he, but she has even less opportunity to meet her lover. But love gives them power, and time gives them the chance to
meet, sweetening the extreme danger with intense pleasure.”
Shakespeare uses the prologue again to foreshadow our star-crossed lovers.
ACT 2 SCENE 1
1. Lines 1-2 “Can I go forward when my heart is here?/Turn back, dull earth, and find thy center out.” Why does
Romeo call himself “dull earth”?
He cannot move or feel emotion without Juliet.
ACT 2 SCENE 2
1. Juliet is on the balcony outside her bedroom but cannot hear the words that Romeo says to himself as he looks at
her from the hiding place below. Answer the following questions about lines 2-25 “But soft…that check”:
a. Romeo repeats the light and dark images he introduced when he saw Juliet for the first time. Why does
Romeo compare Juliet to the sun?
Juliet shines as brightly as the sun. She is his new shining love.
b. Why does he want the sun to kill the envious moon?
If Juliet is the sun and Rosaline is the moon, Romeo wants to forget his love for Rosaline by replacing it with his
love for Juliet.
c. Why is the moon envious?
Juliet is prettier than Rosaline.
d. Why does he compare Juliet’s eyes to the stars?
They glisten and show depth; stars were revered in that time period
e. Why is this comparison to stars another example of foreshadowing?
They will soon be "star-crossed" lovers, fate hanging in the stars (both echoes of the prologue from act one and
what Romeo said about going to the caplet party at the end of act one.
*2. Lines 33-36. “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.” Juliet is still unaware that Romeo is nearby.
Paraphrase these lines
She says, why are you Romeo? Change your name or if you say you love me, I'll no longer be a Capulet.
*3. Lines 38-49. “'Tis but thy name…Take all myself” Paraphrase lines 38-49. What is Juliet’s attitude toward the feud
that has separated the two families?
Names are just names; they don't define who we are as people.
4. After Juliet asks some pertinent questions (lines 58-84 “My ears have not yet… I would adventure for such
merchandise”), she realizes that Romeo has overheard her intimate thoughts about him. How does her attitude
change in lines 85-105 “Thou know’st the mask of night… Which the dark night hath so discovered”? What is she
worried about?
She now knows Romeo has overheard her and she thinks that maybe they are moving too fast (another foreshadow)
