Essay Tasks
Write an analytical essay on one (or more) topics. In your answer, make detailed reference to the play as a whole and support your answer with well chosen illustrative evidence.
Each of these tasks is worth 5 points each (as complete essays)
1 At the end of Romeo and Juliet the Prince says: 'Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished' (V, iii, 307). Whom do you think should be pardoned and whom punished?
2 "It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden." (II, ii) How do Juliet's words apply to the action of the play?
3 "The blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet ultimately rests with Friar Lawrence." Do you agree?
4 Was "their parents' strife" the reason for the love between Romeo and Juliet proving to be fatal?
5 "The lesson of Romeo and Juliet is that children should not deceive their parents." Do you agree?
6 "Shakespeare made Mercutio so sparkling and diverting that he had to kill him in order to allow the tragic focus of the play to emerge." Do you agree?
7 "The Nurse fills the role of Juliet's mother, and Friar Laurence acts as Romeo's father." Discuss the importance of these characters in Romeo and Juliet.
8 "Romeo and Juliet come from what we, in the twenty-first century, would call dysfunctional families. This is the true cause of their tragedy." Do you agree?
9 "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo." What do you think of this summary of the play's events?
10 "A tragedy must reflect a range of experience and base itself on a system of values which are felt by its audience to be real." Do Romeo and Juliet achieve this? Or is it an ancient story on which we reflect with sorrow and nothing more?
11 "The tragedy of a faulty postal service." What do you think this interpretation has overlooked?
12 In the Prologue, Romeo and Juliet are described as "star-crossed lovers" and reference is made to their "death-marked love". They themselves speak like this. Do you think that Shakespeare wants to create the impression that their death is brought about by a cruel overwhelming Fate, by sheer accident or by their own wilfulness — or by some or all of these?
13 "The theme of Romeo and Juliet is about a consuming love. It is a story of hatred overcome by that love, old hate versus young love, taking no thought for the past or future. And this love ends in 'love-devouring death'; but the effect of the play is not wholly pessimistic." Discuss.
14 "Romeo and Juliet is a story of revolt against authority." Discuss.
15 "Romeo and Juliet's love is doomed not just by the world around it, but by its own intensity." Do you agree?
16 "The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is simply a case of bad luck." Do you think this is true?
17 "Romeo and Juliet is a play about two silly, immature teenagers who lack common sense. Therefore, the play expresses the danger of a love in which two people become the whole world to one another." Do you agree?
18' A plague on both your houses!'
"Mercutio's dying curse reminds us that, in the end, it is the adults who need to be condemned and punished for their irresponsibility and senseless feuding. Romeo and Juliet are merely innocent victims of their parents' rage." Discuss.
Each of these tasks is worth 5 points each (as complete essays)
1 At the end of Romeo and Juliet the Prince says: 'Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished' (V, iii, 307). Whom do you think should be pardoned and whom punished?
2 "It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden." (II, ii) How do Juliet's words apply to the action of the play?
3 "The blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet ultimately rests with Friar Lawrence." Do you agree?
4 Was "their parents' strife" the reason for the love between Romeo and Juliet proving to be fatal?
5 "The lesson of Romeo and Juliet is that children should not deceive their parents." Do you agree?
6 "Shakespeare made Mercutio so sparkling and diverting that he had to kill him in order to allow the tragic focus of the play to emerge." Do you agree?
7 "The Nurse fills the role of Juliet's mother, and Friar Laurence acts as Romeo's father." Discuss the importance of these characters in Romeo and Juliet.
8 "Romeo and Juliet come from what we, in the twenty-first century, would call dysfunctional families. This is the true cause of their tragedy." Do you agree?
9 "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo." What do you think of this summary of the play's events?
10 "A tragedy must reflect a range of experience and base itself on a system of values which are felt by its audience to be real." Do Romeo and Juliet achieve this? Or is it an ancient story on which we reflect with sorrow and nothing more?
11 "The tragedy of a faulty postal service." What do you think this interpretation has overlooked?
12 In the Prologue, Romeo and Juliet are described as "star-crossed lovers" and reference is made to their "death-marked love". They themselves speak like this. Do you think that Shakespeare wants to create the impression that their death is brought about by a cruel overwhelming Fate, by sheer accident or by their own wilfulness — or by some or all of these?
13 "The theme of Romeo and Juliet is about a consuming love. It is a story of hatred overcome by that love, old hate versus young love, taking no thought for the past or future. And this love ends in 'love-devouring death'; but the effect of the play is not wholly pessimistic." Discuss.
14 "Romeo and Juliet is a story of revolt against authority." Discuss.
15 "Romeo and Juliet's love is doomed not just by the world around it, but by its own intensity." Do you agree?
16 "The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet is simply a case of bad luck." Do you think this is true?
17 "Romeo and Juliet is a play about two silly, immature teenagers who lack common sense. Therefore, the play expresses the danger of a love in which two people become the whole world to one another." Do you agree?
18' A plague on both your houses!'
"Mercutio's dying curse reminds us that, in the end, it is the adults who need to be condemned and punished for their irresponsibility and senseless feuding. Romeo and Juliet are merely innocent victims of their parents' rage." Discuss.