Textbook Comprehension I (with answers)
The textbook notes that these MCQs are "teaching questions" - more than one option can sometimes be defended. The most suitable answer is given with the reason.
1. The phrase 'teach the torches to burn bright' suggests: a. Juliet's glow is brighter than the light of the torch. b. her beauty is capable of enabling the torches to burn bright. c. her beauty surpasses the brightness of light.
Answer: c. Her beauty is brighter than any light; the torches seem to learn brightness from her. (Option a is close, but c captures the exaggeration more completely.)
2. 'for earth too dear' suggests that the lady's beauty is: a. divine. b. rare. c. expensive.
Answer: a. divine. Her beauty is too precious for this world; it belongs to heaven.
3. 'the measure done' connotes the completion of: a. Romeo's admiration of Juliet's beauty. b. dance organised by Lord Capulet. c. glorification of Juliet's charm.
Answer: b. 'Measure' means a dance; Romeo will go to Juliet when the dance ends.
4. The line 'did my heart love till now?' suggests: a. Romeo feels he has fallen in love. b. Romeo has been attracted before. c. Romeo feels this is true love.
Answer: c. Romeo realises that his earlier feeling was not love; this is true love.
5. The phrase 'new snow' suggests: a. love as pure as snow. b. description of Romeo's charm. c. Juliet's discreet love for Romeo.
Answer: b. Juliet describes Romeo as whiter than new snow on a raven's back.
6. What do you think the phrase 'face of heaven' signifies? Answer: It signifies the night sky. Juliet imagines Romeo cut into stars that would make the sky so beautiful that the whole world would fall in love with night.
Textbook Comprehension II and III (model answers)
Q. What similes does Romeo use to convey Juliet's beauty? (Comprehension II - 1)
Answer: Romeo uses two similes. First, Juliet hangs upon the cheek of night "as a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear" - she shines like a precious jewel against a dark background. Second, among the other ladies she stands out like a snowy dove trooping with crows. Both similes show her brightness against darkness.
Q. How, according to Juliet, would Romeo be immortalised to the world? (Comprehension II - 2)
Answer: Juliet asks night to take Romeo, when she dies, and cut him out in little stars. Placed in the sky, he would make the face of heaven so fine that the whole world would fall in love with night and stop worshipping the garish sun. In this way Romeo would shine forever.
Q. Comment on the contrasting imagery in the poem. What purpose does it serve in highlighting the intensity of love? (Comprehension III - 1)
Answer: The extract is built on the contrast of light and darkness. Romeo sees Juliet as brighter than torches, as a rich jewel against an Ethiope's ear and as a snowy dove among crows. Juliet sees Romeo as "day in night", as new snow on a raven's back and as stars in the dark sky. In each image a bright object shines against a dark background. The contrast shows that each lover is the only light in the other's world. It also hints at the dark world of family hatred in which their love must survive, making the love seem all the more intense and precious.
Q. Between Romeo and Juliet, whose love, do you think, is more passionate and intense? (Comprehension III - 2)
Answer (one possible view): Juliet's love seems more passionate. Romeo's speech is mostly admiration of beauty seen for the first time - he praises her looks and plans only to touch her hand. Juliet's speech shows longing and total devotion. She is impatient for night, begs it to "give me my Romeo", and imagines him turned into stars so that he is immortal and the whole world loves him. Her love looks beyond the present moment and even beyond death. (A student may argue for Romeo too, if the answer is supported with lines from the text.)
Exam-Pattern Questions and Answers
Two-mark questions (answer in two sentences)
Q1. What does Romeo intend to do after the measure is done? Answer: After the dance is over, Romeo intends to watch where Juliet stands. He wants to touch her hand so that his own rough hand becomes blessed.
Q2. Why does Romeo ask his sight to 'forswear' his earlier love? Answer: Romeo feels he had never seen true beauty before this night. So he tells his eyes to deny that he ever loved anyone before Juliet.
Q3. Why does Juliet call Romeo 'day in night'? Answer: Romeo brings light and joy into the darkness of night for Juliet. He shines against the night like daylight.
Three-mark questions (about 60 words)
Q4. How does Juliet express her passionate love for Romeo? (asked in the 2025 board paper) Answer: Juliet waits impatiently for night because it will bring Romeo. She calls him "day in night" and "whiter than new snow on a raven's back". She begs the gentle, loving night to give her Romeo. She even wishes that after her death he be cut into little stars, making the sky so fine that the world would love the night and ignore the garish sun.
Q5. How does Romeo describe Juliet's beauty? Answer: Romeo says Juliet teaches the torches to burn bright. She hangs on the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear, and her beauty is too rich for use and too dear for earth. Among other ladies she stands out like a snowy dove among crows. He feels he has never seen true beauty before this night.
Four-mark question (about 100 words)
Q6. Romeo and Juliet use images of light and darkness to express their love. Explain. Answer: Both lovers see the beloved as a brilliant light shining in the dark. For Romeo, Juliet is brighter than the torches in the hall. She hangs on the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear, and she stands among the other ladies like a snowy dove among crows. For Juliet, Romeo is "day in night", whiter than new snow on a raven's back. She wants him cut into little stars to light up the face of heaven, so that the world would love night more than the garish sun. The contrast shows that each lover lights up the other's world, and hints at the dark hatred around their love.
[Exam Tip] — In the 60-word and 100-word answers, quote at least two short phrases from the text. Examiners look for the exact images (rich jewel, snowy dove, day in night, little stars).