This document provides an overview and lesson plan for teaching key scenes from Romeo and Juliet. It includes 4 learning intentions, such as understanding the significance of key scenes and how to use them to answer exam questions. It then summarizes 4 important scenes: the opening scene which establishes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets; the ball scene where Romeo and Juliet first meet and fall in love; the famous balcony scene where they express their love for each other; and the fight/banishment scene where Tybalt and Mercutio die and Romeo is exiled. The final scene is also briefly outlined where both Romeo and Juliet die.
This document provides an overview and lesson plan for teaching key scenes from Romeo and Juliet. It includes 4 learning intentions, such as understanding the significance of key scenes and how to use them to answer exam questions. It then summarizes 4 important scenes: the opening scene which establishes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets; the ball scene where Romeo and Juliet first meet and fall in love; the famous balcony scene where they express their love for each other; and the fight/banishment scene where Tybalt and Mercutio die and Romeo is exiled. The final scene is also briefly outlined where both Romeo and Juliet die.
This document provides an overview and lesson plan for teaching key scenes from Romeo and Juliet. It includes 4 learning intentions, such as understanding the significance of key scenes and how to use them to answer exam questions. It then summarizes 4 important scenes: the opening scene which establishes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets; the ball scene where Romeo and Juliet first meet and fall in love; the famous balcony scene where they express their love for each other; and the fight/banishment scene where Tybalt and Mercutio die and Romeo is exiled. The final scene is also briefly outlined where both Romeo and Juliet die.
This document provides an overview and lesson plan for teaching key scenes from Romeo and Juliet. It includes 4 learning intentions, such as understanding the significance of key scenes and how to use them to answer exam questions. It then summarizes 4 important scenes: the opening scene which establishes the feud between the Montagues and Capulets; the ball scene where Romeo and Juliet first meet and fall in love; the famous balcony scene where they express their love for each other; and the fight/banishment scene where Tybalt and Mercutio die and Romeo is exiled. The final scene is also briefly outlined where both Romeo and Juliet die.
Teacher: Ms Carroll Week: Week 12 Lesson: Romeo and Juliet (Key Scenes)
1.0 Learning Intentions
• To understand the significance of key scenes in “Romeo and Juliet”.
• To understand how to use key scenes to answer an exam question.
1.1 Specification Students must study: Two drama texts.
Note 1: An extract from a play or extracts from one or more plays may be used as one of the drama texts. The extracts may be chosen from outside the list of prescribed texts. The extract or extracts selected by schools should provide students with a broad experience of the dramatic form. Note 2: Students intending to take the Final Assessment at Higher Level must study the full text of a prescribed Shakespearean drama during second and/or third year.
1.2 Chief Examiner’s Report
A range of question types was used in this section including multiple choice questions which enabled candidates to demonstrate understanding and competence in decoding text. Candidates were required to engage in an imaginative way with the stimulus material and to show an awareness of stagecraft.
1.3 Exercise Task 1
Task 2 Quote Speaker Meaning Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight,/ For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall/Now seeming sweet convert to bit- terest gall My only love sprung from my only hate!/Too early seen unknown, and known too late!/Prodigious birth of love it is to me/That I must love a loathed enemy You’ll make a mutiny among my guests You kiss by th’ book
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Task3
LESSON 12 Two of the brightest stars in the whole sky had to go away on business, and they’re asking her eyes to twinkle in their places until they return Oh, I wish she knew how much I love her.
The brightness of her cheeks would outshine the
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stars the way the sun outshines a lamp
If her eyes were in the night sky, they would shine
so brightly through space that birds would start singing, thinking her light was the light of day Oh, I wish I was the glove on that hand so that I could touch her cheek
1.4 Notes
Key Scene 1 – Opening
The Chorus delivers a fourteen line sonnet, in which it states the topic of the play. In the city of Verona, there are two noble houses ‘both alike in dignity’ that hold an “ancient grudge” against each other. This grudge causes conflict throughout the play. We learn that our “star-cross’d lovers” come from these houses. From the prologue we learn that the sadly the lovers, “Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife”.
