Romeo & Juliet (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Exam Questions

5 hours27 questions
11 mark

Who tries to stop the fight between the servants of the Capulets and Montagues in Act 1?

  • Benvolio

  • Tybalt

  • Mercutio

  • Romeo

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21 mark

Which character first asks for Juliet's hand in marriage?

  • Tybalt

  • Romeo

  • Mercutio

  • Paris

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31 mark

What is Juliet's concern when she first speaks with Romeo on the balcony?

  • his honesty

  • his family name 

  • her reputation

  • her father finding out

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41 mark

Why does Romeo initially attend the Capulet Ball?

  • to meet Juliet

  • to confront Tybalt

  • to see Rosaline

  • to fight the Capulets

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51 mark

Where is Romeo exiled after killing Tybalt?

  • Mantua

  • Verona

  • Padua

  • Venice

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61 mark

How does Juliet die in the tomb?

  • She is killed by Paris.

  • She drinks a deadly poison.

  • She dies from severe heartbreak.

  • She stabs herself with a dagger.

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71 mark

Who tells Romeo that Juliet has died, leading him to return to Verona?

  • Paris

  •  Friar Laurence

  • Balthasar

  • Benvolio

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81 mark

Why does Tybalt want to fight Romeo at the Capulet Ball?

  • He feels insulted by Romeo’s presence.

  • Romeo had insulted Juliet.

  • Romeo challenged him to a duel.

  • He is jealous of Romeo’s status.

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91 mark

Why does Romeo refuse to fight Tybalt after his secret wedding to Juliet?

  • He wants to embarrass Tybalt. 

  • He is afraid of losing the fight.

  • He has vowed to avoid violence.

  • He now considers Tybalt family.

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101 mark

Why does Romeo buy poison from the apothecary?

  • He believes Juliet is dead and wants to join her in death.

  • He needs it to fake his own death, like Juliet did.

  • He plans to give it to Juliet to help her escape her family.

  • He wants to use it to kill Paris and get rid of his romantic competition.

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11 mark

Why does Juliet refuse to marry Paris after her father insists in Act 3?

  • She has secretly married Romeo and does not want to be disloyal.

  • She believes Paris is not wealthy enough to support her, despite his good looks

  • She wants to marry someone with whom she has a romantic history.

  • She is hoping to enter a convent and dedicate herself to God instead of getting married.

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21 mark

How does Romeo respond to Tybalt’s insults during their encounter in Act 3, Scene 1?

  • He fights Tybalt immediately because of family honour.

  • He dismisses Tybalt and walks away without explanation.

  • He tries to calm Tybalt down and avoid a confrontation.

  • He asks Mercutio to defend him from Tybalt's challenges.

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31 mark

What causes the final reconciliation between the Montagues and the Capulets?

  • Paris's appeal to end the feud

  • a decree from the Prince

  •  the deaths of Romeo and Juliet

  • Friar Laurence’s intervention

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41 mark

Why does the Prince choose to exile Romeo instead of sentencing him to death for killing Tybalt?

  • He wants to avoid upsetting Juliet, who by this stage is Romeo’s wife.

  • He fears the Montagues will rebel, leading to more violence on the streets of Verona.

  • He believes Tybalt was the true villain and therefore deserved his fate.

  • He recognises that Romeo was avenging Mercutio’s death.

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51 mark

Why does Juliet ask Romeo not to swear his love by the moon in the balcony scene?

  • She prefers he swear by the stars. 

  • The moon is inconstant and changes.

  • The moon is a symbol of bad luck.

  • She doesn’t want him to swear at all.

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61 mark

How does Juliet’s reaction to Tybalt’s death affect her relationship with Romeo?

  • Her conflicting emotions lead her to question Romeo’s commitment to her and their marriage.

  • Her grief over Tybalt’s death weakens her love for Romeo, who murdered her cousin.

  • Her understanding of Romeo’s actions strengthens her commitment to him.

  • Her anger causes her to turn against Romeo completely.

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71 mark

What does Romeo’s willingness to take his own life after hearing of Juliet’s death suggest about his view of love?

  • Romeo views love as more important than his own life.

  • Romeo believes love can only be achieved through sacrifice.

  • Romeo thinks love must be dramatic and tragic.

  • Romeo wants to die to avoid facing the consequences of his actions.

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81 mark

What does the Prince’s final speech, in which he blames the families for the tragedy, suggest about the role of authority in the play?

  • The Prince believes that Lords Capulet and Montague lacked the authority to end the feud sooner.

  • The Prince’s speech implies that the feud, left unchecked, led to unnecessary deaths.

  • The Prince acknowledges that authority was powerless against the strength of love.

  • The Prince uses his speech to shift blame onto the lovers themselves.

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91 mark

How does the use of night and day imagery throughout the play reinforce the lovers' relationship?

  • It alludes to their love as something that exists in secrecy, as they do not share any daytime scenes.

  • It shows that their love is destined to fail as they belong to opposite worlds, and cannot coexist.

  • It symbolises their hopes of breaking free from their family’s rules and begin a new day together.

  • It suggests that their love is stronger in the light of day, but threatened by the darkness of a family feud.

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