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Romeo and Juliet
Mountaineers · 10th–12th
All things that we ordained festivalTurn from their office to black funeral:Our instruments to melancholy bells,Our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast;Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse,And all things change them to the contrary.
Capulet says this over a daughter the audience knows is alive. Read your copy aloud and mark the pattern: each exchange turns one wedding thing into one funeral thing. Which exchange is the least exact match, and what does that small slip do to a speech built on balance?
Narration Retell Act IV in order, from Paris at the Friar's cell to the musicians waiting for the mourners.
1. Juliet tells Paris, “I will confess to you that I love him,” and he answers, “So will ye, I am sure, that you love me.” Was she being honest with him, or hiding from him?Inference
2. Juliet begs her father's pardon: “Henceforward I am ever rul’d by you.” He answers, “I’ll have this knot knit up tomorrow morning.” Was she wise, wrong, or both to say it?Moral reasoning
3. Alone with the vial, Juliet says, “My dismal scene I needs must act alone,” then lists everything that could go wrong. Does she sound like someone making a plan, someone in a panic, or both?Character
4. The Nurse jokes at Juliet's bedside, “What, not a word? You take your pennyworths now,” and a few lines later cries that she is dead. Why might Shakespeare give her the joke first?Author's choice
5. Capulet first says, “She’s cold,” and later, “Death is my son-in-law, death is my heir.” Which sounds more like grief to you? Why might Shakespeare give him both?Theme
6. After the laments, Peter begs the musicians for “Heart’s ease,” then quarrels with them about why music has a “silver sound.” What does this scene do to the grief you have just watched?Tone
Make a Connection Think of a story where you knew something the characters did not, and say how that changed what you heard them say.
All things that we ordained festival Turn from their office to black funeral:
Our instruments to melancholy bells,
Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;
Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt’s death,
Do thou but call my resolution wise,
By holy Lawrence to fall prostrate here,
O lamentable day!
Beguil’d, divorced, wronged, spited, slain.
The horrible conceit of death and night,
Lies festering in his shroud; where, as they say,
1. Paris tells the Friar, “Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt’s death,” and says her father hastes the marriage “To stop the inundation of her tears.” Write a thesis on how well Paris understands Juliet's grief. Use two of his lines, answer one objection, and revise.
2. Juliet shows the Friar a knife and says, “this shall slay them both.” Write a thesis on whether this is a plea for help or a demand that forces his answer. Use her lines and his reply, answer one objection, and revise.
3. Over a Juliet he knows is alive, the Friar says “now heaven hath all” and “she’s best married that dies married young.” Write a thesis on what this speech does for the family. Use two of his lines, answer one objection, and revise.