Romeo and Juliet: Balcony Scene Lesson Plan

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to… Articulate the importance of Romeo and Juliet’s love to the overall plot of the play. Identify how Romeo and Juliet are either upholding or breaking the gender roles of the

time period

Intro: “This Type Love” (5-6 minutes) Introduce/preface poem Question: What exactly is “This Type Love”? Does it seem crazy? Insane? And yet we

still believe him, we still believe that he is feeling this kind of love. Who in this play is experiencing this same kind of “out-of-their-mind” love? Why is it important to remember what they are feeling? Because to them, it is real. And because it’s real to them, that’s all that matters.

Character Breakdown (10-15 minutes) Write “Romeo” and “Juliet” on the board Romeo: what do we know about him?

o Impulsive

o Witty

o Love-sick

o Montague

o 16-18 years old

o Rich

o Wants to experience

Juliet: what do we know about her?o Young: 13 years old

o Naïve

o Doesn’t want to marry Paris

o Smitten with Romeo after their kiss

o Capulet

o Wants to escape

Talk about how they are “star-crossed lovers”; this isn’t supposed to make sense. We’re not supposed to question how they fell in love so quickly. We’re supposed to look at what their love did, what it accomplished: the end of the feud. And that only happens if they believe their love is real. So when we’re reading this, try not to get caught up in the fact that they just met. They believe they are really in love, and because they believe it, it’s true.

Brief summary of 2.1 (1-2 minutes) Benvolio and Mercutio are drunk and looking for Romeo. Mercutio says he will

“conjure” Romeo up (which means, make him appear), makes a few dirty jokes at Romeo’s expense, and makes fun of the fact that Romeo is in love. They know nothing about Juliet, so they make fun of him for loving Rosaline. They don’t know Romeo can hear every word, and as they leave, 2.2 begins with Romeo feeling hurt, and then he sees Juliet and nothing else matters.

2.2: The Balcony Scene (rest of class) Preface: This is supposed to be the most ridiculous, sappy, and cheesy scene in the entire

world. It’s the “no you hang up!” of Shakespeare. The point is to make you think they are crazy in love, emphasis on the crazy. That being said, it is some of the most beautiful imagery and poetry in Shakespeare, and it’s all about these crazy, youthful lovers not too far from your age.

Have students act out as much of 2.2 as I can get them to do Pick up where they leave off, read the rest of the scene to them

Exit slip (last 5 minutes) Why is this scene important, or why is it necessary that Romeo and Juliet talk about

being in love for so long? What are their plans? Who might get in the way of these plans? Do they care?