Two Capulet servants, Gregory and Samson, arrive bragging about what they would do if they saw a Montague. This establishes the feud between the families as a social force in Verona. Abraham, a Montague servant arrives and is insulted by Samson who bites his thumb at him. “Do you bite your thumb at us sir?”, which causes a fight to begin. Benvolio, the peacemaker tries to stop the fighting, until Tybalt arrives and insults him. The Prince arrives and proclaims that any Montague or Capulet who disturbs the peace in the future will be put to death. Lady Montague says she’s glad that Romeo, her son, wasn’t involved. Benvolio says that just before dawn he saw Romeo looking melancholy in a grove of sycamore trees. Benvolio learns from Romeo that he is in love with Rosaline, a woman who has taken an oath of chastity. Benvolio advises Romeo to find someone else to love. Romeo walks off, saying that he can’t forget Rosaline. Benvolio vows to help him to do so.
Why is this scene important?
• Establishes the tone for the play-the fighting. • Shows that the feud is so strong it even extends to the servants. • It introduces us to Romeo and because he is in love with Rosaline, we are eager to find out how he ends up with a Capulet daughter as the prologue indicates. • We see Romeo for the hopeless romantic he is.
Key Scene 2 – The Ball
At the party, Romeo notices Juliet, and falls in love with her immediately. He immediately forgets Rosaline. He says that Juliet teaches the “torches to burn bright” Tybalt recognises Romeo’s voice. However, before Tybalt can create a scene, Lord Capulet reminds him of the prince’s prohibition of public fighting, insisting that he keep the peace. Tybalt secretly vows revenge and exits. Romeo approaches Juliet and touches her hand. They speak together in a sonnet, and Romeo eventually earns Juliet’s permission for a kiss. Juliet comments that Romeo “kisses by th’ book”. After Juliet leaves, Romeo asks the Nurse her name, and is shocked to learn that his new object of desire is a Capulet.
64 As the party winds down, Juliet asks her Nurse about Romeo. When she learns about Romeo’s identity, she is heartbroken to find out that she has fallen in love with a “loathed enemy”. She says “If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed”.
Why is this scene important?
• Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time and fall in love immediately. • We feel pity for them when they discover they are from rival families. • Tybalt vows revenge which makes us wonder if he plays a part in the death of the ‘star cross’d lovers’ (His eagerness to get revenge ultimately leads to Romeos banishment to Mantua) • There is tension in the scene.
Key Scene 3 – The Balcony Scene
The Chorus describes the new love between Romeo and Juliet. Despite the difficulty cause by their rival families we are told that “passion lends them power”.
After the party, Romeo climbs a wall bordering the Capulet property and leaps down into the Capulet orchard. Juliet is unaware that Romeo is in her garden. When Romeo sees her at the window he compares her to the morning sun stating that it is more beautiful than the moon it banishes. In despair Juliet asks why Romeo must be a Montague. and therefore an enemy to her family. She says that if he would refuse his Montague name, she would give herself to him; or if he would simply swear that he loved her, she would refuse her Capulet name. When Romeo hears this he responds to Juliet’s surprise. Juliet fears for Romeos safety but he refuses to be deterred. Romeo believes that as long as he has the love of Juliet, no harm can come to him. They make plans to marry.
Why is this scene important?
• Shakespeare explores the positive, joyful, and romantic aspects of young love. • We feel pity for Juliet’s struggle between the need for caution and an overpowering desire to be with Romeo. • There are beautiful descriptions (Romeo compares Juliet to the sun). • We want to see how the characters go from here to their fate as outlined in the prologue. • We see Romeo and Juliet’s yearning to be together. • There is so much love expressed in this scene.
Key Scene 4 – The Fight/Banishment
Benvolio and Mercutio walk down the street. Benvolio suggest that they go indoors, fearing that the hot weather might cause hot tempers. He fears that if Capulet men appear, a fight will certainly ensue. Tybalt arrives. Mercutio provokes him. Romeo enters. Tybalt calls Romeo a villain. Romeo refuses to be provoked by Tybalt because he is secretly married to Juliet. Romeo refused to fight Tybalt saying he has good reason to love Tybalt, and does not wish to fight him. He asks that until Tybalt knows the reason for this love, he put aside his sword. Mercutio angrily draws his sword and declares that if Romeo will not fight Tybalt, he will.
