the william shakespeare school presents romeo and juliet

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Romeo & JulietThe William Shakespeare School Presents...

Edited by Leah Blake

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Table of Contents

Preface

Romeo and Juliet: Plot Synopsis

Lead Characters in the Play

Romeo and Juliet: Commentary

Shakespeare’s Verse

Source, Date and Text

The “Bard of Avon”:William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

Dramatis Personae

Romeo and Juliet

Appendix A: Comparing Quarto and Folio Editions

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Appendix B: The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet

Classwork and Examination Terms Literary Terms Vocabulary Terms Examination Context Questions Comprehension Questions Discussion Questions Character Study Activities Essays Projects Suggested Topics

Suggested Further Readings

Preface

In 1562 a poet by the name of Arthur Brooke translated an Italian no-vella by Matteo Bandello. This poetic work, titled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, tells the story of two lovers from feuding families who eventually commit suicide in order to be together. Only 35 years later, in 1597, William Shakespeare created his own version of the tragic romance, and titled the play Romeo and Juliet. Though Shakespeare’s version is heavily based from Brooke’s Romeus and Juliet, the story belongs to a long standing tradition of adaptations that stretched across nearly a hundred years and two languages. The popularity with the story lies not with the tragic love story itself, but with the themes that underlie the play, including the Force of Love, the Inevitability of Fate, and the more basic theme of the Individual versus a Corrupted Society. These themes give heart to the play, and are the main reason why Romeo and Juliet has become one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays to date. The play’s major theme—Love— drives Romeo and Juliet’s actions throughout the play starting with the intense passion that springs up be-tween Romeo and Juliet. During the play love is a violent, ecstatic, over-powering force superseding all other values, loyalties, and emotions. In the course of the play, the young lovers are driven to defy their entire social world: Juliet defies her family by acting against her parents’ wish-es and refusing to marry Paris in favour of Romeo; Romeo defies his fr-

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iends by deserting them at the masquerade ball in order to find Juliet; and Romeo defies the Governor of Verona, Prince Escalus, by returning to the city after being banished in order to spend the night with Juliet. Love is not portrayed by Shakespeare as a dainty emotion; love in Romeo and Juliet is a brutal, powerful emotion catapulting individuals against their world and themselves. The passionate love between Romeo and Juliet is linked from the moment of its inception with death: Tybalt notices Romeo has crashed the feast and determines to kill him just as Romeo catches sight of Juliet and falls instantly in love with her. From that moment on, Romeo and Juliet are plagued with thoughts of suicide, and a willingness to experi-ence it after imagining living in a world without the other. This theme continues until its inevitable conclusion, yet the tragic choice of death is the highest, most potent expression of love Romeo and Juliet can make, since it is only through death they can preserve their love. Yet besides love, the other driving theme throughout the play is the inevitability of fate. Even before the play starts the audience is already introduced to the workings of fate, with the Chorus stating Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed”— that is stars, often symbols of fate, are con-trolling their destinies. By revealing to the audience the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet in the Prologue, Shakespeare has now made the structure of the play fate itself, since the audience is now waiting for the inevitable conclusion. Fate watches over the play, with Romeo and Juliet constantly seeing omens. When Romeo believes Juliet is dead, he cries out, “Then I defyyou, stars,” completing the idea that the love between Romeo and Juliet is in opposition to destiny. Of course, Romeo’s defiance itself plays into

Preface

the hands of fate, and his determination to spend eternity with Juliet results in their deaths. The shadow of fate affects everything: the feud between their families; the horrible series of accidents that ruin Fri-ar Lawrence’s well-intentioned plans; and the tragic timing of Romeo’s suicide and Juliet’s awakening. These events are not mere coincidences but the workings of fate. Of course, Romeo and Juliet’s deaths would not have been neces-sary unless the social corruption plaguing their love existed. Much of the play involves the lovers’ struggles against the public and the private that either explicitly or implicitly opposes the existence of their love. Such structures range from the concrete to the abstract: families and the placement of familial power in the father; law and the desire for pub-lic order; and the social importance placed on masculine honor. These institutions often come into conflict with each other. The importance of honor, for example, time and again results in disturbing the public peace. Though they do not always work together, each of these societal in-stitutions present obstacles for Romeo and Juliet: the hate between their families, coupled with the emphasis placed on loyalty and honor com-bine to create a profound conflict for Romeo and Juliet; further, the pa-triarchal power structure inherent in Renaissance families, wherein the father controls the action of all other family members, places Juliet in an extremely vulnerable position; her heart, in her family’s mind, is not hers to give. The maintenance of masculine power over women forces Romeo to commit actions he would prefer to avoid, but the social em-phasis placed on masculine honor is so profound that Romeo cannot simply ignore them.

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And there is the issue of the ongoing feud between the two families, which often include individuals who are not directly involved; Sampson and Gregory, for instance, instigate a fight for no other reason than be-cause they are supposed to despise the Montagues. The lower class citi-zens of Verona offer a unique perspective as to how damaging the ongo-ing feud between the two families is to society. Fights between opposing citizens who are not part of either the Montagues or Capulet families break out, such as that of Sampson and Gregory, reflecting the corrup-tion taking place as a direct result of the feud. The corruption of Verona is most stated during Mercutio’s monologue of Queen Mab. Though the monologue initially starts out as a pleasant dream of Queen Mab visit-ing citizens at night and granting their most desired dreams, the speech quickly spins out of control as what the citizens truly want are the same vices they are addicted to including greed, violence, or lust. Queen Mab stands as a symbol of Verona; though appearing as a beautiful city home to two powerful families, the inner social corruption is just as contract-edly ugly, though invisible in the eyes of either the Montagues or the Capulets. It is possible to see Romeo and Juliet as a battle between the re-sponsibilities and actions demanded by social institutions and those demanded by the private desires of the individual. Romeo and Juliet’s appreciation of night, with its darkness and privacy, and their renunci-ation of their names make sense in the context of individuals who wish to escape the public world. But the lovers cannot stop the night from becoming day. And Romeo cannot cease being a Montague simply be-cause he wants to; the rest of the world will not let him. The lovers’ sui-cides can be understood as the ultimate night, the ultimate privacy, and

Preface

the ultimate act of devotion to the other. Through their deaths, Romeo and Juliet have made their love immortal in a world that tried to keep them apart, and their immortal love has gone down in history as one of the best love stories ever written.

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In the streets of Verona another brawl breaks out between the servants of the feuding noble families of Capulet and Montague. Benvolio, a Montague, tries to stop the fighting, but is himself embroiled when the rash Tybalt arrives on the scene. After citizens outraged by the constant violence beat back the warring factions Prince Escalus, the ruler of Ve-rona, attempts to prevent any further conflicts between the families by decreeing death for any individual who disturbs the peace in the future. Romeo, the son of Montague, runs into his cousin Benvolio who had earlier seen Romeo moping in a grove of sycamores. After some prodding by Benvolio, Romeo confides that he is in love with Rosaline, a woman who does not return his affections. Benvolio counsels him to forget this woman and find another, more beautiful one, but Romeo re-mains despondent. Meanwhile, Paris, a kinsman of the Prince, seeks Juliet’s hand in marriage. Her father Capulet, though happy at the match, asks Paris to wait two years, since Juliet is not yet even fourteen. Capulet dispatches a servant with a list of people to invite to a masquerade and feast he tradi-tionally holds. He invites Paris to the feast, hoping that Paris will begin to win Juliet’s heart. Romeo and Benvolio, still discussing Rosaline, encounter the Cap-ulet servant bearing the list of invitations. Benvolio suggests that theyattend, since that will allow Romeo to compare his beloved to other


beautiful women of Verona. Romeo agrees to go with Benvolio to the feast, but only because Rosaline, whose name he reads on the list, will be there. In Capulet’s household, young Juliet talks with her mother, Lady Capulet, and her nurse about the possibility of marrying Paris. Juliet has not yet considered marriage, but agrees to look at Paris during the feast to see if she thinks she could fall in love with him. The feast begins. A melancholy Romeo follows Benvolio and their friend Mercutio to Capulet’s house. Once inside, Romeo sees Juliet from a distance and instantly falls in love with her; he forgets about Rosaline completely. As Romeo watches Juliet, Tybalt recognizes him and is en-raged that a Montague would sneak into a Capulet feast. He prepares to attack, but Capulet holds him back. Soon, Romeo speaks to Juliet, and the two experience a profound attraction. They kiss, not even knowing each other’s names. When he finds out from Juliet’s nurse that she is the daughter of Capulet—his family’s enemy—he becomes distraught. When Juliet learns that the young man she has just kissed is the son of Montague, she grows equally upset. As Mercutio and Benvolio leave the Capulet estate, Romeo leaps over the orchard wall into the garden, unable to leave Juliet behind. From his hiding place, he sees Juliet in a window above the orchard and hears her speak his name. He calls out to her, and they exchange vows of love. Romeo hurries to see his friend and confessor Friar Lawrence who, though shocked at the sudden turn of Romeo’s heart, agrees to marry the young lovers in secret since he sees in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud between the Capulets and Montagues. The following day, Romeo and Juliet meet at Friar Lawrence’s cell and are married.

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The Nurse, who is privy to the secret, procures a ladder, which Romeo will use to climb into Juliet’s window for their wedding night. The next day, Benvolio and Mercutio encounter Tybalt who, still enraged that Romeo attended Capulet’s feast, has challenged Romeo to a duel. Romeo, now Tybalt’s kinsman by marriage, appears and begs Tybalt to hold off the duel until he understands why Romeo does not want to fight. Disgusted with this plea for peace, Mercutio says that he will fight Tybalt himself and the two begin to duel. Romeo tries to stop them by leaping between the combatants; Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm, and Mercutio dies. Romeo, in a rage, kills Tybalt and flees from the scene; soon after the Prince, true to his word, declares Romeo banished forever from Verona for his crime. Friar Lawrence arranges for Romeo to spend his wedding night with Juliet before he has to leave for Mantua the following morning. In her room, Juliet awaits the arrival of her new husband. The Nurse enters and, after some confusion, tells Juliet that Romeo has killed Ty-balt. Distraught, Juliet suddenly finds herself married to a man who has killed her kinsman. But she resettles herself, and realizes that her duty belongs with her love: to Romeo. Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s room that night, and they spend the night together. Morning comes, and the lovers bid farewell, unsure when they will see each other again. Juliet learns that her father, affected by the recent events, now intends for her to marry Paris in just three days. Unsure of how to proceed—unable to reveal to her parents that she is married to Romeo, but unwilling to marry Paris now that she is Romeo’s wife—Juliet asks her nurse for advice. She counsels Juliet to proceed as if Romeo were dead and to marry Paris. Disgusted with the Nurse’s


disloyalty, Juliet disregards her advice and hurries to Friar Lawrence. He concocts a plan to reunite Juliet with Romeo in Mantua: The night before her wedding to Paris, Juliet will drink a potion that will make her appear to be dead. After she is laid to rest in the family’s crypt, the Fri-ar and Romeo will secretly retrieve her, and she will be free to live with Romeo, away from their parents’ feuding. Juliet returns home to discover the wedding has been moved ahead one day, and she is to be married tomorrow. That night, Juliet drinks the potion and the Nurse discovers her, apparently dead, the next morning. The Capulets grieve, and Juliet is entombed according to plan. But Friar Lawrence’s message explaining the plan to Romeo never reaches Man-tua. Its bearer, Friar John, gets confined to a quarantined house and as a result Romeo only hears that Juliet is dead. After hearing of her death, Romeo decides to kill himself rather than live without her. He buys a vial of poison from a reluctant Apothecary, then speeds back to Verona to take his own life at Juliet’s tomb. Outside the Capulet crypt Romeo comes upon Paris, who is scattering flowers on Juliet’s grave. They fight, and Romeo kills Paris. He enters the tomb, sees Juliet’s inanimate body, drinks the poison, and dies by her side. Just then, Friar Lawrence enters and realizes that Romeo has killed Paris and himself; at the same moment, Juliet awakes. Friar Lawrence hears the coming of the watch. When Juliet refuses to leave with him, he flees alone. Juliet sees her beloved Romeo and realizes he has killed himself with poison. She kisses his poisoned lips and, when that does not kill her, buries his dagger in her chest, falling dead upon his body.

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Lady Capulet Juliet’s mother, Capulet’s wife. A woman who herself mar-ried young—by her own estimation she gave birth to Juliet at close to the age of fourteen— she is eager to see her daughter marry Paris. She is an ineffectual mother, relying on the Nurse for moral and pragmatic

Capulet The patriarch of the Capulet family, father of Juliet, husband of Lady Capulet, and enemy—for unexplained reasons—of Montague. He truly loves his daughter, though he is not well acquainted with Juliet’s thoughts or feelings, and seems to think that what is best for her is with Paris. Often prudent, he commands respect and propriety, but he is lia-ble to fly into a rage when either is lacking.

Her Family

The daughter of Capulet and Lady Capulet. A beautiful thirteen-year-old girl, Juliet begins the play as a naïve child who has thought little about love and marriage, but she grows up quickly upon falling in love with Romeo, the son of her family’s great enemy. Because she is a girl in an aristocratic family, she has none of the freedom Romeo has to roam around the city, climb over walls in the middle of the night, or get into swordfights. Nevertheless, she shows amazing courage in trusting her entire life and future to Romeo, even refusing to believe the worst re-ports about him after he gets involved in a fight with her cousin. Juliet’s closest friend and confidant is her nurse, though she’s willing to shut the Nurse out of her life the moment the Nurse turns against Romeo.

Juliet

Lead Characters in the Play support.

Nurse Juliet’s nurse, the woman who breast-fed Juliet when she was a baby and has cared for Juliet her entire life. The Nurse provides comic relief with her frequently inappropriate remarks and speeches. But, un-til a disagreement near the play’s end, the Nurse is Juliet’s faithful con-fidante and loyal intermediary in Juliet’s affair with Romeo. The Nurse believes in love and wants Juliet to have a nice-looking husband, but the idea that Juliet would want to sacrifice herself for love is incomprehen-sible to her.

Tybalt A Capulet, Juliet’s cousin on her mother’s side. Vain, fashionable, supremely aware of courtesy and the lack of it, he becomes aggressive, violent, and quick to draw his sword when he feels his pride has been injured. Once drawn, his sword is something to be feared. He loathes the Montagues.

