Romeo & Juliet + “The Sea” – Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering major characters, themes, literary devices, and key details from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet and James Reeves’ poem “The Sea.”

Verona (1300s)

Italian city where Romeo and Juliet unfolds; governed by honor, family reputation, and strict social rules.

Montagues and Capulets

Rival noble families whose ancient feud drives the violence in Romeo and Juliet.

Love vs. Hate

Central theme contrasting love’s tenderness with the inherited destructiveness of hate.

Youth & Impulsivity

Theme highlighting the rapid, emotion-driven actions of the teenage characters.

Fate & Free Will

Debate over whether the lovers are ‘star-crossed’ by destiny or ruined by their own choices.

Family Honor

Loyalty to one’s family name, often prioritized above personal happiness in the play.

Miscommunication

Chain of misunderstandings that culminates in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo Montague

Idealistic lover whose impulsive actions—such as killing Tybalt and drinking poison—propel the tragedy.

Juliet Capulet

Initially obedient daughter who becomes bold, independent, and ultimately self-sacrificing for love.

Mercutio

Romeo’s witty, eccentric friend; his death marks the play’s turning point.

Tybalt

Juliet’s fiery cousin whose obsession with honor escalates the feud and causes Romeo’s exile.

Friar Laurence

Well-meaning priest who secretly marries the lovers and devises risky plans that fail.

The Nurse

Juliet’s comic, loyal companion who later advises her to marry Paris.

Act 1 – Seeds of Love and Hate

Opens with a street brawl; Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulet ball and they fall in love.

Act 2 – Secret Bonds

Includes the Balcony Scene and the lovers’ secret marriage by Friar Laurence.

Act 3 – Chaos Unleashed

Mercutio and Tybalt die; Romeo is banished, setting tragic events in motion.

Act 4 – The Plan

Juliet fakes her death with a sleeping potion to avoid marrying Paris.

Act 5 – Tragedy Strikes

Romeo and Juliet die in the tomb; their deaths prompt peace between the families.

Foreshadowing

Hinting at future events, e.g., the Prologue’s ‘star-crossed lovers’ line reveals the ending.

Dramatic Irony

Audience knows information the characters do not, such as Juliet’s feigned death.

Oxymoron

Figure of speech combining contradictory terms (e.g., ‘O brawling love, O loving hate’).

Imagery

Descriptive language that appeals to the senses, like the play’s light vs. dark contrasts.

Symbolism

Objects or actions representing deeper meanings, such as poison intertwining love and hate.

James Reeves

20th-century British poet who wrote “The Sea,” comparing the ocean to a hungry dog.

“The Sea” (poem)

Reeves’ three-stanza poem that uses an extended metaphor to portray the sea’s shifting moods.

Extended Metaphor

Sustained comparison throughout a work; in “The Sea,” the ocean is a dog in every stanza.

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate sounds, e.g., ‘gnaws,’ ‘snuffs,’ and ‘snarls’ in the poem.

Personification

Attributing human or animal traits to non-human things, such as the sea behaving like a dog.

Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sounds (‘shaggy jaws,’ ‘snuffing and sniffing’) to add rhythm.

“The sea is a hungry dog”

Opening line that establishes the poem’s vivid, animalistic metaphor for the ocean.

Stanza

Grouped set of poetic lines; “The Sea” has three stanzas of 8, 6, and 5 lines.

Nature’s Power (Theme)

Idea that natural forces like the sea are strong, relentless, and sometimes destructive.

Change & Mood (Theme)

Concept that the sea, like a dog, shifts from wild to restless to calm.