Mercutio and Tybalt begin to fight. Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm after Romeo tries to intervene. Mercutio dies, cursing both the Montagues and the Capulets: “A plague o’ both your houses”. Romeo is overcome with rage and believes that the fact that he is in love with Juliet has made him effeminate. Romeo kills Tybalt and cries “O, I am fortune’s fool!” and flees. The Prince enters. Benvolio, known for his honesty, tells the Prince the story of the brawl, emphasizing how Romeo attempted to keep the peace. Being firm but fair, Prince Escalus decided to exile Romeo from Verona. He declares that should Romeo be found within the city, he will be killed.
Why is this scene important?
• The brawl was exciting. • We want to know what will happen next for the ‘star cross’d lovers’. • We see passions take over the characters. • We feel sorry for Romeo who has been banished and sadness for • Juliet who is torn because the person she loves killed her cousin.
Key Scene – The Final Scene
Paris arrives visits Juliet in the Capulet tomb. Romeo arrives with Balthasar on the pretence of acquiring a valuable ring.
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When Paris sees Romeo, he recognizes him as the person who indirectly killed Juliet (she supposedly
LESSON 12 died from grief after Tybalt’s death). Paris fears that Romeo has come to do some dishonour to the Capulet family. They battle and Paris is killed. With death approaching, Paris asks to be laid beside Juliet. Romeo agrees to do so.
Romeo finds Juliet lying peacefully and speaks to Juliet of his intention to spend eternity with her, describing himself as shaking “the yoke of inauspicious stars / From this world-wearied flesh”. He
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kisses Juliet, drinks the poison, kisses Juliet again, and dies.
Friar Lawrence enters the tomb as Juliet wakes. She enquires about Romeo, but the friar replies that both Romeo and Paris are dead, and that she must leave with him immediately. Juliet refuses to leave. Juliet sees Romeo dead beside her. She spots the vial and realizes he must have drunk poison. In an attempt to die by the same poison Juliet kisses Romeo’s lips. As this was unsuccessful and fearful of the approaching watch, Juliet unsheathes Romeo’s dagger and, saying, “O happy dagger, / This is thy sheath,” stabs herself. The Prince and the Capulets enter. Romeo, Juliet, and Paris are discovered in the tomb.
We learn that Lady Montague has died of grief because of Romeo’s exile. Friar Lawrence tells the story of Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage and its consequences. The Prince scolds the Capulets and Montagues, calling the tragedy a consequence of their feud. Realising the error of their ways, Capulet and Montague clasp hands and agree to put their vendetta behind them. Montague says that he will build a golden statue of Juliet, and Capulet insists that he will raise Romeo’s likeness in gold beside hers. The Prince takes the group away to discuss these events, claiming that there has never been “a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo”.
Why is this scene important?
• We finally see how the ‘star cross’d lovers’ meet their demise. • It is full of passion and we understand the intense love between Romeo and Juliet, that they could not live without each other. • We are pleased that the feud has ended between the families • We feel sadness that in death Romeo and Juliet have created the world that would have allowed their love to live.
The Families Montague Capulet Lord Montague Lord Capulet Lady Montague Lady Montague Romeo Juliet Mercutio Paris Benvolio Tybalt Friar Lawrence Nurse Abraham Sampson Balthasar Gregory
1.5 Homework Correction
The first decision I would make as director would be dress the actor playing the Chorus and the other actors representing the action in military costume accompanied by props, such as armour, chain mail, swords and shields. This would create a striking, impressive spectacle that would be sure to keep the audience engaged. The second decision I would make would be directing the actor to modulate his/her voice throughout the extract. They could begin in adecrescendo, beginning with a strong, forceful tone (“O for a muse of fire...!”) and ending with a gentler one (“your humble patience pray / Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our
66 play”) . The change in tone would mimic the epic nature of the play, and the contrast would keep the audience engaged.
1.6 Homework Task
Good drama has characters the audience can connect with.
From a prescribed Shakespearean play you have studied, choose a character that you feel you connected with.
Title of Shakespearean play:
Name of character:
(a) Explain why you feel a connection with this character. Support your response with reference to the play.
(b) Describe your favourite scene from the play involving your chosen character.