Romeo The son and heir of Montague. A young man of about sixteen, Romeo is handsome, intelligent, and sensitive. Though impulsive and immature, his idealism and passion make him an extremely likable character. He lives in the middle of a violent feud between his family and the Capulets, but he is not at all interested in violence. His only interest is love. At the beginning of the play he is madly in love with a woman named Rosa-line, but the instant he lays eyes on Juliet he falls in love with her and forgets Rosaline. He secretly marries Juliet, the daughter of his father’s worst enemy; he happily takes abuse from Tybalt; and he would rather die than live without his beloved. Romeo is also an affectionate and de-voted friend to his relative Benvolio, Mercutio, and Friar Lawrence.


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Mercutio

A Franciscan friar, friend to both Romeo and Juliet. Kind, civic-mind-ed, a proponent of moderation, and always ready with a plan, Friar Law-rence secretly marries the impassioned lovers in hopes that the union might eventually bring peace to Verona. As well as being a Catholic holy man, Friar Lawrence is also an expert in the use of seemingly mystical potions and herbs.

Friar Lawrence

Benvolio Montague’s nephew, Romeo’s cousin and thoughtful friend, he makes a genuine effort to defuse violent scenes in public places, though Mercutio accuses him of having a nasty temper in private. He spends most of the play trying to help Romeo get his mind off Rosaline, even after Romeo has fallen in love with Juliet.

Lady Montague Romeo’s mother, Montague’s wife. She dies of grief af-ter Romeo is exiled from Verona.

Montague Romeo’s father, the patriarch of the Montague clan and bitter enemy of Capulet. At the beginning of the play, he is chiefly concerned about Romeo’s melancholy.

His Family

A kinsman to the Prince and Romeo’s close friend. One of the most ex-traordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s plays, mercutio overflows with imagination, wit, and at time a strange, biting satire and brooding fervor. Mercutio loves wordplay and can be quite hotheaded. He hates people who are affected, pretentious, or obsessed with the latest fash-ions. He finds Romeo’s romanticized ideas about love tiresome, and tries to convince Romeo to view love as a simple matter of sexual appetite.

Paris A kinsman of the Prince, and the suitor of Juliet most preferred by Cap-ulet. Once Capulet has promised him he can marry Juliet, he behaves very presumptuous toward her, acting as if they are already married.


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Prologue The Chorus enters and presents a fourteen-line sonnet in which he de-scribes the feud between two noble households in the city of Verona. The houses hold an ancient grudge against each other that is the main source of violence throughout the play. Two children from these fam-ilies become lovers and eventually commit suicide as a direct result of the conflict; from their deaths, the quarrel between their families ends. The sonnet finishes with the Chorus stating these two lovers, and the terrible strife between their families, will be the main topic of the play. The Prologue serves as an introduction to Romeo and Juliet, pro-viding information about where the play takes place and gives some background information on the characters and the feud between the two families. But the Prologue also serves as fate; the Chorus refers to Romeo and Juliet as “star-crossed.” Stars were thought to control peo-ple’s destinies, and the Prologue creates this sense of fate by providing the knowledge that Romeo and Juliet will die at the end of the play to the audience. By telling the audience the inevitable fate of these two characters, the structure of the play literally becomes fateful, to which Romeo and Juliet cannot escape.

Act 1

Scene 1 Sampson and Gregory, two servants of the house of Capulet, stroll


through the streets of Verona. With bawdy banter, Sampson vents his hatred of the house of Montague. The two exchange punning remarks about physically conquering Montague men and women. Gregory sees two Montague servants approaching, and discusses with Sampson the best way to provoke them into a fight without breaking the law. Samp-son bites his thumb at the Montagues—a highly insulting gesture. A verbal confrontation quickly escalates into a fight. The perspectives of servants in Romeo and Juliet are often used to reflect upon the actions of their masters and society; Sampson and Gregory provoke the Montague servants, for example, not because they personally hate the Montagues or the servants in question, but because of their loyalty to their masters. The prosaic cares of the lower class introduces the audience to a different aspect of the social world of Verona that exists beyond the Montagues and Capulets. This so-cial world stands in constant contrast to the passions inherent in the Capulets and Montagues. The give-and-take between the demands of the social world and individuals’ private passions is another powerful theme in the play. For example, look at how the servants try to attain their desire while remaining on the right side of the law: Sampson, deciding on how to reply to the “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?” comment asks, aside to Gregory, “Is the law of our side, if I say ‘Ay,’?” When Gregory replies with a no, Sampson is quick to deny the ques-tion [1.1.44-47]. The origin of the brawl, rife as it is with physical bravado, intro-duces another important theme of masculine honor. Masculine hon-or does not function in the play as some sort of stoic indifference to pain or insult. In Verona, a man must defend his honor whenever it

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is transgressed against, whether verbally or physically. This concept of masculine honor exists through every layer of society in Verona, from the servants on up to the noblemen; it animates Samson and Gregory as much as it does Tybalt. Benvolio, a kinsman to Montague, enters just as the confrontation between the two household servants takes place, and draws his sword in an attempt to stop the confrontation. Tybalt, a kinsman to Capulet, sees Benvolio’s drawn sword and draws his own. Benvolio explains that he is merely trying to keep the peace, but Tybalt professes a hatred for peace as strong as his hatred for Montagues, and attacks. The brawl spreads. A group of citizens bearing clubs attempts to restore the peace by beat-ing down the combatants. Montague and Capulet enter, and only their wives prevent them from attacking one another. Prince Escalus arrives and commands the fighting stop on penalty of torture. The Capulets and Montagues throw down their weapons. The Prince declares the vio-lence between the two families has gone on for too long, and proclaims a death sentence upon anyone who disturbs the civil peace again. He says that he will speak to Capulet and Montague more directly on this matter; Capulet exits with him, the brawlers disperse, and Benvolio is left alone with his uncle and aunt, Montague and Lady Montague. Benvolio describes to Montague how the brawl started. Lady Mon-tague asks whether Benvolio has seen her son, Romeo. Benvolio replies that he earlier saw Romeo pacing through a grove of sycamores out-side the city; since Romeo seemed troubled, Benvolio did not speak to him. Concerned about their son, the Montagues tell Benvolio that Ro-meo has often been seen melancholy, walking alone among the syca-mores. They add that they have tried to discover what troubles him, but


have had no success. Benvolio sees Romeo approaching, and promises to find out the reason for his melancholy; the Montagues quickly de-part. Benvolio approaches his cousin. With a touch of sadness, Romeo tells Benvolio that he is in love with Rosaline, but that she does not re-turn his feelings and has in fact sworn to live a life of chastity. Benvolio counsels Romeo to forget her by gazing on other beauties, but Romeo contends that the woman he loves is the most beautiful of all. Romeo departs, assuring Benvolio that he cannot teach him to forget his love. Benvolio resolves to do just that. Interestingly, in a play called Romeo and Juliet we would expect the forlorn Romeo to be lovesick over Juliet, but instead he is in love with Rosaline. Who is Rosaline? She never appears onstage, but many of Romeo’s friends, unaware that he has fallen in love with and married Juliet, believe he is in love with Rosaline for the entirety of the play; in this way, Rosaline haunts Romeo and Juliet. One can argue that Rosa-line exists in the play only to demonstrate Romeo’s passionate nature, his love of love. For example, the way he describes his love for Rosaline is almost entirely through the use of cliché and bad poetry: Romeo Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health, Still-waking sleep that is not what it is. This love feel I that feel no love in this. Dost though not laugh? [1.1.178-181]Romeo’s love for Rosaline, then, reads more as a statement that he is ready to be in love than actual love. An alternative argument holds that Romeo’s love for Rosaline shows him to be desirous of love with any-

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one who is beautiful and willing to share his feelings, thereby sullying our understanding of Romeo’s love with Juliet. Over the course of the play, the purity and power of Romeo’s love for Juliet seems to outweigh any concerns about the origin of that love, but the question of Rosaline’s role in the play does offer an important point for consideration. Shakespeare provides all the background information needed to understand the world of the play in the opening scene: in the brawl, he portrays all of the layers of Veronese society, from those lowest in pow-er—the servants—to the Prince who occupies the political and social pinnacle. He further provides excellent characterization of Benvolio as thoughtful and fearful of the law, Tybalt as a hothead, and Romeo as dis-tracted and lovelorn, while showing the deep and long-standing hatred between the Montagues and Capulets. At the same time, Shakespeare establishes some of the major themes of the play. The opening of Romeo and Juliet is a marvel of economy, descriptive power, and excitement.

Scene 2 On another street of Verona, Capulet walks with Paris, a noble kinsman of the Prince. The two discuss Paris’s desire to marry Capulet’s daugh-ter, Juliet. Capulet is overjoyed, but also states that Juliet—not yet four-teen—is too young to get married and he asks Paris to wait two years. He assures Paris that he favors him as a suitor, and invites Paris to the traditional masquerade feast he is holding that very night so that Paris might begin to woo Juliet and win her heart. Paris is introduced as Capulet’s pick for Juliet’s husband, therefore establishing how Juliet is subject to parental influence. Romeo might be forced into fights because of his father’s enmity with the Capulets, but Ju-liet is far more constrained. Regardless of any inter-family strife, Juliet’s


father can force her to marry whomever he wants. Such is the differ-ence between being a man and a woman in Verona. It might seem a worse thing to be caught up in the violence of a brawl, but Juliet’s sta-tus as a young woman leaves her with no power or choice in any so-cial situation. Like any other female in this culture, she will be passed from the control of one man to another. In this scene, Capulet appears to be a kind-hearted man by deferring to Juliet’s ability to choose for herself: “My will to her consent is but a part” [1.2.16], but his power to force her into a marriage if he feels it necessary is implicitly present. Thus parental influence in this tragedy becomes a tool of fate: Juliet’s arranged marriage with Paris, and the traditional feud between the Capulets and Montagues, will eventually contribute to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, and all of this is determined well before they even meet. Capulet, before leaving with Paris, dispatches a servant to invite a list of people to the feast. As Capulet and Paris walk away the servant, Peter, admits he cannot read and will therefore have difficulty accom-plishing his task. Peter—who cannot read—offers a touch of humor in the way his illiteracy leads him to invite two Montagues to the party while express-ly stating that no Montagues are invited. But Peter’s poor education is also part of the entrenched social structures. Juliet has no power be-cause she is a woman. Peter has no power because he is a lowly servant and therefore cannot read. Romeo and Benvolio happen by, still arguing about whether Romeo will be able to forget his love. Peter asks Romeo to read the list to him. While reading the list, Romeo discovers Rosaline’s name on the list.

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Before departing, Peter invites Romeo and Benvolio to the party, as-suming they are not Montagues. Benvolio tells Romeo that the feast will be the perfect opportunity to compare Rosaline with the other beautiful women of Verona and Romeo agrees to go with him, but only because Rosaline herself will be there. Romeo, of course, is still lovelorn for Rosaline; but the audience can tell at this point that Romeo will meet Juliet at the feast, and expecta-tions begin to rise. Through Shakespeare’s ingenious manipulation of the plot, the audience starts to feel the rustlings of approaching fate.

Scene 3 In Capulet’s house, just before the feast is to begin, Lady Capulet calls to the Nurse, needing help to find her daughter. Juliet enters, and Lady Capulet dismisses the Nurse so that she might speak with her daughter alone. She immediately changes her mind, however, and asks the Nurse to remain and add her counsel. Before Lady Capulet can begin to speak, the Nurse launches into a long story about how, as a child, an uncom-prehending Juliet became an innocent accomplice to an inappropriate joke. Lady Capulet tries unsuccessfully to stop the wildly amused Nurse while an embarrassed Juliet forcefully commands the Nurse to stop. Once again there seems to be a direct comparison between servants and masters. In the course of the Nurse’s story it becomes clear her own daughter, who would be Juliet’s age, died long ago along with the Nurse’s husband. These deaths might simply be coincidental, but it seems just as likely that they correspond to the Nurse’s lower station in life and are a direct result of the Nurse’s current position as Juliet’s wet-nurse. Lady Capulet asks Juliet what she thinks about getting married and Juliet replies she has not given it any thought. Lady Capulet observes she


gave birth to Juliet when she was almost Juliet’s current age. She excit-edly says Juliet must begin to think about marriage because the “valiant Paris” has expressed an interest in her. Juliet dutifully replies she will look upon Paris at the feast to see if she might love him. A servingman enters to announce the beginning of the feast. Three scenes into the play, the audience finally meets the second title character. Thematically, the scene continues to develop the issue of parental influence, particularly the strength of that influence over girls. Lady Capulet, herself a woman who married at a young age, of-fers complete support for her husband’s plan for their daughter, and puts pressure on Juliet to think about Paris as a husband before Juliet has begun to think about marriage at all. Juliet admits just how power-ful the influence of her parents is when she agrees to follow her moth-er’s advice in thinking about Paris: Juliet I’ll look to like, looking liking move, But no more deep will I endart mine eye Than your consent gives strength to make it fly. [1.3.98–100] Juliet seems to imply a complete acquiescence to her mother’s control, but the phrase can also be interpreted as illustrating an effort on Juliet’s part to use vague language as a means of asserting some control over her situation: while agreeing to see if she might be able to love Paris, she is at the same time saying she will put no more enthusiasm into the effort than her mother demands. The phrase can therefore be in-terpreted as a sort of passive resistance. In direct correlation to Lady Capulet, the Nurse provides a silly anec-dote about Juliet as a baby, also stating the inevitability of Juliet’s situation.

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The Nurse’s husband’s comment about Juliet falling on her back when she comes of age is a reference to Juliet one day satisfying her husband’s needs, as well as showing how Juliet has been viewed as a womanly ob-ject since she was a toddler; in broader terms, Juliet’s fate to someday be given away in marriage has been set since birth. Beyond the thematic development, this scene provides magnificent insight into the three main female characters. Lady Capulet is a flighty, ineffectual mother: she dismisses the Nurse, seeking to speak alone with her daughter, but as soon as the Nurse begins to depart, Lady Capulet becomes nervous and calls the Nurse back. The Nurse—in her hilarious inability to stop telling the story about her husband’s innuendo con-cerning Juliet—shows a vulgar streak, but also a familiarity with Juliet that implies she, and not Lady Capulet, raised the girl. Juliet is revealed in this scene as a rather naïve young girl who is obedient to her mother and the Nurse, but there are glimpses of a strength and intelligence in Juliet that are wholly absent in her mother.

