Romeo
Romeo and Juliet
Notes on Romeo
Richard, Romeo, Juliet and the Sonnet
Read the NoteTwo of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, Richard III and Romeo and Juliet, open with sonnets and then employ variations on the sonnet’s structure for dramatic and poetic effect, which is not surprising. At this point in Shakespeare’s life he seems to have had dual career goals. First, he wanted to make money, which he could accomplish through theatre.
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Banishment: Romeo and Coriolanus
Read the NoteFor two of Shakespeare’s most passionate male characters, banishment holds passionately different meanings. Romeo, banished from Verona, is grief-stricken and in fear of never seeing Juliet again. For him, banishment is the equivalent of death. Coriolanus, banished from Rome, is enraged and contemptuous of the plebeians who he hopes he will never have to see again. For him, banishment is an opportunity for a new life.
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You and Thee
Read the NoteIn Henry IV Part 1, in the exchange between Hotspur and Owen Glendower, about calling up devils from the vasty deep, Hotspur deliberately shifts from the word you to thee when he addresses Glendower. You was often used to convey respect while thee was used when speaking to someone of inferior rank,
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A Plague and a Scourge
Read the NoteMercutio’s curse, “A plague o’ both your houses!” is fulfilled, although not literally. Despite the numerous ways scores of characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, no one in this play or any other Shakespeare play dies of the plague. But the plague is the proximate cause of Romeo’s and Juliet’s deaths. When Friar Lawrence sends Friar John to deliver a letter to Romeo telling him of Juliet’s fake death,
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Quotes spoken by the character Romeo
Good morrow, cousin
Read the QuoteBenvolio
Good morrow, cousin.
Romeo
Is the day so young?
Benvolio
But new struck nine.
Romeo
Ay me, sad hours seem long.
Was that my father that went hence so fast?
Benvolio
It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo’s hours?
Romeo
Not having that which,
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Tut, man, one fire burns out another’s burning
Read the QuoteBenvolio
Tut, man, one fire burns out another’s burning,
One pain is less’ned by another’s anguish;
Turn giddy, and be holp by backward turning;
One desperate grief cures with another’s languish:
Take thou some new infection to thy eye,
And the rank poison of the old will die.Analogies
Take thou some new infection to thy eye,
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My master is the great rich Capulet
Read the QuoteServingman
My master is the great rich Capulet, and, if you be not
of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a
cup of wine. Rest you merry. He exits.
Benvolio
At this same ancient feast of Capulet’s
Sups the fair Rosaline whom thou so loves,
With all the admirèd beauties of Verona.
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O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you
Read the QuoteMercutio
O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomi
Over men’s noses as they lie asleep.
True, I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
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O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
Read the QuoteRomeo
O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear—Simili
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
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If I profane with my unworthiest hand
Read the SonnetRomeo
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrineMetaphor, the gentle sinOxymoron is this,
My lips, two blushing pilgrimsMetaphor, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
My lips, two blushing pilgrimsMetaphor,
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He jests at scars that never felt a wound
Read the QuoteRomeo
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
Enter Juliet above.
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.
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By whose direction found’st thou out this place?
Read the QuoteJuliet
By whose direction found’st thou out this place?
Romeo
By love, that first did prompt me to inquire.
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far
As that vast shore washed with the farthest sea,
I should adventure for such merchandise.
Hist, Romeo, hist!
Read the QuoteJuliet
Hist, Romeo, hist! O, for a falc’ner’s voice
To lure this tassel-gentle back again!
Bondage is hoarse and may not speak aloud,
Else would I tear the cave where Echo lies
And make her airy tongue more hoarse than mine
With repetition of “My Romeo!”
Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say “Good night” till it be morrow.
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God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?
Read the QuoteFriar Lawrence
God pardon sin! Wast thou with Rosaline?
Romeo
With Rosaline, my ghostly father? No.
I have forgot that name and that name’s woe.
Friar Lawrence
That’s my good son. But where hast thou been then?
O, she knew well
Thy love did read by rote, that could not spell.
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