Romeo and Juliet (Film 1996) Essay Questions

How do Romeo and Juliet variously relate to and theorize questions concerning the nature of fate and free will?

Romeo tends to be a more passive subject under the ruling notion of fate. When he has a premonition, he asks the fates to "guide his sails," knowing that he is not in control. He must sometimes be riled into taking action to try to overcome the circumstances of his life, as Mercutio urges him to do when he tells Romeo to "be rough with love." Juliet, on the other hand, seems less content to be merely a player in the drama the fates have in store for her. She rejects others' ideas about her own life, and is often impatient or discontent with having to wait for Romeo or conform to a plan. She asks Fortune to "be fickle," when Romeo leaves her balcony for the last time, indicating that she feels uncomfortable with the idea of fate.

What images, lines, and motifs point to the cyclical nature of violence in Verona?

The opening montage of the film suggests that this is far from the first time that violence has broken out among the Montagues and Capulets. The banality of the nightly newscast that delivers the prologue emphasizes how ordinary and common such violence has become. The line "from ancient grudge break new mutiny," in particular indicates the chronic nature of the rivalry. Luhrmann uses "circular" images often to represent violence and chaos: Sampson shoots a sign in the gas station scene that spins around haplessly in the gunfire; the Montague boys are constantly twirling their revolvers around in their hands; spiraling fireworks signal the uptake of Romeo's drug trip. Only Father Laurence can imagine this self-sustaining cycle ever breaking, which generates the symbol of the dove.

How does Mercutio's Queen Mab speech characterize the human phenomenon of dreams and dreaming?

Mercutio's Queen Mab speech is about the deranging and euphoric effects that magic, illusion, and dreams can have on the human spirit. Luhrmann's film uses the line "she comes in shape no bigger than an agate stone on the forefinger of an alderman," to refer to the fact that Mercutio is handing Romeo an ecstasy pill. For Mercutio, dreams are both ecstatic and terrifying—they can "gallop through lovers' brains," in euphoria, or they can give soldiers traumatic nightmares. Dreams are inconstant, volatile, unreliable, and precious; Mercutio himself often embodies these qualities, luring Romeo's good spirits forth with his alluring character at the same time that he retains a dark, foreboding essence.

How does the setting of the masquerade ball impact Romeo and Juliet's first meeting?

The idea of the masquerade is a pivotal medium through which Romeo and Juliet are able to meet. The party's setting, which demands that everyone don costumes, is what enables Romeo and the Montague boys to surreptitiously gain access in the first place. It is not until Romeo removes his mask later in the party that Tybalt recognizes him, and Fulgencio's ire luckily prevents Romeo from encountering Tybalt's wrath. The masquerade ball enables Luhrmann to imagine costumes that capture the essence of each character—for Juliet, he chooses the angel, literalizing Romeo's line in the balcony scene: "She speaks! O, speak again, bright angel!" As the plays' bearers-of-death, Tybalt is a devil, and the Capulet boys skeletons. Crucially, Romeo tears off his mask in the scene in which he meets Juliet. The visual analogy of their first encounter--seeing "through" the aquarium glass and water--suggests that they are penetrating the layers of the masquerade, and able to glimpse each other's true essences.

Many characters in the play talk of being "satisfied" or "unsatisfied." Choose an example and explain what the problem is to which the character is responding, and the solution that they are proposing.

In the balcony scene, Romeo calls after Juliet, "O wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?" as she is about to run back upstairs. The line resonates ambiguously at first as perhaps an impertinent imposition on Romeo's part, asking Juliet for more than she is willing to concede sexually. Danes's reading of the line, "What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?" is suspicious enough to take umbrage at this potential imposition. Romeo's rejoinder, that he wishes to ask for a vow in marriage, reveals what sort of matrimonial satisfaction he was invoking. Later, in a much different scene, Romeo refuses to duel Tybalt. Knowing that Tybalt will not relent, Romeo presses Tybalt's gun to his forehead and cries, "Be satisfied! Be satisfied!" Here Romeo is tendering his life to Tybalt, knowing that his sense of male honor will not survive Romeo's continued existence. Thus, satisfaction can refer to either romantic love or destructive violence.