Scene 4 Romeo, Benvolio, and their friend Mercutio—all wearing masks—have gathered with a group of mask-wearing guests on their way to the Capulets’ feast. Still melancholy, Romeo wonders how they will get into the Capulets’ feast since they are Montagues. When his concern is brushed aside, he states he will not dance at the feast. Mercutio be-gins to gently mock Romeo, transforming all of Romeo’s statements about love into dirty metaphors. Romeo refuses to engage in his banter, explaining he had dreamed going to the feast was a bad idea. Mercu-tio responds with a long speech about Queen Mab of the fairies who visits people’s dreams. The speech begins as a flight of fancy, but Mer-


cutio becomes a most entranced and a bitter, fervant strain creep in. Romeo steps in to stop the speech and calm Mercutio down. Mercu-tio admits he has been talking of nothing, noting dreams are but “the children of an idle brain” [1.4.97]. Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech is one of the most famous in the play. Queen Mab, who brings dreams to sleeping people, seems to be loosely based on figures in the pagan Celtic mythology that predated Christianity’s arrival in England. Yet the name holds a deeper meaning. The words “queen” and “mab” were references to ladies of the night in Elizabethan England; Mercutio, therefore, creates a sort of conceptual pun by yoking the childish fun of fairies to a much darker vision of humanity. The speech itself reveals this dichotomy. A child would love Mercutio’s description of a world of fairies replete with walnut car-riages and insect steeds, its stories of a fairy bringing dreams to sleep-ing people, but take a closer look at those dreams: Queen Mab brings dreams suited to each individual, and each dream she brings seems to descend into deeper depravity and brutality. By the end of the speech, Queen Mab is the “hag” who poisons maidens. The child’s fairy tale has spun into something much, much darker though this dark vision is an accurate portrayal of society. Mer-cutio, as entertaining as he is, can be seen as offering an alternative vision of the grand tragedy that is Romeo and Juliet. The Queen Mab speech by no means deflates the great tragedy and romantic ideals of Romeo and Juliet, but it adds to them the subtext of a pun, that dark flipside which offers an alternative view of reality. Benvolio refocuses their attention on actually getting to the feast. Romeo voices one last concern: he has a feeling the night’s activities will

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set in motion the action of fate, resulting in untimely death. But, putting himself in the hands of “he that hath the steerage of my course,” Romeo’s spirits rise and he continues with his friends toward the feast [1.4.112]. This scene might seem unnecessary. As an audience, we already know Romeo and his friends are headed to the feast. We already know Romeo is melancholy and Benvolio more pragmatic. The inclusion of this scene does not directly offer plot exposition or plot progression. However, the scene does augment the general sense of fate through Ro-meo’s statement of belief the night’s events will lead to untimely death. The audience, of course, knows he will suffer an untimely death. When Romeo gives himself up to “he that hath the steerage of my course,” the audience feels fate take a tighter grasp on him. But the scene also serves a second function as an introduction to the clever, whirling, entrancing Mercutio. Spinning wild puns left and right, seeming to speak them as freely as others breathe, Mercutio is established as a friend who can, gently or not, mock Romeo as no one else can. Though thoughtful, Benvolio does not have the quick wit for such behavior. With his wild speech and laughter, Mercutio is a man of excess. But his passions are of another sort than those that move Romeo to love and Tybalt to hate. Romeo’s and Tybalt’s passions are found-ed upon the acceptance of two different ideals trumpeted by society: the poetic tradition of love and the importance of honor; Mercutio be-lieves in neither. In fact, Mercutio stands in contrast to all of the other characters in Romeo and Juliet because he is able to see through the blindness caused by wholehearted acceptance of the ideals sanctioned by society: he pokes holes in Romeo’s rapturous adoption of the rheto-ric of love just as he mocks Tybalt’s fastidious adherence to the fashions


of the day. It is no accident that Mercutio is the master punner in this play. A pun represents slippage, or twist, in the meaning of a word. That word, which previously meant one thing, now suddenly is revealed to have additional interpretations, and therefore becomes ambigu-ous. Just as Mercutio can see through words to other, usually debased meanings, he can also understand the ideals held by those around him originate from less high-minded desires than anyone would care to admit.

Scene 5 In the great hall of the Capulets all is a-bustle; the servants work fever-ishly to make sure all runs smoothly and set aside some food to make sure they have some enjoyment of the feast as well, and Capulet makes his rounds through groups of guests, joking with them and encourag-ing all to dance. From across the room Romeo sees Juliet, and asks a servingman who she is; the servingman does not know. Romeo is transfixed; Ro-saline vanishes from his mind and he declares he has never been in love until that moment. Moving through the crowd, Tybalt hears and recognizes Romeo’s voice; realizing there is a Montague present, Ty-balt sends a servant to fetch his rapier. Capulet overhears Tybalt and reprimands him, telling him Romeo is well regarded in Verona and he will not have the youth harmed at his feast. Tybalt protests, but Cap-ulet scolds him until he agrees to keep the peace. As Capulet moves on, Tybalt vows he will not let this indignity pass. This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Romeo sees Juliet and forgets Rosaline entirely; Juliet meets Romeo and falls just as deeply in love. The meeting of Romeo and Juliet dominates the scene, and, with

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an extraordinary language capturing both the excitement and wonder the two protagonists feel, Shakespeare proves equal to the expecta-tions he has set up by delaying the meeting for an entire act. Fate begins to assert itself in the instant when Romeo and Juliet first meet: Tybalt recognizes Romeo’s voice when Romeo first exclaims at Juliet’s beauty. Capulet, acting cautiously, stops Tybalt from taking immediate action but Tybalt’s rage is set, creating the circumstances that will eventually banish Romeo from Verona. In the meeting be-tween Romeo and Juliet lie the seeds of their shared tragedy. Meanwhile, Romeo has approached Juliet and touches her hand. In a dialogue laced with religious metaphors that figure Juliet as a saint and Romeo as a pilgrim who wishes to erase his sin, he tries to convince her to kiss him, since it is only through her kiss that he might be absolved. Juliet agrees to remain still as Romeo kisses her. Thus, in the terms of their conversation, she takes his sin from him. Juliet then makes the logical leap that if she has taken Romeo’s sin from him, his sin must now reside in her lips, and so they must kiss again. The first conversation between Romeo and Juliet is an extended Christian metaphor. Using this metaphor, Romeo ingeniously man-ages to convince Juliet to let him kiss her. But the metaphor holds many further functions: the religious overtones of the conversation clearly imply that their love can be described only through the vo-cabulary of religion, a pure association with God; in this way, their love becomes associated with the purity and passion of the divine. But there is another side to this association of personal love and reli-gion: in using religious language to describe their burgeoning feelings for each other, Romeo and Juliet tiptoe on the edge of blasphemy.


Romeo compares Juliet to an image of a saint that should be revered, a role that Juliet is willing to play.Whereas the Catholic Church held reverence for saint’s images as acceptable, the Anglican church of Eliz-abethan times saw it as blasphemy, a kind of idol worship. When Romeo and Juliet meet they speak just fourteen lines before their first kiss. These fourteen lines make up a shared sonnet, with a rhyme scheme of ababcdcdefefgg. A sonnet is a perfect, idealized po-etic form often used to write about love. Encapsulating the moment of origin of Romeo and Juliet’s love within a sonnet therefore creates a perfect match between literary content and formal style. The use of the sonnet, however, also serves a second, darker purpose. The play’s Pro-logue also is a single sonnet of the same rhyme scheme as Romeo and Juliet’s shared sonnet. If you remember, the Prologue sonnet introduc-es the play, and, through its description of Romeo and Juliet’s eventual death, also helps to create the sense of fate that permeates Romeo and Juliet. The shared sonnet between Romeo and Juliet therefore creates a formal link between their love and their destiny. With a single sonnet, Shakespeare finds a means of expressing perfect love and linking it to a tragic fate. Just as their second kiss ends, the Nurse arrives and tells Juliet her mother wants to speak with her. Romeo asks the Nurse who Juliet’s mother is; the Nurse replies Lady Capulet is her mother. Romeo is devastated; as the crowd begins to disperse, Benvolio shows up and leads Romeo from the feast. Juliet is just as struck with the mysterious man she has kissed as Romeo is with her. She comments to herself that if he is already married, she feels she will die. In order to find out Romeo’s identity without raising any suspicions, she asks the Nurse to

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identify a series of young men. The Nurse goes off and returns with the news the man’s name is Romeo, and that he is a Montague. Overcome with anguish at loving a Montague, Juliet follows her nurse from the hall. The first conversation between Romeo and Juliet provides a glimpse in the roles that each will play in their relationship. Romeo is clearly the aggressor; he uses all his skill to win over a struck, but timid Juliet. Note Juliet does not move during their first kiss; she simply lets Romeo kiss her. She is still a young girl, and though already in her dialogue with Romeo has proved herself intelligent, she is not ready to throw herself into action. But Juliet is the aggressor in the second kiss. It is her logic that forces Romeo to kiss her again and take back the sin he has placed upon her lips. In a single conversation, Juliet transforms from a proper, tim-id young girl to one more mature, who understands what she desires and is quick-witted enough to procure it. Juliet’s subsequent comment to Romeo, “You kiss by th’ book,” can be taken in two ways [1.5.107]. First, it can be seen as emphasizing Juliet’s lack of experience. Many productions of Romeo and Juliet have Juliet say this line with a degree of wonder, so that the words mean “you are an incredible kisser, Ro-meo.” But it is possible to see a bit of wry observation in this line. Ju-liet’s comment that Romeo kisses by the book is akin to noting that he kisses as if he has learned how to kiss from a manual and followed those instructions exactly. In other words, he is proficient, but unorig-inal (note that Romeo’s love for Rosaline is described in exactly these terms, as learned from reading books of romantic poetry). Juliet is clear-ly smitten with Romeo, but it is possible to see her as the more incisive


of the two, and as nudging Romeo to a more genuine level of love through her observation of his tendency to get caught up in the forms of love rather than love itself.

Act 2

Prologue The Chorus delivers another short sonnet describing the new love be-tween Romeo and Juliet. The hatred between the lovers’ families makes it difficult for them to find the time or place to meet and let their pas-sion grow; but the prospect of their love gives each of them the power and determination to elude the obstacles placed in their path. The Prologue to the second act reinforces themes that have already appeared. One love has been replaced by another through the enchant-ing power of the “charm of looks,” and the force of parental influence stands in the way of the lovers’ happiness. This prologue functions less as the voice of fate than the first one does; instead it builds suspense by laying out the problem of the two lovers and hinting that there may be some way to overcome it: But passion lends them power, time means, to meet, Temp’ring extremities with extreme sweet. [2.0.13-14]

Scene 1 Having left the feast, Romeo decides he cannot go home; he must in-stead try to find Juliet. He climbs a wall bordering the Capulet prop-erty and leaps down into the Capulet orchard. Benvolio and Mercutio enter, calling out for Romeo; they are sure he is nearby, but Romeo does not answer. Exasperated and amused, Mercutio mocks Romeo’s feelings for Rosaline in an obscene speech. Mercutio and Benvolio exit under the assumption that Romeo does not want to be found; in the

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orchard, Romeo hears Mercutio’s teasing. Juliet suddenly appears at a window above the spot where Romeo is standing. Romeo compares her to the morning sun, far more beautiful than the moon it banishes. He nearly speaks to her, but thinks better of it. Juliet, musing to herself and unaware that Romeo is in her garden, asks why Romeo must be Romeo—a Montague, and therefore an ene-my to her family. She says if he would refuse his Montague name, she would give herself to him; or if he would simply swear he loved her, she would refuse her Capulet name. Romeo responds to her plea, surprising Juliet, since she thought she was alone. She wonders how he found her and he tells her that love led him to her. Juliet worries Romeo will be murdered if he is found in the garden but Romeo refuses to budge, claiming Juliet’s love would make him immune to his enemies. Juliet admits she feels as strongly about Romeo as he professes he loves her, but she worries Romeo will prove inconstant or false, or will think Juliet too easily won. Romeo begins to swear to her but she stops him, concerned everything is happening too quickly. He reassures her, and the two confess their love again. Wishing Romeo were not the son of her father’s enemy, Juliet says: ’Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet. [2.1.80–86]Here Juliet questions why Romeo must be her enemy. She refuses to


believe Romeo is defined by being a Montague, and therefore implies the two of them can love each other without fear of the social reper-cussions. But language as an expression of social institutions such as family, politics, or religion cannot be dismissed so easily because no other character in the play is willing to dismiss them. Juliet loves Ro-meo because he is Romeo, but the power of her love cannot remove from him his last name of Montague or all that it stands for. In the pri-vacy of the garden the language of love is triumphant. But in the social world, the language of society holds sway. This battle of language, in which Romeo and Juliet try to remake the world so that it would allow for their love, is one to keep an eye on. The Nurse calls for Juliet, and Juliet goes inside for a moment. When she reappears, she tells Romeo she will send someone to him the next day to see if his love is honorable and if he intends to wed her. The Nurse calls again, and again Juliet withdraws. She appears at the window once more to set a time when her emissary should call on him: they settle on nine in the morning. They exult in their love for another moment before saying good night. Juliet goes back inside her chamber, and Romeo departs in search of a monk to aid him in his cause. Many of the most important scenes in Romeo and Juliet, such as the balcony scene, take place either very late at night or very early in the morning, since Shakespeare must use the full length of each day in order to compress the action of the play into just four days. Shake-speare exploits the transition between day and night with a recur-ring light/dark motif, sometimes drawing a sharp distinction between night and day, at other times blurring the boundaries between them.

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Romeo’s long, impassioned description of Juliet in the balcony scene is an example of this theme. Romeo imagines Juliet is the sun, rising from the east to banish the night; in effect, he says she is transforming night into day. Here is an example of the power of language to briefly trans-form the world, in the service of love.

