| A | B |
|---|
| theme | central message/insight into life |
| character | person or animal who takes part in a literary work |
| plot | sequence of events |
| setting | time & place of the action |
| conflict | struggle between opposing forces, including society, people or nature |
| internal conflict | character struggling against himself |
| external conflict | a character struggling against an outside force |
| irony | difference between appearance & reality, expectation & result, meaning & intention |
| verbal irony | using words that suggest the opposite of what is meant |
| dramatic irony | a contradiction between what a character thinks and what the reader/audience knows to be true |
| narrator | the speaker or character who tells the story |
| symbol | stands for or represents something else |
| allusion | reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work |
| foreshadowing | use of clues that suggest events that are yet to occur |
| simile | figure of speech, "like" or "as" is used to make a comparison between 2 unlike subjects |
| metaphor | figure of speech, one thing is spoken of as though it were something else |
| personification | figurative language in which a nonhuman is given human characteristics |
| soliloquy | long speech expressing the thoughts of a character along on stage |
| aside | brief remark by an actor directed to the audience |
| tragedy | any event with a sad and unfortunate outcome. In drama it also refers to a character who experiences a reversal of fortune, usually based on that character’s flaws or mistakes; genre of literature that results in a catastrophe for the main character |
| tragic hero | main character with a weakness or flaw that causes the tragedytragic flaw |
| tragic flaw | the weakness or flaw suffered by the tragic hero |
| characterization | act of creating and developing a character |
| Shakespeare's birth/death | Born in Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1564 and he died in 1616 |
| Prince Escalus | Prince of Verona; his job is it to keep the peace in Verona which he tries to do by punishing street fighters by death. However, he exiles Romeo for killing Tybalt because he understood Romeo's obligation to avenge his friend. |
| Globe | the name of Shakespeare's theater in London, England |
| star-crossed | In Elizabethan times to be doomed before you start. It also refers to destiny and the inevitability of two characters’ paths crossing. |
| fair Verona, Italy | The prologue tells us that the setting of Romeo & Juliet is |
| "blood feud" | a cycle of violence based on retaliation or revenge with the relatives of someone who has been killed or otherwise wronged or dishonored seeking vengeance by killing or otherwise physically punishing the culprits or their relatives. |
| Benvolio | Cousin & friend of Romeo - He is the peacemaker in Romeo and Juliet |
| predestined social position | In Elizabethen belief, the social postion a person was destined to have which determined whether he/she would be happy or not |
| Elizabethan/Renaissance | Time period in which Romeo & Juliet was written |
| prologue | At the beginning of the play; tells the audience the setting of the story and gives a quick synopsis of what is going to happen |
| 3 types of external conflict | person vs. person; person vs society; person vs nature |
| feud | a long-running argument or fight between parties. Feuds tend to begin because one party (correctly or incorrectly) perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted, or wronged by the other. Feuds can last for generations. |
| setting of Romeo and Juliet | Verona and Mantua, Italy during the Renaissance |
| Date Romeo & Juliet was written | approximately 1597 |
| Writing style of Romeo & Juliet | blank verse & prose - upper class characters spoke in blank verse; lower class characters spoke in prose |
| genre of Romeo & Juliet | drama/tragedy |
| Romeo | Romeo Montague; tragic hero; tragic flaw is that he is too impulsive, reckless & hasty in his actions. In the beginning of Act I, Romeo is melancholy because Rosaline does not return his love. Then he immdeiately "falls in love" with Juliet on first sight at the Capulet ball. Hasty decisions - marrying Juliet in secret; fighting Tybalt; taking the poison - lead to his tragic end |
| Juliet | Juliet Capulet is more cautious than Romeo because she fears that Romeo is fickle; that the families are a threat; that Romeo may be killed. In the beginning, Juliet is a shy, obedient daughter. However, her character changes and she becomes disobedient & rebellious. She also makes decisions - the secret marriage; the sleeping potion, suicide that lead to her downfall |
| Friar Lawrence | priest & confident to Romeo; He thinks Romeo is only in love with love, but agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet because he hopes to end the feud. His best intentions backfire when Romeo doesn't get his message about Juliet's sleeping potion that leads to tragedy. He shows cowardness at the end when he leaves Juliet alone in the tomb, but then confesses to his part in the tragedy by telling the prince what happened at the end |
| Lord Capulet | Juliet's father who in the beginning of the story is a very loving and protective father who advises Paris to court Juliet for 2 more years. However, when juliet disobeys him, his personality changes. He becomes angry over Juliet's rebelliousness and threatens to put her out on the street if she refuses to marry Paris. |
| Nurse | Juliet's confident wants juliet to be happy and therefore supports her secret marriage to Romeo in the beginning. She changes her mind after Lord Capulet threatens to dosown Juliet for her disobedience. Thus, the Nurse loses Juliet's trust. |
| Tybalt | Juliet's cousin & a hothead who is looking for a fight with the Montagues, especially with Romeo whom Tybalt claims "insulted him" by attending the Capulet ball. Romeo kills Tybalt in a duel after Tybalt killed Romeo's friend Mercutio |
| Mercutio | Friend of Romeo & a relation to the prince. Mercutio is a jokster and very witty with words. He also fights Tybalt when Romeo refuses to do so & is killed by Tybalt. |
| Lady Capulet | Juliet's mother - is very interested in Juliet's making a good marriage match with Paris due to his high social rank and his money |
| Lord Montague | Romeo's father & head of the Montague clan |
| Lady Montague | Romeo's mother - dies of a broken heart over Romeo's exile |
| Paris | Wealthy, titled & handsome suitor to Juliet. He is killed at Juliet's tomb when he mistakes Romeo's intentions, thus challenging him to a duel. |
