 Shakespeare uses a variety of poetic forms throughout the play . He begins with a 14 @-@ line prologue in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet , spoken by a Chorus . Most of Romeo and Juliet is , however , written in blank verse , and much of it in strict iambic pentameter , with less rhythmic variation than in most of Shakespeare 's later plays . In choosing forms , Shakespeare matches the poetry to the character who uses it . Friar Laurence , for example , uses sermon and sententiae forms , and the Nurse uses a unique blank verse form that closely matches colloquial speech . Each of these forms is also moulded and matched to the emotion of the scene the character occupies . For example , when Romeo talks about Rosaline earlier in the play , he attempts to use the Petrarchan sonnet form . Petrarchan sonnets were often used by men to exaggerate the beauty of women who were impossible for them to attain , as in Romeo 's situation with Rosaline . This sonnet form is used by Lady Capulet to describe Count Paris to Juliet as a handsome man . When Romeo and Juliet meet , the poetic form changes from the Petrarchan ( which was becoming archaic in Shakespeare 's day ) to a then more contemporary sonnet form , using " pilgrims " and " saints " as metaphors . Finally , when the two meet on the balcony , Romeo attempts to use the sonnet form to pledge his love , but Juliet breaks it by saying " Dost thou love me ? " By doing this , she searches for true expression , rather than a poetic exaggeration of their love . Juliet uses monosyllabic words with Romeo , but uses formal language with Paris . Other forms in the play include an epithalamium by Juliet , a rhapsody in Mercutio 's Queen Mab speech , and an elegy by Paris . Shakespeare saves his prose style most often for the common people in the play , though at times he uses it for other characters , such as Mercutio . Humour , also , is important : scholar Molly <unk> identifies at least 175 puns and wordplays in the text . Many of these jokes are sexual in nature , especially those involving Mercutio and the Nurse . 