Scene 2 In the early morning, Friar Lawrence enters, holding a basket. He fills the basket with various weeds, herbs, and flowers. While musing on the beneficence of the Earth, he demonstrates a deep knowledge of the properties of the plants he collects. Romeo enters and Friar Lawrence intuits that Romeo has not slept the night before; he fears Romeo may have slept in sin with Rosaline. Romeo assures him that did not happen and describes his new love for Juliet, his intent to marry her, and his de-sire that the friar consent to marry them that very day. Friar Lawrence is shocked at this sudden shift from Rosaline to Juliet. He comments on the fickleness of young love, and Romeo’s in particular. Romeo defends himself, noting Juliet returns his love while Rosaline did not. Remain-ing skeptical at Romeo’s sudden change of heart, Friar Lawrence none-theless agrees to marry the couple. He expresses hope the marriage of Romeo and Juliet might end the feud ravaging the Montagues and Cap-ulets. In this scene we are introduced to Friar Lawrence as he meditates on the duality of good and evil that exists in all things. Speaking of me-dicinal plants, the friar claims though everything in nature has a useful purpose, it can also lead to misfortune if used improperly: For naught so vile that on the earth doth live But to the earth some special good doth give,


Nor aught so good but strain’d from that fair use Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse: Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied; And vice sometime’s by action dignified. [2.2.17–22] At the end of this passage, the friar’s rumination turns toward a broad-er application; he speaks of how good may be perverted by evil and evil may be purified by good. The friar tries to put his theories to use when he agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet; he hopes the good of their love will reverse the hatred between the feuding families. Unfortunately, he later causes the flipside of his theory to come into play: the plan in-volving a sleep-inducing potion, which he intends to preserve Romeo and Juliet’s marriage and love, results in both of their deaths. The thematic role of the friar in Romeo and Juliet is hard to pin down. Clearly, Friar Lawrence is a kindhearted friend to both Romeo and Juliet. He also seems wise and selfless. But while the friar appears to embody all these good qualities often associated with religion, he is also an unknowing servant of fate: all of his plans go awry and create the misunderstandings that lead to the final tragedy. Friar Lawrence also returns the specter of Rosaline to the play. The friar cannot believe Romeo’s love could turn so quickly from one per-son to another. Romeo’s response, that Juliet returns his love while Rosaline did not, hardly provides evidence that Romeo has matured. The question of Rosaline continues on into the next scene when Mer-cutio begins to ridicule Romeo’s lovelorn ways by mockingly compar-ing Rosaline to all the beauties of antiquity (it is interesting to note that one of these beauties, Thisbe, is found in a myth that very closely resembles the plot of Romeo and Juliet). The events of the play prove

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Romeo’s steadfast love for Juliet, but Romeo’s immature love for Rosa-line, his love of love, is never quite erased. He remains too quick to fol-low the classic examples of love, up to and including his suicide.

Scene 3 Later that morning, just before nine, Mercutio and Benvolio wonder what happened to Romeo the previous night. Benvolio has learned from a Montague servant that Romeo did not return home; Mercutio spouts some unkind words about Rosaline. Benvolio also relates Tybalt has sent a letter to Romeo challenging him to a duel. Mercutio responds that Romeo is already dead, struck by Cupid’s arrow; he wonders aloud whether Romeo is man enough to defeat Tybalt. When Benvolio comes to Romeo’s defense, Mercutio launches into an extended description of Tybalt: he describes Tybalt as a master swordsman, perfectly proper and composed in style. According to Mercutio, however, Tybalt is also a vain, affected “fashionmonger” (2.3.29). Mercutio disdains all that Ty-balt stands for. Romeo arrives. Mercutio immediately begins to ridicule him, claim-ing that Romeo has been made weak by love. As a way of mocking what he believes is Romeo’s overwrought love for Rosaline, Mercutio takes the part of Romeo and compares Rosaline to all the most famous beau-ties of antiquity, finding Rosaline far superior, and ending his speech by accusing Romeo of abandoning his friends the previous night. Romeo does not deny the charge, but claims his need was great, and so the of-fense is forgivable. From this proceeds intricate, witty, and wildly verbal jousting. In addition to developing the plot by which Romeo and Juliet will wed, the scene also offers a glimpse of Romeo among his friends. Romeo


shows himself to be as proficient a punner as Mercutio. This punning Romeo is what Mercutio believes to be the “true” Romeo, suddenly freed from the ludicrous melancholy of love: Mercutio Why, is not this better than groaning for love? Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo. [2.3.76-77]In the last scene, Juliet tried to battle the social world through the power of her private love; here Mercutio tries to assert the social lan-guage of male bravado and banter over the private introspection of love. Interestingly, both Juliet and Mercutio think they know the “real” Romeo. A conflict emerges; even friendship stands in opposition to Romeo’s love. Romeo must remain both the private lover and the pub-lic Montague and friend, and he must somehow find a way to navigate between the different claims his two roles demand of him. The Nurse enters, trailed by the servant, Peter. The Nurse asks if any of the three young men know Romeo, and Romeo identifies himself. Mercutio teases the Nurse, thus infuriating her. Benvolio and Mercu-tio take their leave to have dinner at Montague’s house, and Romeo says he will follow shortly. The Nurse warns Romeo he had better not attempt to “deal double” with Juliet, and Romeo assures her he is not. He asks the Nurse to tell Juliet to find some way to attend confession at Friar Lawrence’s cell that afternoon; there they will be married. The Nurse agrees to deliver the message and set up a cloth ladder so Ro-meo might ascend to Juliet’s room on their wedding night.

Scene 4-5 In the Capulet orchard, Juliet impatiently waits for her nurse, whom she sent to meet Romeo three hours earlier. At last the Nurse returns,

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and Juliet anxiously presses her for news. The Nurse claims to be too tired, sore, and out of breath to tell Juliet what has happened. Juliet grows frantic, and eventually the Nurse gives in and tells her Romeo is waiting at Friar Lawrence’s cell to marry her. The Nurse departs to wait in the ally for Romeo’s servant, who is to bring a ladder for Romeo to use to climb up to Juliet’s chamber that night. In a wonderfully comical scene, Juliet can barely contain herself when the Nurse pretends to be too tired to give her the news. Romeo and Friar Lawrence wait for Juliet to arrive at the cell. An ecstatic Romeo brashly states he does not care what misfortune might come, as it will pale in comparison to the joy he feels right now. Friar Lawrence counsels Romeo to love moderately and not with too much intensity, saying, “these violent delights have violent ends” [2.5.9]. Ju-liet enters and Romeo asks her to speak poetically of her love. Juliet responds those who can so easily describe their worth are beggars, her love is far too great to be so easily described. The lovers exit with Friar Lawrence and are wed. Friar Lawrence’s devotion to moderation is interesting in it offers an alternative to the way in which all the other characters in Romeo and Juliet live their lives. From Romeo to Tybalt, and Montague to Capulet, every character follows passion and forsakes moderation. The friar crit-icizes this way of acting and feeling, noting its destructiveness. Friar Lawrence is most certainly correct, but after expounding his belief, the friar gets himself embroiled in all of the excess and passion he counsels against. The passion of the young lovers might be destructive, but it is also exquisitely beautiful; if Romeo and Juliet were moderate in their affection, their love would not strike such a chord.


Though the euphoria of love clearly dominates these scenes, some ominous foreshadowing is revealed. The Nurse’s joking game in which she delays telling Juliet the news will find its sad mirror in a future scene, when the Nurse’s anguish prevents her from relating news to Juliet and thereby causing terrible confusion. A more profound foreshadowing exists in the friar’s observation, in reference to Romeo’s powerful love, that “these violent delights have violent ends” [2.5.9]. Every audience member knows the play is a tragedy, and Romeo and Juliet will die. The friar’s words therefore are more than just a difference of opinion with Romeo; they reinforce the presence and power of fate.

Act 3

Scene 1 As they walk in the street under the boiling sun, Benvolio suggests to Mercutio they go indoors, fearing a brawl will be unavoidable should they encounter Capulet men. Mercutio thinks Benvolio has as quick a temper as any man in Italy, and should not criticize others for their short fuses. Tybalt enters with a group of cronies; he approaches Ben-volio and Mercutio and asks to speak with one of them. Annoyed, Mercutio begins to taunt and provoke him. Romeo enters; Tybalt turns his attention from Mercutio to Romeo, and calls Romeo a villain. Ro-meo, now secretly married to Juliet and thus Tybalt’s kinsman, refuses to be angered by Tybalt’s verbal attack. Tybalt commands Romeo to draw his sword. Romeo protests he has good reason to love Tybalt and does not wish to fight him. He asks that until Tybalt knows the reason for this love, he put aside his sword. Mercutio angrily draws his sword and declares with biting wit that if Romeo will not fight Tybalt, he will: Mercutio and Tybalt begin to fight.

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Elizabethan society generally believed a man too much in love lost his manliness. Romeo clearly subscribes to that belief, as can be seen when he states his love for Juliet had made him “effeminate.” Once again, however, this statement can be seen as a battle between the private world of love and the public world of honor, duty, and friendship. The Romeo who duels with Tybalt is the Romeo who Mercutio would call the “true” Romeo. The Romeo who sought to avoid confrontation out of concern for his wife is the person Juliet would recognize as her loving Romeo. The word effeminate is applied by the public world of honor upon those things it does not respect. In using the term to describe his present state, Romeo accepts the responsibilities thrust upon him by the social insti-tutions of honor and family duty. Romeo, attempting to restore peace, throws himself between the combatants. Tybalt stabs Mercutio under Romeo’s arm and as Mercutio falls, Tybalt and his men hurry away. Mercutio dies, cursing both the Montagues and the Capulets: “A plague o’ both your houses” [3.1.87]. Enraged, Romeo declares his love for Juliet has made him effeminate, and that he should have fought Tybalt in Mercutio’s place. When Tybalt, still angry, storms back onto the scene, Romeo draws his sword. They fight, and Romeo kills Tybalt. Benvolio urges Romeo to run; a group of citizens outraged at the recurring street fights is approaching. Romeo, shocked at what has happened, cries “O, I am fortune’s fool!” and flees [3.1.131]. Romeo’s cry recalls the sense of fate that hangs over the play. Mercu-tio’s response to his fate, however, is notable in the ways it diverges from Romeo’s response. Romeo blames fate, or fortune, for what has hap-pened to him. Mercutio curses the Montagues and Capulets. He seems


to see people as the cause of his death, and gives no credit to any larger force. The Prince enters, accompanied by many citizens including the Montagues and Capulets. Benvolio tells the Prince the story of the brawl, emphasizing Romeo’s attempt to keep the peace but Lady Cap-ulet cries that Benvolio is lying to protect the Montagues; she demands Romeo’s life. Prince Escalus chooses instead to exile Romeo from Ve-rona and declares that should Romeo be found within the city, he will be killed. The arrival of the Prince and the angry citizens shifts the focus ofthe play to a different sort of public sphere. Romeo’s killing of Tybalt is marked by rashness and vengeance, characteristics prized by noble-men but threaten the public order that citizens desire and the Prince has a responsibility to uphold. As one who has displayed such traits, Romeo is banished from Verona. Earlier, the Prince acted to repress the hatred of the Montagues and the Capulets in order to preserve public peace; now, still acting to avert outbreaks of violence, the Prince unwittingly acts to thwart the love of Romeo and Juliet. Consequently, with their love censured not only by the Montagues and Capulets but by the ruler of Verona, Romeo and Juliet’s relationship puts Romeo in danger of violent reprisal from both Juliet’s kinsmen and the state. The sudden, fatal violence in the first scene of Act 3, as well as the buildup to the fighting, serves as a reminder that, for all its emphasis on love, beauty, and romance, Romeo and Juliet still takes place in a masculine world in which notions of honor, pride, and status are prone to erupt in a fury of conflict. The viciousness and dangers of the play’s social environment are

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dramatic tools Shakespeare employs to make the lovers’ romance seem even more precious and fragile—their relationship is the audience’s only respite from the brutal world pressing against their love. The fights be-tween Mercutio and Tybalt, and then between Romeo and Tybalt, are chaotic; Tybalt kills Mercutio under Romeo’s arm, flees, and then sud-denly returns to fight Romeo, who kills him in revenge. Passion out-weighs reason at every turn.

Scene 2-3 In Capulet’s house, Juliet longs for night to fall so Romeo will come to her. Suddenly the Nurse rushes in with news of the fight between Romeo and Tybalt, but the Nurse is so distraught, she stumbles over the words, making it sound as if Romeo is dead. Juliet assumes Romeo has killed himself, and she resigns to die herself. The Nurse then begins to moan about Tybalt’s death, and Juliet briefly fears both Romeo and Tybalt are dead. When the story is at last straight and Juliet understands Romeo has killed Tybalt and been sentenced to exile, she curses nature that it should put “the spirit of a fiend” in Romeo’s “sweet flesh” [3.2.81–82]. The Nurse echoes Juliet and curses Romeo’s name, but Juliet denounc-es her for criticizing her husband, and adds she regrets faulting him herself. Juliet claims Romeo’s banishment is worse than ten thousand slain Tybalts. She laments that she will die a maiden-widow. The Nurse assures her, however, that she knows where Romeo is hiding and will see to it that Romeo comes to her. Juliet gives the Nurse a ring to give to Romeo as a token of her love. Shakespeare creates an interesting psychological tension in Romeo and Juliet by consistently linking the intensity of young love with a sui-cidal impulse. Though love is generally the opposite of hatred, violence,


and death, Shakespeare portrays self-annihilation as seemingly the only response to the overwhelming emotional experience being young and in love constitutes. Romeo and Juliet seem to flirt with the idea of death throughout much of the play, and the possibility of suicide re-curs often, foreshadowing the eventual deaths of the lovers. When Ju-liet misunderstands the Nurse and thinks Romeo is dead, she does not think he was killed, but that he killed himself. And thinking Romeo is dead, Juliet quickly decides she too must die; her love for Romeo will allow no other course of action. Meanwhile, in Friar Lawrence’s cell, Romeo is overcome with grief and wonders what sentence the Prince has decreed. Friar Lawrence tells him he is lucky: the Prince has only banished him. Romeo claims banishment is a penalty far worse than death, since he will have to live without Juliet. The friar tries to counsel Romeo but the youth is so un-happy he will have none of it; he falls to the floor. The Nurse arrives, and Romeo desperately asks her for news of Ju-liet. He assumes Juliet now thinks of him as a murderer and threatens to stab himself. Friar Lawrence stops him and scolds him for being unmanly. He explains Romeo has much to be grateful for: he and Ju-liet are both alive, and after matters have calmed down, Prince Escalus might change his mind. The friar sets forth a plan: Romeo will visit Juliet that night, but make sure to leave her chamber—and Verona—before the morning. He will then reside in Mantua until news of their marriage can be spread. The Nurse hands Romeo the ring from Juliet, and this physical symbol of their love revives his spirits. The Nurse departs, and Romeo bids Friar Lawrence farewell; he must prepare to visit Juliet and then flee to Mantua.

