Romeo and Juliet ( Act I, Scene 2,3,4)

Summaries Act I, Scene 2

• Lord Capulet is with Paris
• Paris asks Capulet for his daughter Juliet. Capulet is firstly reluctant to give his approval because Juliet is too young. He eventually agrees to the marriage but only if Paris can gain Juliet's approval
• Capulet invites Paris to a feast to be held that night
• Capulet sends off the guest list with a servant, who can not read
• The servant meets Romeo and Benvolio whom he asks for help
• The guest list includes Rosaline, Romeo's love interest , so Romeo decides to go to the feast despite the risks involved
•  Benvolio hopes that Romeo will see another women at the party to forget about Rosaline.

Scene 3

• Just before the party, Lady Capulet asks the Nurse to find Juliet. Juliet enters the room. 
• Lady Capulet tells the nurse to go the Nurse, but then quickly calls her back.
•  The Nurse then tells a story about Juliet as a baby, 
•  Lady Capulet wants the nurse to hush but can’t quiet the Nurse, but Juliet finally does.
• Lady Capulet asks Juliet what she thinks about marriage.
•  Juliet says she hasn't thought about marriage
•  Lady Capulet then tells Juliet, she gave birth to her at her age right now
• She then tells Juliet, Paris wants to marry her
•  Juliet says she’ll give a chance on trying to love Paris, but won’t go any further than her mothers instructions

Scene 4

• Romeo and his friends walk towards the Capulet’s party. Romeo who still in sadness  says he won’t dance at the party. Mercutio teases Romeo making all his smart remarks about love into sexual metaphors.
• Mercutio launches into a speech about dreams and Queen Mab, the Queen of Fairies. The speech begins as a kind of fairy-tale, with Queen Mab bringing dreams in her carriage made from a walnut. But the dreams become more and more evil, unleashing men’s greed, violence, and sexual desire. Mercutio works himself into a passionate feeling
• Benvolio stops the fun and says they’ll be late if they don’t hurry. Romeo again says he has a bad feeling. He senses that the events of the night will set fate in motion and result in his untimely death. But he ignores this feeling and goes with flow
  

Words i dont know.

• Ere
• Tut
• anguish
• giddy
• plaintain-leaf
• whither
•  thither
• Ne'er 
• Lammas-tide
• wean'd
• dost 
• fall'st 
• prolixity
• boisterous
• visage

Questions:

Why were women at the age of 14 aloud to give birth?

Why were they aloud to marry so young?

If you had no education were you still aloud to be a servant?

Why did mercutio use the story of Queen Nab to tell to Romeo?

Why did parents have to decide who their child is going to marry?

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