Title: "Civil Blood...Civil Hands"
Course: Romeo and Juliet Sample Unit Simple Topics Forma > Section: Acts IV-V

Respond at least once for credit (10 points).

Directions: Read the following assertion by Shakespeare scholar, Douglas Brode, and respond to some (not all) of the following discussion questions:

In explaining why it was necessary for Romeo and Juliet to die, critic Douglas Brode states, "Only a variation of the primitive sacrifice of innocent victims can replace civil sickness with health, dispersing anarchy through restored order. This was the essence of tragedy for the ancients. In the end, the sick city experiences the necessary catharsis."

Brode, Douglas. Shakespeare in the Movies. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think the "sickness" of a society is ever responsible for the death of its youth?

2. Does any good come from the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?

3. How would you rate our society in relation to the society represented in Romeo and Juliet? Are we as "sick" as Brode suggests they were? If so, what are some of our symptoms? What can we do about it?

(Questions 1-2 above, along with quoted assertion by Brode, credited in part to Mary Finnerty, Director of Education, and were contained in the teacher preparation materials provided by Park Square Theater for a 2005 field trip to the performance of Rome and Juliet.)