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Romeo’s actual threat of suicide in Friar Lawrence’s cell recalls the balcony scene in which Romeo scorns his Montague name in front of Juliet by saying, “Had I it written, I would tear the word” [2.1.99]. In the balcony scene, a name seemed to be a simple thing he could hold up in front of him and tear. Once torn, he could easily live without it. Now, with a better understanding of how difficult it is to escape the responsi-bilities and claims of family loyalty, Romeo modifies his metaphor. No longer does he conceive of himself as able to tear his name. Instead, now he must rip it from his body, and, in the process, die. The love between Romeo and Juliet is tested under dire circumstanc-es as the conflict between their families takes a turn more disastrous than either could have imagined. The respective manners in which the young lovers respond to their imminent separation helps define the essential qualities of their respective characters. After hearing he is to be exiled, Romeo acts with customary drama: he is grief-stricken and overcome by his passion. He collapses on the floor. Romeo refuses to listen to reason and threatens to kill himself. Juliet, on the other hand, displays significant progress in her development from the simple, in-nocent girl of the first act to the brave, mature, and loyal woman of the play’s conclusion. After criticizing Romeo for his role in Tybalt’s death and hearing the Nurse malign Romeo’s name, Juliet regains control of herself and realizes her loyalty must be to her husband rather than to Tybalt, her cousin.


Scene 4

her daughter’s thoughts by the morning. Paris is about to leave when Capulet calls him back and makes what he calls “a desperate tender of my child’s love” [3.4.12–13]. Capulet says he thinks his daughter will listen to him, than corrects himself and states he is sure Juliet will abide by his decision. He promises Paris the wedding will be held on Wednesday, then stops suddenly and asks what day it is. Paris tells him it is Monday; Capulet decides Wednesday is too soon, and the wed-ding should instead be held on Thursday. Capulet’s reasons for moving up the date of Juliet’s marriage to Paris are not altogether clear. In later scenes, he states he desires to bring some joy into a sad times, and to want to cure Juliet of her deep mourning (of course, she mourns her husband’s banishment and not Tybalt’s death). But it is also possible in this escalating time of strife with the Montagues, Capulet wants all the political help he can get. A marriage between his daughter and Paris, a close kinsman to the Prince, would go a long way in this regard. Regardless of Capulet’s mo-tivation, his decision makes obvious the powerlessness of women in Verona. Juliet’s impotence in this situation is driven home by the irony of Capulet’s determination to push the wedding from Wednesday to Thursday when a few days earlier he wanted to postpone the wedding by two years.

Capulet, Lady Capulet, and Paris walk together. Capulet says that be-cause of the terrible recent events, he has had no time to ask his daugh-ter about her feelings for Paris. Lady Capulet states she will know

Scene 5 Just before dawn, Romeo prepares to lower himself from Juliet’s win-dow to begin his exile. Juliet tries to convince Romeo the birdcalls they hear are from the nightingale, a night bird, rather than from the lark, a morning bird. Romeo cannot entertain her claims; he must leave before the morning comes or be put to death. Juliet declares the light

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outside comes not from the sun, but from some meteor. Overcome by love, Romeo responds he will stay with Juliet, and he does not care whether the Prince’s men kill him. Faced with this turnaround, Juliet declares the bird they heard was the lark; it is dawn and he must flee. To combat the coming of the light, Juliet attempts once more to change the world through language: she claims the lark is truly a night-ingale. Where in the balcony scene Romeo saw Juliet as transforming the night into day, here she is able to transform the day into the night. But just as their vows to throw off their names did not succeed in overcoming the social institutions that have plagued them, they can-not change time. As fits their characters, it is the more pragmatic Juliet who realizes Romeo must leave; he is willing to die simply to remain by her side. The Nurse enters to warn Juliet that Lady Capulet is approaching; Romeo and Juliet tearfully part. Standing in the orchard below her window, Romeo promises Juliet they will see one another again, but Juliet responds he appears pale, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb. Romeo answers that, to him, she appears the same way, and it is only sorrow that makes them both look pale. Romeo hurries away as Juliet pulls in the ladder and begs fate to bring him back to her quickly. In a moment reminiscent of the balcony scene, once outside, Romeo bids farewell to Juliet as she stands at her window. Here, the lovers expe-rience visions that blatantly foreshadow the end of the play. This is to be the last moment they spend alive in each other’s company. When Juliet next sees Romeo he will be dead, and as she looks out of her window she seems to see him dead already. Lady Capulet calls to her daughter. Juliet wonders why her mother


would come to speak to her so early in the morning. Unaware her daughter is married to Romeo, Lady Capulet enters the room and mis-takes Juliet’s tears as continued grief for Tybalt. In a complicated bit of punning every bit as impressive as the sexual punning of Mercu-tio and Romeo, Juliet leads her mother to believe she wishes Romeo’s death, when in fact she is firmly stating her love for him. Lady Capulet tells Juliet about Capulet’s plan for her to marry Paris on Thursday, explaining he wishes to make her happy: Juliet is appalled. She rejects the match, saying: Juliet I will not marry yet; and when I do, I swear It shall be Romeo—whom you know I hate— Rather than Paris.” [3.5.121–123]. Capulet enters the chamber. When he learns of Juliet’s determination to defy him he becomes enraged and threatens to disown Juliet if she refuses to obey him. When Juliet entreats her mother to intercede, her mother denies her help. After Capulet and Lady Capulet storm away, Juliet asks her nurse how she might escape her predicament. The Nurse advises her to go through with the marriage to Paris—he is a better match, she says, and Romeo is as good as dead anyhow. Though disgusted by her nurse’s disloyalty, Juliet pretends to agree, and tells her nurse she is going to make confession at Friar Lawrence’s. Juliet hurries to the friar, vowing she will never again trust the Nurse’s counsel. If the friar is unable to help her, Juliet comments to herself, she still has the power to take her own life. In the confrontation with her parents after Romeo’s departure,

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Juliet shows her full maturity. She dominates the conversation with her mother, who cannot keep up with Juliet’s intelligence and therefore has no idea that Juliet is proclaiming her love for Romeo under the guise of saying just the opposite. Her decision to break from the counsel of her disloyal nurse—and in fact to exclude her nurse from any part in her future actions—is another step in her development. Having a nurse is a mark of childhood; by abandoning her nurse and upholding her loyalty toward her husband, Juliet steps fully out of girlhood and into woman-hood.


Act 4

Scene 1

to help him retrieve her when she wakes up. She will then return to Mantua with Romeo, and be free to live with him away from their parents’ hatred. Juliet consents to the plan wholeheartedly. Friar Law-rence gives her the sleeping potion. Friar Lawrence is the wiliest and most scheming character in Ro-meo and Juliet: he secretly marries the two lovers, spirits Romeo to Mantua, and stages Juliet’s death. The friar’s machinations seem also to be tools of fate. Yet despite the role Friar Lawrence plays in bringing about the lovers’ deaths, Shakespeare never presents him in a negative or even ambiguous light. He is always treated as a wise presence. The tragic failure of his plans is treated as a disastrous accident for which Friar Lawrence bears no responsibility.In his cell, Friar Lawrence speaks with Paris about the latter’s impend-

ing marriage to Juliet. Paris says Juliet’s grief about Tybalt’s death has made her unbalanced and Capulet, in his wisdom, has determined they should marry soon so Juliet can stop crying and put an end to her pe-riod of mourning. The friar remarks to himself he wishes he were un-aware of the reason Paris’s marriage to Juliet should be delayed. Juliet enters, and Paris speaks to her lovingly, if somewhat arrogant-ly. Juliet responds indifferently, showing neither affection nor dislike, but remarks she has not married him yet. On the pretense he must hear Juliet’s confession, Friar Lawrence ushers Paris away, though not before Paris kisses Juliet once. After Paris leaves, Juliet asks Friar Lawrence for help, brandishing a knife and saying she will kill herself rather than marry Paris. The friar proposes a plan: Juliet must consent to marry Paris; then, on the night before the wedding, she must drink a sleeping potion that will make her appear to be dead; she will be laid to rest in the Capulet tomb, and the friar will send word to Romeo in Mantua

Scene 2 Juliet returns home, where she finds Capulet and Lady Capulet pre-paring for the wedding. She surprises her parents by repenting her disobedience and cheerfully agreeing to marry Paris. Capulet is so pleased he insists on moving the marriage up a day, to Wednesday—tomorrow. Juliet heads to her chambers to prepare for her wedding. Capulet heads off to tell Paris the news. In contrast, it is a challenge to situate Paris along the play’s mor-al continuum. He is not exactly an adversary to Romeo and Juliet, since he never acts consciously to harm them or go against their wish-es. Like almost everyone else, he knows nothing of their relationship. Paris’s feelings for Juliet are also a subject of some ambiguity, since the audience is never allowed access to his thoughts. Later textual evidence does indicate Paris harbors a legitimate love for Juliet, and though he arrogantly assumes Juliet will want to marry him, Paris never

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treats her unkindly. Nevertheless, because she does not love him, he represents a real and frightening threat for Juliet.

Scene 3 In her bedchamber, Juliet asks the Nurse to let her spend the night by herself, and repeats the request to Lady Capulet when she arrives. Alone, clutching the vial given to her by Friar Lawrence, she wonders what will happen when she drinks it. If the friar is untrustworthy and seeks mere-ly to hide his role in her marriage to Romeo, she might die; or, if Romeo is late for some reason, she might awaken in the tomb and go mad with fear. She has a vision in which she sees Tybalt’s ghost searching for Ro-meo. She begs Tybalt’s ghost to quit its search for Romeo and, toasting to Romeo, drinks the contents of the vial. Once again Juliet demonstrates her strength. She comes up with reason after reason why drinking the sleeping potion might cause her harm, physical or psychological, but chooses to drink it anyway. In this action she not only attempts to circumvent the forces obstructing her relationship with Romeo, she takes full responsibility for herself. She recognizes drinking the potion might lead her to madness or to death. Drinking the potion therefore constitutes an action in which she takes her life into her own hands, and determines its worth to her. In addition to the obvious foreshadow in Juliet’s vision of Tybalt’s vengeful ghost, her drinking of the potion also hints at future events. She drinks the po-tion just as Romeo will later drink the apothecary’s poison. In drinking the potion she not only demonstrates a willingness to take her life into her own hands, she goes against what is expected of women and takes action.


Scene 4-5 Early the next morning, the Capulet house is aflutter with preparations for the wedding. Capulet sends the Nurse to go wake Juliet. She finds Juliet dead and begins to wail, soon joined by both Lady Capulet and Capulet. Paris arrives with Friar Lawrence and a group of musicians for the wedding. When he learns what has happened, Paris joins in the lamentations. The friar reminds them all Juliet has gone to a better place, and urges them to make ready for her funeral. Sorrowfully, they comply and exit. In their mourning for Juliet, the Capulets appear less as a hostile force arrayed against the lovers and more as individuals. The audience gains an understanding of the immense hopes the Capulets had placed in Juliet, as well as a sense of their love for her. Similarly, Paris’s love for Juliet seems wholly legitimate. His wailing cannot simply be taken as grief over the loss of a wife who might have brought him fortune; it seems more personal than that, more like grief over the loss of a loved one. Left behind, the musicians begin to pack up, their task cut short. Peter, the Capulet servant, enters and asks the musicians to play a hap-py tune to ease his sorrowful heart. The musicians refuse, arguing to play such music would be inappropriate. Angered, Peter insults the musicians, who respond in kind. After singing a final insult at the mu-sicians, Peter leaves. The musicians decide to wait for the mourners to return so they might get to eat the lunch that will be served. Many productions of Romeo and Juliet cut the scene depicting Peter and the musicians. Productions do this for good reason: the scene’s humor and traded insults seem ill placed at such a tragic mo-ment in the play. If one looks at the scene as merely comic relief, it is

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possible to argue it acts as a moment for the audience to catch its breath from the tragedy of Act 4 before heading into the even greater tragedy of Act 5. If one looks at the scene in context with the earlier scenes that include servants a second argument can be made for why Shakespeare included it. From each scene including servants, we gain a unique per-spective of the events going on in the play. Here, in the figure of the mu-sicians, we get a profoundly different view of the reaction of the lower classes to the tragedy of Juliet’s death. Initially, the musicians are wary about playing a happy song because it will be considered improper, no matter their explanations. It is not, after all, for a mere musician to give explanations to mourning noblemen. As the scene progresses it becomes clear the musicians do not really care much about Juliet or the tragedy in which she is involved. They care more about the fact they are out of a job and, perhaps, missing out on a free lunch. In other words this great tragedy, which is undoubtedly a tragedy of epic proportions, is still not a tragedy to everyone.


Act 5

Scene 1-2

He tells Balthasar to get him pen and paper (with which he writes a letter for Balthasar to give to Montague) and says he will return to Ve-rona that night. Balthasar says Romeo seems so distraught he is afraid to leave him, but Romeo insists. Romeo suddenly stops and asks if Balthasar is carrying a letter from Friar Lawrence. Balthasar says he is not, and Romeo sends his servant on his way. Once Balthasar is gone, Romeo says he will lie with Juliet that night with Juliet that night. He goes to find an apothecary, a seller of drugs. After telling the man in the shop that he looks poor, Romeo offers to pay him well for a vial of poison. The Apothecary says he has just the thing, but that selling poi-son in Mantua carries the death sentence. Romeo replies the Apothe-cary is too poor to refuse the sale. The Apothecary finally relents and sells Romeo the poison. Once alone, Romeo speaks to the vial, declar-ing he will go to Juliet’s tomb and kill himself. Romeo, at this moment in the play, knows only that fate has some-how tried to separate him from Juliet. When Romeo screams “Then I defy you, stars” he is screaming against the fate he believes is thwarting his desires. He attempts to defy fate by killing himself and spending eternity with Juliet: “Well, Juliet,” he says, “I will lie with thee tonight” [5.1.34]. Tragically, it is Romeo’s very decision to avoid his destiny that actually brings fate about. In killing himself over the sleeping Juliet he ensures their ultimate double suicide. But fate is also something attached to the social institutions of the world in which Romeo and Juliet live. This destiny, brought about by the interplay of societal norms from which Romeo and Juliet cannot escape, seems equally powerful, though less divine. It is a fate created by man, and man’s inability to see through the absurdity of the world

On Wednesday morning, on a street in Mantua, a cheerful Romeo de-scribes a wonderful dream he had the night before: Juliet found him lying dead but she kissed him, and breathed new life into his body. Just then Balthasar enters, and Romeo greets him happily, saying Balthasar must have come from Verona with news of Juliet and his father. Romeo comments nothing can be ill in the world if Juliet is well. Balthasar re-plies nothing can be ill then, for Juliet was found dead that morning at her home. Thunderstruck, Romeo cries out “Then I defy you, stars” [5.1.24].

