R&J Act 1 MC Questions

Tybalt's response to Benvolio's request to keep peace and help him part the servants reveal much about Tybalt's personality. Already, he demonstrates that he is

• driven by logic

• hateful

• humorous

• timid

Answer explanation

When Benvolio, a Montague, tells Tybalt that he has no wish to fight and asks him to help break up the fight between the servants, Tybalt's response to Benvolio is, "What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the word / As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee."

Tybalt is openly embracing and perpetuating the violence between the families. He is unabashedly upfront in revealing his hatred for the Montagues and the very idea of peace between the families.

His tenacious, aggressive nature will continue to affect the characters and the plot of the play.

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Which statement best characterizes Romeo's attitude towards love in Act 1, Scene 1?

• Love creates intense feelings of euphoria

• One should fight to be with the one he/she loves

• Love is more powerful than hate and can resolve conflict

• Love is oppressive and creates misery

Answer explanation

Romeo's recent melancholy has been caused by unrequited love. In his talk with Benvolio, he explains how miserable love has made him.

He describes love as, "a smoke made with the fume of sighs; / Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; / Being vexed, a sea nourished with loving tears."

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Benvolio and Romeo both wish to attend the Capulet party, but for very different reasons. What is the motivation of each?

• Romeo wants to go so that he can see Rosaline. Benvolio wants to fight Tybalt.

• Romeo wants to seek revenge against Tybalt for instigating the street fight. Benvolio goes along to try to stop the fight.

• Romeo wants to go to the party to see Juliet. Benvolio wants to try to find a girl of his own.

• Romeo wants to go to the party to see Rosaline. Benvolio wants them to go so that he can prove to Romeo that there are other girls he will like better than Rosaline.

Answer explanation

Since Benvolio learned of Romeo's heartache, he has tried to convince him that he will get over his unrequited love by finding another girl. He's convinced that he can prove to Romeo that there are more desirable girls than Rosaline.

Romeo does not believe it is possible for another woman to be as lovely as Rosaline, but agrees to go to the party because he knows Rosaline will be there.

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The Prince's dramatic monologue immediately following the street brawl significantly contributes to the conflict of the play by

• introducing a death penalty for any member of the Capulet or Montague family caught fighting.

• rallying the Capulet and Montague families against the Prince, thus creating a new conflict.

• creating bias against the Capulet family.

• introducing the threat of banishment for Benvolio and Tybalt.

Answer explanation

Fed up with the constant fighting amongst the Capulets and the Montagues, the Prince decrees that any more fighting will result in death. He threatens, "If you ever disturb our streets again, / Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace."

This creates an even greater conflict in the play than the existing feud between the family. The new decree means that all of the characters must now confront a new conflict in the form of the Prince of Verona.

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CCSS.RL.9-10.10. RL.11-12.10

The actions of Lord Capulet's servant in inviting guests to the party characterize him as everything EXCEPT

• devious

• confused

• illiterate

• humorous

Answer explanation

Remember, when a question uses the word EXCEPT, this means you should be searching for the answer choice that is NOT supported by the text

Shakespeare frequently portrays servants as bumbling idiots, often to provide comic relief. Lord Capulet's servant is no different, making "humorous" a correct interpretation of the servant.

Once he receives instructions from Lord Capulet to invite guests to the party, he starts quoting mixed-up proverbs, making no sense. He unknowingly asks Romeo, a Montague, to read the guest list to him because he cannot read. This shows that "illiterate" is also a correct interpretation of the servant.

This scene shows that the servant is ignorant of the fact that he has just asked his employer's enemy to read a private note as his "confusion" has caused him to seek help from anyone he can find. However, none of his actions are intentionally harmful or "devious."

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Romeo's recent behaviors concern his parents and Benvolio. Romeo has exhibited all of the behaviors EXCEPT

• every morning, he sits in the sycamore grove alone and crying.

• he shuts himself up in his room, drawing the curtains to create darkness.

• he keeps his sorrow to himself, refusing to talk to anyone about what is bothering him.

• he refuses to eat despite his mother's pleading.

Answer explanation

For days, Lord and Lady Montague and Benvolio have watched him cry, keep to himself, and shut himself up in his room. So far, he has refused to reveal the reason for this behavior.

After the street fight, Benvolio vows to find out the cause of Romeo's distress.

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Through Benvolio's interactions with other characters in Scene 1, the reader can characterize him as

• obedient and caring

• complacent and timid

• a skilled and passionate swordsman

• humorous, providing comic relief in intense scenes

Answer explanation

From the very beginning of the scene, Benvolio establishes himself as a peacemaker. Despite the feud between his family and the Capulets, he only wishes to end the escalating violence; he does not demonstrate a desire to seek vengeance on behalf of his family.

Also, Lord and Lady Capulet call upon him to reach out to help Romeo, who is obviously distraught. He dutifully obeys, telling them, "I'll know his grievance or be much denied." Once Romeo confides in him and reveals his broken heart, Benvolio vows to mend his broken heart by finding another love.

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Benvolio's solution to Romeo's heartache is "giving liberty unto thine eyes." By this, he tells Romeo to

• see the faults in the woman he loves

• recognize what he is missing by wallowing in his misery.

• recognize what he is missing by focusing on love instead of being a carefree bachelor

• look at other girls to find a replacement for the girl who will not love him.

Answer explanation

Benvolio's response to Romeo's complicated feelings of love are simple: find another girl to replace the one who will not love him back. When he sees the pain Romeo is in, he tells him to, "forget to think of her."

The scene ends with Benvolio vowing to show Romeo that it is possible to love another.

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The prologue reveals the longstanding feud between the Montagues and Capulets will be ended by

• 
  A final battle between the families

• the death of the families' children

• intervention from the Catholic church

• the death of the family patriarchs

Answer explanation

The prologue reveals the basic plot of the entire play. It explains the two families have been involved in an ancient grudge and that the children of these two families will kill themselves and that this is what will end the families' feud. Lines 10-11 explain that the death of the children is the only thing that finally ends the feud: "And the continuance of their parents' rage, / Which but their children's end, naught could remove / Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage."

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