Romeo and Juliet Prologue

3. Status: How does the text describe the social standing of the two families?
5. In which city and country does the play take place?
7. vs. Free Will: Does knowing the ending from the start make the characters' choices seem more or less important?
10. What specific event is predicted to end the families' feud?
11. How does the phrase "civil blood makes civil hands unclean" introduce the theme of violence affecting an entire community?
13. How long is the play expected to last on stage, according to the speaker?
16. Irony: How does revealing the ending in the prologue create dramatic irony throughout the rest of the play?

1. How can the love of Romeo and Juliet be both "death-marked" and the only thing capable of "burying" their parents' strife?
2. Form: What is the specific poetic form of the prologue, and how many lines does it contain?
4. Scheme: What is the rhyme scheme, and how does the final couplet differ from the rest of the poem?
6. Who is the "Chorus," and what was their traditional role in theater?
8. of Spoilers: Why might Shakespeare choose to tell the audience that the main characters will die before the play even begins?
9. Analysis Questions
12. What is the nature of the "ancient grudge" mentioned, and how has it recently changed?
14. and Critical Thinking Questions
15. Choice: What does the term "star-crossed" literally mean in a historical or astrological context?