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he has created. Now, in this scene, we see Romeo as agent of his own fate. The fortune that befalls Romeo and Juliet is internal rather than external. It is determined by the natures and choices of its two protag-onists. Were Romeo not so rash and emotional, so quick to fall into melancholy, the double suicide would not have occurred. Had Juliet felt it possible to explain the truth to her parents, the double suicide might not have occurred. But to wish someone were not as they were is to wish for the impossible. The love between Romeo and Juliet exists precisely because they are who they are. The destructive, suicidal nature of their love is just as much an aspect of their natures, as individuals and couple. In the character of the Apothecary, once again, Shakespeare pro-vides a secondary example of the paradoxical and pressing social forces at work in the play. The Apothecary does not wish to sell poison because it is illegal, banned by society. But it is the same society that makes him poor, and which insists on validity of the differences between rich and poor. The Apothecary is pushed to sell the poison by external forces that he, like Romeo, feels completely unable to control. Meanwhile, at his cell, Friar Lawrence speaks with Friar John, whom he had earlier sent to Mantua with a letter for Romeo. He asks John how Romeo responded to his letter (which described the plan involving Juliet’s false death). Friar John replies he was unable to de-liver the letter because he was shut up in a quarantined house due to an outbreak of plague. Friar Lawrence becomes upset, realizing if Ro-meo does not know about Juliet’s false death, there will be no one to re-trieve her from the tomb when she awakes (He does not know Romeo has learned of Juliet’s death and believes it to be real). Sending for a crowbar, Friar Lawrence declares that he will have to rescue Juliet from


the tomb on his own. He sends another letter to Romeo to warn him about what has happened, and plans to keep Juliet in his cell until Ro-meo arrives. The sequence of near misses in this section reveals the inescapable power of fate: nothing can stand in its way. There is no reason for the friar’s plan to go wrong. But an outbreak of plague forces Friar John into quarantine and prevents him from delivering Friar Lawrence’s letter to Romeo, while Balthasar seeks out Romeo with news of Ju-liet’s death. All factors swing in fate’s favor: the outbreak of the plague, Balthasar’s transmission of the message of Juliet’s death, and Capulet’s decision to move Juliet’s wedding date.

Scene 3 In the churchyard that night, Paris enters with a torch-bearing ser-vant. He orders the page to withdraw, then begins scattering flowers on Juliet’s grave. He hears a whistle—the servant’s warning someone is approaching. He withdraws into the darkness. Romeo, carrying a crowbar, enters with Balthasar. He tells Balthasar he has come to open the Capulet tomb in order to take back a valuable ring he had given to Juliet. Then he orders Balthasar to leave and, in the morning, to deliv-er to Montague the letter Romeo had given him. Balthasar withdraws but, mistrusting his master’s intentions, lingers to watch. From his hiding place, Paris recognizes Romeo as the man who murdered Tybalt, and thus as the man who indirectly murdered Ju-liet, since it is her grief for her cousin that is supposed to have killed her. As Romeo has been exiled from the city on penalty of death, Par-is thinks Romeo must hate the Capulets so much he has returned to the tomb to do some dishonor to the corpse of either Tybalt or Juliet.

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In a rage, Paris accosts Romeo; Romeo pleads with him to leave, but Paris refuses. They draw their swords and fight. Paris’s page runs off to get the civil watch. Romeo kills Paris; as he dies, Paris asks to be laid near Juliet in the tomb, and Romeo consents. Romeo descends into the tomb carrying Paris’s body. He finds Ju-liet lying peacefully, and wonders how she can still look so beautiful. Romeo speaks to Juliet of his intention to spend eternity with her; he kisses Juliet, drinks the poison, kisses Juliet again, and dies.Just then, Friar Lawrence enters the churchyard. He encounters Balthasar, who tells him Romeo is in the tomb. Balthasar says he fell asleep and dreamed Romeo fought with and killed someone. Troubled, the friar enters the tomb where he finds Paris’s body and then Romeo’s. As the friar takes in the bloody scene, Juliet wakes. Juliet asks the friar where her husband is. Hearing a noise he be-lieves is the coming of the watch, the friar quickly replies both Romeo and Paris are dead, and she must leave with him. Juliet refuses to leave, and the friar, fearful the watch is imminent, exits without her. Juliet sees Romeo dead beside her, and surmises from the empty vial he has drunk poison. Hoping she might die by the same poison, Juliet kisses his lips, but to no avail. Hearing the approaching watch, Juliet unsheathes Ro-meo’s dagger and, saying “O happy dagger, / This is thy sheath,” stabs herself and dies upon Romeo’s body [5.3.171]. Chaos reigns in the churchyard, where Paris’s page has brought the watch. The watchmen discover bloodstains near the tomb; they hold Balthasar and Friar Lawrence, who they discovered loitering nearby. The Prince and the Capulets enter. Romeo, Juliet, and Paris are dis-covered in the tomb. Montague arrives, declaring Lady Montague has


has died of grief for Romeo’s exile. The Prince shows Montague his son’s body. Upon the Prince’s request, Friar Lawrence succinctly tells the story of Romeo and Juliet’s secret marriage and its consequences. Balthasar gives the Prince the letter Romeo had previously written to his father. The Prince says it confirms the friar’s story. He scolds the Capulets and Montagues, calling the tragedy a consequence of their feud and reminding them he himself has lost two close kinsmen: Mer-cutio and Paris. Capulet and Montague clasp hands and agree to put their vendetta behind them. Montague says he will build a golden stat-ue of Juliet, and Capulet insists he will raise Romeo’s likeness in gold beside hers. The Prince takes the group away to discuss these events, pronouncing there has never been “a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo” [5.3.309]. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet occur in a sequence of compound-ing stages: first, Juliet drinks a potion that makes her appear dead. Thinking her dead, Romeo then drinks a poison that actually kills him. Seeing him dead, Juliet stabs herself through the heart with a dagger. Their parallel consumption of mysterious potions lends their deaths a peaceful symmetry, which is broken by Juliet’s dramatic dag-ger stroke. Throughout Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare has held up the possibility of suicide as an inherent aspect of intense love. Passion cannot be stifled, and when combined with the vigor of youth, it ex-presses itself through the most convenient outlet. Romeo and Juliet long to live for love or die for it. Shakespeare considers this suicidal impulse not as something separate from love, but rather as an element as much a part of it as the romantic euphoria of Act 2. As such, the double suicide represents both the fulfillment of their love for each

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other and the self-destructive impulse that has surged and flexed be-neath their love for the duration of the play. The Friar’s embodiment of good and evil are united in a single act: suicide. Juliet tries to kill herself with a kiss: an act of love as intended violence. When that fails she stabs herself with a “happy dagger,” “happy” because it reunites her with her love [5.3.168]. Violence becomes an assertion of autonomy over the self and a final deed of profound love. Social and private forces converge in the suicides of Romeo and Juliet. Paris, Juliet’s would-be husband, challenges Romeo, her actual husband, pitting the embodiments of Juliet’s lack of power in the public sphere against her very real ability to give her heart where she wishes. Through the arrival of the Prince, the law imposes itself, seeking to re-store the peace in the name of social order and government. Montague and Capulet arrive, rehashing family tension. None of these forces are able to exert any influence on the young lovers. We have seen Romeo and Juliet time and again attempt to reconfigure the world through lan-guage so their love might have a place to exist peacefully. That language, though powerful in the moment, could never counter the vast forces of the social world. Through suicide, the lovers are able not just to es-cape the world that oppresses them, but transfigure that world; the feud between their families ends. Prince Escalus—the law—recognizes the honor and value due the lovers. In dying, love really has conquered all. It seems at last Friar Lawrence’s words have come to be: “These violent delights have violent ends / And in their triumph die” [2.5.9–10]. The extremely intense passion of Romeo and Juliet has trumped all other passions, and in coming to its violent end has forced those other pas-sions, also, to cease.


One senses the grand irony that in death Romeo and Juliet have created the world that would have allowed their love to live. That iro-ny does exist, and it is tragic. But because of the power and beauty of their love, it is hard to see Romeo and Juliet’s death as a simple trag-edy. Romeo and Juliet’s deaths are tragic, but this tragedy was fated: by the stars, by the violent world in which they live, by the play, and by their very natures. We, as an audience, want this death, this trage-dy. At the play’s end, we do not feel sad for the loss of life as much as we feel wrenched by the incredible act of love Romeo and Juliet have committed as monuments to each other and their love. Romeo and Ju-liet have been immortalized as the archetypes of true love not because their tragic deaths bury their parents’ strife, but rather because they are willing to sacrifice everything—including themselves—for their love. That Romeo and Juliet must kill themselves to preserve their love is tragic; that they do kill themselves to preserve their love makes them transcendent.

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The first rule of when attempting to read Shakespeare is to not get overwhelmed! Though his language is quite different from plays today, Shakespeare is none-the-less worth reading—and learning!—from; and don’t worry if you don’t understand everything! The key is to not get caught up by the dominant rhythm, but instead decide which are the most important words and use the regular metre to stress them to the listeners. Shakespeare mainly writes in ‘blank verse’, the form used most by the playwrights of the 16th and 17th centuries. It is a very flexible medium, capable—like the human speaking voice—of a wide range of tones. The lines, which are unrhymed, are ten syllables long; the sylla-bles have alternating stresses, just like normal speaking English; and they divide into five ‘feet’. The poetic name for these lines are ‘iambic pentameter’. A good example of iambic pentameter can be seen in the first scene of Romeo and Juliet, where both Tybalt and Benvolio exhibit power-ful emotions: Tybalt What, árt thou dráwn amóng these héartless hínds? Túrn thee, Benvólio, loók upón thy déath.

Benvolio I dó but keép the péace. Put úp thy swórd,

Or mánage ít to párt these mén with mé.

Tybalt What, dráwn, and tálk of péace? I háte the wórd, As ĺ hate héll, all Móntagúes, and theé, Have át thee, cóward. (1.1.60-6)Here the pentameter accommodates a variety of speech tones—Tybalt’s angry challenge, Benvolio’s steady calm, and the scorn and hatred with which Tybalt renews his attack. In this quotation, most of the lines are regular in length and normal in iambic stress pattern. Sometimes Shake-speare deviates from the norm, varying the stress patterns for unusual emphasis, and writing lines that are longer or shorter than ten syllables. The stress is reversed, for instance, in Tybalt’s ‘Turn thee’, and a threat-ening movement (rather than words) completes the line ‘coward’. The speech of Prince Escales, a little later in this scene, demonstrates another feature of Shakespeare’s verse: Prince Escalus On páin of tórture, fróm those blóody hánds Throw yóur mistémper’d wéapons tó the gróund, And héar the séntence óf your móved prince. (1. 1. 80-2)Sometimes the grammatical unit of meaning is contained within the verse line—‘And hear the sentence of your moved prince’. This allows for a pause at the end of the line, before a new idea is started. At other times the sense runs on from one line to the next—‘from those bloody hands/Throw your mistemper’d weapons to the ground’. This makes for the natural fluidity of speech, avoiding monotony by still maintaining the iambic rhythm.

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Though the first quarto of Romeo and Juliet is universally considered to have been originally performed in 1597, the exact time Shakespeare began writing the play is still unknown. Clues, such as Juliet’s nurse referring to an earthquake 11 years previously, have led scholars to be-lieve this is a reference to the Dover Straits earthquake of 1580, putting the composition of Romeo and Juliet at around 1591. But the play’s sty-listic similarities with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and other plays written around 1594–95 could also indicate the play being composed around the same time. Most scholars presume Shakespeare may have started writing around 1591, but stopped and did not continue until a few years later, placing the play’s actual composition at around 1594-1596. The first published quarto edition (Q1) did not appear until 1597, and is nearly 800 lines shorter than Q2. The quality of the edition sug-gests that this is a pirated version lacking the authority of the acting company that originally performed the play. It could have also been constructed by a couple of actors from memory and sold to unscrupu-lous printers for a sum, since many acting company members would have known about its popularity. Though Q1 is considered to have many speeches mis-recollected, garbled, or even forgotten, the edi-tion is helpful for its detailed stage directions and their suggestions of early theatre practice, giving the edition a second theory as an edition meant to be performed, not read.


The second quarto edition was published two years later in 1599 and as its title page suggests—‘Newly corrected, augmented, and amend-ed’-- Q2 is the superior edition to Q1 and the basis of all modern edi-tions, including this one. Then, in 1623, the First Folio appeared with clarifications and cor-rections possibly coming from a theatrical promptbook or Q1. Though originally advertised as being the definitive edition, many differences between Q2 and F1 have become a source of debate as to which is the “correct” edition. The present edition is based on Q2, with slight F1 variations em-bedded. The text also borrows from the edition by René Weis and pub-lished in 2012 for The Arden Shakespeare edition, as well as the Oxford School Edition by Roma Gill, first published in 2001 for Oxford Uni-versity Press.

lxii lxiii

Confirmed portrait of William Shakespeare, appear-ing in the First Folio, 1623.

