| Where are Romeo, Mercutio and Benlovio going in this scene? | They are on their way to the Capulets feast. |
| What is Romeo worried about? | He is still melancholy and wonders how they will get into the feast since they are Montagues. |
| Who tries to joke around with Romeo and how does he do it? | Mercutio, Romeo’s friend, gently mocks Romeo, changing all of Romeo’s statements about love into sexual metaphors. Romeo doesn’t joke back but talks about a dream he had. |
| What does Romeo’s dream tell him? | That something bad will happen, an untimely death. |
| What is Mercutio’s response to Romeo’s telling of his dream? | He jokes about and talks about fairies that visit in one’s dreams. When Romeo stops him from joking he then says dreams are just silly things for children. |
| What does Benvolio do during this conversation about dreams and the Capulet’s feast? | He tries to keep the group on focus about how they are going to get to the feast. Romeo still thinks it’s a bad idea but he leaves it in Benvolio’s hands (he follows his friends guidance). |
| Which character is pragmatic (dealing with problems practically), Benvolio or Mercutio? | Benvolio is the serious friend of Romeo. |
| Which character is the clever comedian, Benvolio or Mercutio? | Mercutio is witty, using puns (play on words), jokes. |
| Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech is one of the most famous in the play. Queen Mab, who brings dreams to sleeping people, “O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you. . . .She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes…” What purpose does this speech serve? | Mercutio begins with the light dreams of children and fairies to much darker dreams, more brutal and depraved. The main point of the passage is that the dreams Queen Mab brings are directly related to the person who dreams them—lovers dream of love, soldiers of war, etc. |
Romeo and Juliet (Act 1, Scene 4)
August 27, 2019