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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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 QuoteO, 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!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,
As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.Simili
The measure done,
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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 QuoteHe jests at scars that never felt a wound.
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But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
Read the QuoteRomeo
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.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand.
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Lady, by yonder blessèd moon I vow
Read the QuoteRomeo
Lady, by yonder blessèd moon I vow,
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops—
Juliet
O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
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How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night
Read the QuoteHow silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night,Alliteration
Like softest music to attending ears!Simile
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These violent delights have violent ends
Read the QuoteFriar Lawrence
These violent delights have violent ends,
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.Simili The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness,
And in the taste confounds the appetite.Metaphor
Therefore love moderately: long love doth so;
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
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