The “Bard of Avon”: William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

William Shakespeare, often thought of as England’s leading poet and the “Bard of Avon,” is also one history’s biggest mysteries. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was baptized on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was probably educated at the local grammar school, King Edward IV Grammar School where he learned Latin, a little Greek, and read the Roman dramatists. At eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, a woman seven or eight years his senior. Together they raised two daughters: Susanna, who was born in 1583, and Judith (whose twin brother, Hamnet, died in boyhood), born in 1585. Little is known about Shakespeare’s activities between 1585 and 1592, but it seems probable that shortly after 1585 he went to London to begin his apprenticeship as an actor. In 1599, Shakespeare joined a group of Chamberlain’s Men that formed a syndicate to build and operate a new playhouse, The Globe, which would soon be the most famous theater of its time in England. While Shakespeare was regarded as the foremost dramatist of his time, evidence indicates that both he and his contemporaries looked to poetry—not playwriting—for enduring fame. Shakespeare’s son-nets were composed between 1593 and 1601, though not published until 1609. The Sonnets of Shakespeare consists of 154 sonnets, all written in the form of three quatrains and a couplet, now recognizedas the Shakespearean form.

lxiv lxv

In his poems and plays, Shakespeare invented thousands of words, of-ten combining or contorting Latin, French and native roots. His impres-sive expansion of the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, includes such words as: arch-villain, birthplace, bloodsuck-ing, courtship, dewdrop, downstairs, fanged, heartsore, hunchbacked, leapfrog, misquote, pageantry, radiance, schoolboy, stillborn, watchdog, and zany. Shakespeare wrote more than 30 plays. These are usually divided into three categories: Histories, Comedies, and Tragedies. His earliest plays were primarily comedies and histories, but in 1596 Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet—his second tragedy— and over the next doz-en years he would return to the form, writing the plays for which he is now best known: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. In his final years, Shakespeare turned to the romantic with Cymbeline, A Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. Only eighteen of Shakespeare’s plays were published separately in quarto editions during his lifetime: Titus Andronicus; Henry VI, Parts 2 and 3; Edward III; Romeo and Juliet; Richard II; Henry IV, parts 1 and 2; Love’s Labour’s Lost; Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2; Henry V; The Merchant of Venice; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Much Ado About Nothing; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Hamlet; King Lear; Troilus and Cressida; and Pericles, Prince of Tyre. A complete collection of his work did not appear until the publication of the First Folio in 1623, several years after his death. Sometime after 1612, Shakespeare retired from the stage and re-turned to his home in Stratford. He drew up his will in January of 1616, which included his famous bequest to his wife his “second best bed.”

The “Bard of Avon”: William Shakespeare, 1564-1616 The “Bard of Avon”: William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later at Stratford Church. Although there are many public documents concerned with his career as a writer and a business-man, Shakespeare has hidden his personal life from us. Matthew Arnold, a nineteenth century poet, addressed Shakespeare in one of his poems, and wrote what all Shake-spearean contemporaries have felt, and what everyone else will have thought at least once while studying Shakespeare: “We ask and ask—Thou smilest, and art still.”

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Dramatis Personae*

CAPULETSJULIET a thirteen-year-old girl from Verona, only child of the rich Capulet familyCAPULET her fatherLADY CAPULET her motherCOUSIN CAPULET a relative of her father’sNURSE Juliet’s wet-nursePETER Nurse’s manTYBALT Juliet’s cousinTybalt’s PagePETRUCHIO a follower of TybaltSAMSON a Capulet retainerGREGORY another Capulet retainerSERVINGMEN part of the Capulet household

MONTAGUESROMEO the sixteen-year-old sole son and heir of the Mon tague familyMONTAGUE Romeo’s fatherLADY MONTAGUE Romeo’s motherBENVOLIO Romeo’s cousinBALTHASAR Romeo’s manABRAHAM a Montague retainerSERVINGMEN part of the Montague household

*Refers to all the characters appearing in this play

THE PRINCE’S COMPANYPRINCE ESCALUS governor of VeronaMERCUTIO his kinsman and friend of Romeo’sPARIS another kinsman and suitor to JulietParis’ PageMercutio’s Page

OTHER CHARACTERSCHORUSROSALINE Romeo’s former loveCITIZENS of VeronaFRIAR LAWRENCE a FranciscanFRIAR JOHN another FranciscanAPOTHECARY of MantuaThree WATCHMENThree MUSICIANS Simon Catling, Hugh Rebeck, and James Soundpost

Attendants, Masquers, Torchbearers, Guests and Gentlewomen

1

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene...

2 3Act 1 Scene 4

MERCUTIONay gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.

ROMEONot I, believe me. You have dancing shoesWith nimble soles, I have a soul of leadSo stakes me to the ground I cannot move.

MERCUTIOYou are a Lover, borrow Cupid’s wings,And soar with them above a common bound.

ROMEOI am too sore empierced with his shaftTo soar with his light feathers, and so boundI cannot bound a pitch above dull woe;Under love’s heavy burden do I sink.

MERCUTIOAnd to sink in it should you burden love,Too great oppression for a tender thing.

ROMEO Is love a tender thing? It is too rough,Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.

15

20

25

16 stakes…ground: “Fastens me to the ground as if by a stake.”

18 soar…bound: Leap much higher than is normal; bound picks up ground from 16 in a cross-line internal rhyme.

19-20 I…feathers: Cupid’s wings allow his arrows to soar, but become sore. By hitting their target they paralyse the lover who, now sore, can no longer soar.

19 empierced: Transfixed

21 pitch: The height from which a bird of prey swoops down on its quarry, setting up an opposition between soar and bound, predicated on their possible identical meanings.

26 boisterous: painfully rough.

PICTURE SHOULD BE HERE

Act 1

Scene 4

Enter ROMEO, MERCUTIO, BENVOLIO, with five or six other Maskers, Torchbearers.

ROMEOWhat, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse,Or shall we on without apology?

BENVOLIOThe date is out of such prolixity.We’ll have no Cupid hoodwinked with a scarf,Bearing a Tartar’s painted bow of lath,Scaring the Ladies like a crow-keeper;Nor no without-book prologue, faintly spokeAfter the prompter, for our entrance.But let them measure us by what they will,We’ll measure them a measure and be gone.

ROMEOGive me a torch. I am not for this ambling,Being but heavy I will bear the light.

5

10

3-4 The date…scarf: The idea of Cupid as a representation of love is outdated; he should be thought of as blind.5 Tartar’s…bow: Tartar bow was more powerful than English bows. A sign of love’s cruelty and lightning speed. Lath: The material of a counterfei weapon.6 crow-keeper: Either someone guarding cornfields from rooks, or a scarecrow.9-10 measure: A pun. They will dance and leave while pretending not to care how they are received.11 ambling: Dancing, moving about gaily.

12 heavy: Heavy-hearted, with a soul of lead.

Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio, all wearing masks, wonder how they will get into the feast, since they are Montagues. Romeo be-gins to doubt whether or not he should go, since he had dreamt attending the feast was a bad idea. Mercutio begins to mock dreams by referencing Queen Mab, who visits peo-ple in their dreams and shows them their deepest desires, revealing the dark desires of man. Romeo interrupts this speech to say he will attend the feast despite feeling as though his attendance will result in death.

Act 1 Scene 4

4 5Act 1 Scene 4

ROMEONay, that’s not so.

MERCUTIO I mean, sir, in delayWe waste our lights, in vain light lights by day.Take our good meaning, for our iudgement sitsFive times in that ere once in our five wits.

ROMEOAnd we mean well in going to this Masque,But ‘tis no wit to go.

MERCUTIO Why, may one ask?

ROMEOI dreamt a dream tonight.

MERCUTIO And so did I.

ROMEOWell, what was yours?

MERCUTIO That dreamers often lie.

ROMEOIn bed asleep while they do dream things true.

45

50

46 good meaning: Intended sense im- plying: ‘which you, Romeo, know full well even though you pretend not to’.46-47 for…wits: This perhaps means that there is better judgement in plain speaking than in the joint effort of the five senses and our mental faculties. Mercutio is tired of the battle of wits and proposes a truce now that he has had his sal- lies thrown back at him.49 no wit: Bad judgement (because if the feud between their families); playing on Mercutio’s claim that good is the seat of sound judgement.

50 a dream: We never learn what Romeo’s dream was about, other than it was foreboding of things to come. Hence his anxiety about the Capulets’ party.51 lie: Tell untruths and/or lie in bed.

PICTURE SHOULD BE HERE

Act 1 Scene 4

MERCUTIO If love be rough with you, be rough with love;Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.Give me a case to put my visage in,A visor for a visor! What care IWhat curious eye doth quote deformities?Here are the beetle brows shall blush for me.

BENVOLIOCome, knock and enter, and no sooner inBut every man betake him to his legs.

ROMEOA torch for me. Let wantons light of heartTickle the senseless rushes with their heels,For I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase:I’ll be a candleholder and look on,The game was ne’er so fair, and I am dun.

MERCUTIOTut, dun’s the mouse, the constable’s own word.If thou art dun, we’ll draw thee from the mireOr, save you reverence, love, wherein thou stickestUp to the ears. Come, we burn daylight, ho!

30

35

40

29 case: Mask30 visor…visor: Mercutio becomes self-deprecating.31 curious: Closely observant by dis- criminating, people’s appearances as faults.32 beetle brows: The mask he has just borrowed has prominent heavy eyebrows, suggesting a sullen appearance which is part of Merc- utio’s Devil-may-care act.34 betake…legs: Start to dance.35 A torch: Romeo repeats his request for a torch, adamant he will not dance. The dancers and torchbearers linger outside in spite of Benvolio’s urging.36 Straw rushes were used on the floor of well-to-do Elizabethan homes on festive occasions37 proverbed: Furnished with a proverbial phrase.39-40 Romeo is not in a festive mood but dun (dingy and brown, the opposite of fair) hence dancing is not for him. There is a further pun on ‘done’ because of Rosaline, Romeo has ‘done’ with all that romantic nonsense.43 burn daylight: a proverbial phrase for lighting candles during daylight hours. He means that they are wast - ing time as surely as if they were wastefully using candles during the day.

6 7Act 1 Scene 4

And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig’s tail,Tickling a parson’s nose as ’a lies asleep;Then he dreams of another benefice.Sometimes she driveth o’era soldier’s neck, And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,Of breaches, ambuscados, Spanish blades, Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes, And being thus frighted, swears a prayer or two And sleeps again. This is that very Mab That plaits the manes of horses in the night, And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs, Which once untangled much misfortune bodes.This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,That presses them and learns them first to bear,Making them women of good carriage.This is she—

ROMEO Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace,Thou talk’st of nothing.

MERCUTIO True, I talk of dreams,Which are the children of an idle brain,Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,Which is as thin of substance as the air,And more inconstant than the wind who woosEven now the frozen bosom of the north,

80

85

90

100

95

77 courtier’s nose: A mere five lines earlier, courtier’s knees and curtsies were visited by Queen Mab, but now it is the turn of their noses and lawsuits to attract her attention. 79 tithe-pig’s tail: A pig paid in settlement of the tenth part of all produce pledged to the Church. At the mere thought of a tithe- pig the comfortably fed parson warms to the idea of a further lucrative living with perks.84 breaches, ambuscados: Gaps in a defensive wall, ambushes. Spanish blades: The best- tempered swords were famously made of Toledo steel.85 healths…deep: Drinking of toasts even if the cups were 30 feet, deep enough for him to drown in.89 plaits: Intertwines, braids into knots, in a mischievous and aberrant manner.90 bakes the elf-locks: A tangled mass of knotted locks, a condition for which elves were blamed.

99 as thin…air: Proverbial.

100 inconstant…wind: Proverbial.

Act 1 Scene 4

MERCUTIOO, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comesIn 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. Her chariot is an empty hazelnutMade by the joiner squirrel or old grub,Time out o’mind the fairies’ coachmakers;Her wagon-spokes made of long spinners’ legs, The cover of the wings of grasshoppers, Her traces of the smallest spider web, Her collars of the moonshine’s watery beams, Her whip of cricket’s bone, the lash of film, Her wagoner a small grey-coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little worm Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid. And in this state she gallops night by night Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love; On courtiers’ knees, that dream on curtsies straight; O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees;O’er ladies lips, who straight on kisses dream, Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues, Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are. Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier’s nose,And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;

55

60

65

70

75

53 Mab: On ‘Mab’ as a contraction of ‘Samaab’ (one of the chief earthly ‘spirits of the east’) in Nashe’s Pierce Penilese55-56 agate…alderman: The agate denotes Mab’s microscopic size, while the choice of stone may allude to the agate worn in a seaL ring as a symbol of office by aldermen.57 with: by Little atomi: The smallest possible particles, little acting as an intensifier since atomi by itself means ‘a diminutive or tiny being.’ 60 grub: A caterpillar, maggot or, in this case, a woodworm.62 spinners’: Refers to spiders, probably a daddy-long-legs.65 yokes: collars.66 film: Gossamer.67 wagoner: Charioteer.69 Pricked: Removed with a pin or needle. Lazy…maid: alluding to the folklore belief that idle maids grow worms in their fingers. 70 in this state: In such pomp and solemnity.

75-76 blisters…are: Sweetmeats are artificial and deceitful, intended to hide stale breath and decay.

8 9

And, being angered, puffs away from thence,Turning his side to the dew-dropping south.

BENVOLIO This wind you talk of blows us from ourselves;Supper is done, and we shall come too late.

ROMEO I fear too early, for my mind misgives;Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,Shall bitterly begin his fearful dateWith this night’s revels, and expire the termOf a despised life closed in my breastBy some vile forfeit of untimely death.But he that hath the steerage of my courseDirect my suit. On, lusty gentlemen.

BENVOLIO Strike, drum.

They march about the Stage, and Servingmen come forth with their napkins.

Act 1 Scene 4

105

110

104 Benvolio reminds Mercutio of the fact that he is himself full of hot air, not unlike the winds blowing from the south, and that this is sweeping them off course, their destination being the Capulets’ party.107 consequence: Momentous event.

109-111 expire…term…forfeit: All three words are legal jargon pertaining to the law of contract.

112 he: In the context of destiny and star-crossed love, it is tempting to interpret he as the Deity, in which case modern usage would require capital ‘H’, but Romeo probably means ‘Love’.113 suit: Metaphor for steerage and puffing winds. Romeo is prepared to attend the party because at the Capulets’ that night ‘Sups the fair Rosaline.’

10 11Appendix A: Comparing Quarto and Folio Editions

Quarto 2: Act 1, Scene 4

RomeoNot I beleeue me, you haue dancing shooesWith nimble soles, I haue a soule of LeadeSo stakes me to the ground I cannot moue.

MercutioYou are a Louer, borrow Cupids wings, 470And sore with them aboue a common bound.

Romeo I am too sore enpearced with his shaft,To sore with his light feathers, and so bound,I cannot bound a pitch aboue dull woe,Vnder loues heauie birthen do I sincke. 475

Horatio And to sink in it should you burthen loue,Too great oppression for a tender thing.

Romeo Is loue a tender thing? it is too rough,Too rude, too boystrous, and it pricks like thorne.

MercutioIf loue be rough with you, be rough with loue 480Prick loue for pricking, and you beate loue downe,Giue me a case to put my visage in, visor for a visor, what care IWhat curious eye doth cote deformities:Here are the beetle browes shall blush for me. 485

BenvolioCome knock and enter, and no sooner in,

RomeoNot I beleeue me, you haue dancing shooesWith nimble soles, I haue a soale of LeadSo stakes me to the ground, I cannot moue.

MercutioYou are a Louer, borrow Cupids wings, 470And soare with them aboue a common bound.

Romeo I am too sore enpearced with his shaft,To soare with his light feathers, and to bound:I cannot bound a pitch aboue dull woe,Vnder loues heauy burthen doe I sinke. 475

HoratioAnd to sinke in it should you burthen loue,Too great oppression for a tender thing.

RomeoIs loue a tender thing? it is too rough,Too rude, too boysterous, and it pricks like thorne.

Mercutio If loue be rough with you, be rough with loue, 480Pricke loue for pricking, and you beat loue downe,Giue me a Case to put my visage in,A Visor for a Visor, what care IWhat curious eye doth quote deformities:Here are the Beetle-browes shall blush for me. 485

BenvolioCome knocke and enter, and no sooner in,

Folio 1: Act 1, Scene 4Appendix A: Comparing Quarto and Folio Editions

The difference in the Q2 and F1 editions can be clearly seen when placed side by side. Though the two are similar texts, there are differences in both. The words phrases , and punctuation both different and unique to the edition have been highlighted in bold to make the differences clearer to the naked eye:

Enter Romeo, Mercutio, Benuolio, with fiue or sixe other Maskers, torchbearers.

Romeo What shall this speech be spoke for our excuse?Or shall we on without appologie?

BenvolioThe date is out of such prolixitie,Weele haue no Cupid, hudwinckt with a skarfe,Bearing a Tartars painted bow of lath, 460Skaring the Ladies like a Crowkeeper.But let them measure vs by what they will,Weele measure them a measure and be gone.

RomeoGiue me a torch, I am not for this ambling,Being but heauie I will beare the light. 465

MercutioNay gētle Romeo,we must haue you dance.

Quarto 2: Act 1, Scene 4Enter Romeo, Mercutio, Benuolio, with fiue or sixeother Maskers, Torch-bearers.

RomeoWhat shall this speeh be spoke for our excuse? 455Or shall we on without Apologie?

BenvolioThe date is out of such prolixitie,Weele haue no Cupid, hood winkt with a skarfe,Bearing a Tartars painted Bow of lath, 460Skaring the Ladies like a Crow-keeper.But let them measure vs by what they will,Weele measure them a Measure, and be gone.

RomeoGiue me a Torch, I am not for this ambling.Being but heauy I will beare the light. 465

MercutioNay gentle Romeo, we must haue you dance.

Folio 1: Act 1, Scene 4


Quarto 2: Act 1, Scene 4 Folio 1: Act 1, Scene 4 Mercutio And so did I.

Romeo Well what was yours?

Mercutio That dreamers often lie.

RomeoIn bed asleep while they do dream things true.

Mercutio O then I see Queene Mab hath bin with you: 510She is the Fairies midwife, and she comes in shape no bigger thēan Agot stone, on the forefinger of an Alderman, drawne witha teeme of little ottamie, ouer mens noses as they lie asleep: herwaggō spokes made of lōg spinners legs: the couer, of the wingsof Grashoppers, her traces of the smallest spider web, her collors 515of the moonshines watry beams, her whip of Crickets bone, thelash of Philome, her waggoner, a small grey coated Gnat, nothalf so big as a round litle worme, prickt from the lazie finger ofa man. Her Charriot is an emptie Hasel nut, Made by the Ioyner 520squirrel or old Grub, time out a mind, the Fairie Coatch-makers:

MercutioAnd so did I.

RomeoWell what was yours?

Mercutio That dreamers often lye.

Romeo In bed a sleepe while they do dreame things true.

Mercutio O then I see Queene Mab hath beene with you: 510She is the Fairies Midwife, & she comes in shape no big-ger then Agat-stone, on the fore-finger of an Alderman,drawne with a teeme of little Atomies, ouer mens noses asthey lie asleepe: her Waggon Spokes made of long Spinners legs: the Couer of the wings of Grashoppers, her 515Traces of the smallest Spiders web, her coullers of theMoonshines watry Beames, her Whip of Crickets bone,the Lash of Philome, her Waggoner, a small gray-coatedGnat, not halfe so bigge as a round little Worme, pricktfrom the Lazie-finger of a man. Her Chariot is an emptie 520Haselnut, made by the Ioyner Squirrel or old Grub, timeout a mind, the Faries Coach-makers: & in this state she


Quarto 2: Act 1, Scene 4

But euery man betake him to his legs.

RomeoA torch for me, let wantons light of heartTickle the sencelesse rushes with their heeles:For I am prouerbd with a graunsire phrase, 490Ile be a candle-holder and looke on,The game was nere so faire, and I am dum.

Mercutio Tut, duns the mouse, the Constables own word:If thou art dun, weele draw thee from the mireOr saue you reuerence loue, wherein thou stickest495Vp to the eares, come we burne daylight ho.

Romeo Nay thats not so.

Mercutio I meane sir in delayWe waste our lights in vaine, lights lights by day:Take our good meaning, for our iudgement sits, 500Fiue times in that, ere once in our fine wits.

Romeo And we meane well in going to this Mask,But tis no wit to go.

MercutioWhy, may one aske?

Romeo I dreampt a dreame to night. 505

But euery man betake him to his legs.

RomeoA Torch for me, let wantons light of heartTickle the sencelesse rushes with their heeles:For I am prouerb’d with a Grandsier Phrase, 490Ile be a Candle-holder and looke on,The game was nere so faire, and I am done.

Mercutio Tut, duns the Mouse, the Constables owne word,If thou art dun, weele draw thee from the mire.Or saue your reuerence loue, wherein thou stickest 495Vp to the eares, come we burne day-light ho.

RomeoNay that’s not so.

Mercutio I meane sir I delay,We wast our lights in vaine, lights, lights, by day;Take our good meaning, for our Iudgement sits 500Fiue times in that, ere once in our fine wits.

Romeo And we meane well in going to this Maske,But ‘tis no wit to go.

Mercutio Why may one aske?

Romeo I dreampt a dreame to night. 505

Folio 1: Act 1, Scene 4


Quarto 2: Act 1, Scene 4 Folio 1: Act 1, Scene 4This is she.

Romeo Peace, peace, Mercutio peace, 545Thou talkst of nothing.

MercutioTrue, I talke of dreames:Which are the children of an idle braine,Begot of nothing but vaine phantasie:Which is as thin of substance as the ayre, 550And more inconstant then the wind who wooes?Euen now the frozen bosome of the North:And being angerd puffes away from thence,Turning his side to the dewe dropping South.

BenvolioThis wind you talk of, blows vs from our selues, 555Supper is done, and we shall come too late.

Romeo I feare too earlie, for my mind misgiues,Some consequence yet hanging in the starres,Shall bitterly begin his fearfull date,With this nights reuels, and expire the terme 560Of a despised life closde in my brest:By some vile fofreit of vntimely death.But he that hath the stirrage of my course,Direct my sute, on lustie Gentlemen.

BenvolioStrike drum. 565

This is she.

Romeo Peace, peace, Mercutio peace, 545Thou talk’st of nothing.

MercutioTrue, I talke of dreames:Which are the children of an idle braine,Begot of nothing, but vaine phantasie,Which is as thin of substance as the ayre, 550And more inconstant then the wind, who wooesEuen now the frozen bosome of the North:And being anger’d, puffes away from thence,Turning his side to the dew dropping South.

Benvolio This wind you talke of blowes vs from our selues, 555Supper is done, and we shall come too late.

RomeoI feare too early, for my mind misgiues,Some consequence yet hanging in the starres,Shall bitterly begin his fearefull dateWith this nights reuels, and expire the tearme 560Of a despised life clos’d in my brest:By some vile forfeit of vntimely death.But he that hath the stirrage of my course,Direct my sute: on lustie Gentlemen.

BenvolioStrike Drum 565

They march about the Stage, and Seruingmen come forthwith their napkins.


Quarto 2, Act 1, Scene 4 Folio 1: Act 1, Scene 4and in this state she gallops night by night, throgh louers brains,and then they dreame of loue. On Courtiers knees, that dreameon Cursies strait ore Lawyers fingers who strait dreame on fees, 525ore Ladies lips who strait one kisses dream, which oft the angrieMab with blisters plagues, because their breath with sweetemeates tainted are. Sometime she gallops ore a Courtiers nose,and then dreames he of smelling out a sute: and sometime comesshe with a tithpigs tale, tickling a Persons nose as a lies asleepe, 530then he dreams of an other Benefice. Sometime she driueth orea souldiers neck, and then dreames he of cutting for-rain throates,of breaches, ambuscados, spanish blades: Of healths fiue fadomedeepe, and then anon drums in his eare, at which he starts and 535wakes, and being thus frighted, sweares a praier or two, & sleepsagaine: this is that very Mab that plats the manes of horses in thenight: and bakes the Elklocks in foule sluttish haires, whichonce vntangled, much misfortune bodes.This is the hag, when maides lie on their backs, 540That presses them and learnes them first to beare,Making them women of good carriage:

gallops night by night, through Louers braines: and thenthey dreame of Loue. On Courtiers knees, that dreame onCursies strait: ore Lawyers fingers, who strait dreamt on 525Fees, ore Ladies lips, who strait on kisses dreame, whichoft the angry Mab with blisters plagues, because theirbreath with Sweet meats tainted are. Sometime she gal-lops ore a Courtiers nose, & then dreames he of smellingout a sute: & somtime comes she with Tith pigs tale, tick- 530ling a Parsons nose as a lies asleepe, then he dreames ofanother Benefice. Sometime she driueth ore a Souldiersnecke, & then dreames he of cutting Forraine throats, ofBreaches, Ambuscados, Spanish Blades: Of Healths fiueFadome deepe, and then anon drums in his eares, at which 535he startes and wakes; and being thus frighted, sweares aprayer or two & sleepes againe: this is that very Mab thatplats the manes of Horses in the night: & bakes the Elk-locks in foule sluttish haires, which once vntangled, muchmisfortune bodes, 540This is the hag, when Maides lie on their backs,That presses them, and learnes them first to beare,Making them women of good carriage:

16 17Appendix B: The Tragicall Hisorye of Romeus and Juliet

marry and Romeus sneaks in to spend the night with her for two hap-py months.Mercutio and Tybalt’s Death Scene—Romeo kills Tybalt out of revenge over Mercutio’s death and Juliet, though horrified with Romeo, choos-es to stand by him. Since Mercutio did not exist in Brooke’s version, Romeus instead kills Tybalt in self defense and is later blamed by Ju-liet, which she later comes to regret.Romeo’s Banishment—Romeo is banished for a day or two. In Brooke’s version, he is banished for four months.Juliet’s Plans to Marry—Juliet’s mother thinks she is mourning over Tybalt’s death and so decides to move Juliet’s wedding to Paris up. In Brooke’s version, her mother thinks she is jealous of her married friends and so decides to marry her off.In short, Romeus and Juliet’s story takes place over four months, where-as Romeo and Juliet takes place in the span of a few days. The differenc-es in the plot are significant but the biggest change Shakespeare made to Brooke’s version is the ending, with Brooke’s ending appearing as follows: 2970And Romeus’man whom at unwares beside the tomb he met. Then Peter, not so much erst as he was, dismayed; “My lords,” quoth he, “too true is all that Friar Laurence said. And when my master went into my mistress’grave, This letter that I offer you, unto me then he gave, Which he himself did write, as I do understand, And charged me to offer them unto his father’s hand.” The opened packet doth contain in it the same That erst the skilful friar said; and eke the wretch’s name That had at his request the deadly poison sold,


The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke, origi-nally published in 1562, proved to be the biggest inspiration for Wil-liam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The story, which was translated from an Italian novella by Matteo Bandello, seems to have been around since the time of Dante during the 13th century. In the Sixth Canto of the Purgatorio, Dante yoked the families of the Montecchi and Cap-pelletti together as enemies, using them as an admonitory example of the consequences of civil strife, and the two families have been at odds in literature ever since. Though the story of Romeus and Juliet and Romeo and Juliet are very similar, the play distinguishes itself from its predecessor in sever-al important aspects:

Shakespeare invented some Characters—Mercutio, for in-stance—and introduced others, such as Tybalt, earlier (in Brooke’s version Tybalt doesn’t appear until it’s time for him to die).The Balcony Scene—Romeo and Juliet meet at the party and Romeo later woes Juliet during the famous balcony scene. In Brooke’s version, Romeus and Juliet meet at the party and he spends two weeks wooing her.Their Marriage and Wedding Night—Romeo and Juliet se-cretly marry with help from Juliet’s nurse and the friar, andspend one secret night together. In Brooke’s version, they

18 19Appendix B: The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet

an hermit did he die. The strangeness of the chance, when triéd was the truth, The Montagues and Capulets hath moved so to ruth, That with their emptied tears their choler and their rage Was emptied quite; and they, whose wrath no wisdom could assuage, Nor threat’ning of the prince, ne mind of murthers done,

3010At length, so mighty Jove it would, by pity they are won. And lest that length of time might from our minds remove The memory of so perfect, sound, and so approvéd love, The bodies dead, removed from vault where they did die, ln stately tomb, on pillars great of marble, raise they high. On every side above were set, and eke beneath, Great store of cunning epitaphs, in honour of their death. And even at this day the tomb is to be seen; So that among the monuments that in Verona been, There is no monument moreworthy of the sight,

3020Than is the tomb of Juliet and Romeus her knight.

The ending featured here differs from Romeo and Juliet in the af-termath following their suicides: the Friar and Romeus’ servant are put on trial for murder, but are later found innocent; the Friar leaves Verona to live in a hermitage until he dies. Juliet’s nurse is banished and the apothecary who sold Romeus the poison is hanged for their involvement in the deception. The two families eventually reconcile, leading one to believe that Shakespeare merely left out the details of


2980The price of it, and why he bought, his letters plain have told. The case unfolded so and open now it lies, That they could wish no better proof, save seeing it with their eyes; So orderly all things were told and triéd out, That in the press there was not one that stood at all in doubt. The wiser sort, to council called by Escalus, Have given advice, and Escalus sagely decreeth thus: The nurse of Juliet is banished in her age, Because that from the parents she did hide the marriage, Which might have wrought much good had it in time been known,

2990Where now by her concealing it a mischief great is grown; And Peter, for he did obey his master’s hest, ln wonted freedom had good leave to lead his life in rest, Th’apothecary high is hangéd by the throat, And for the pains he took with him the hangman had his coat. But now what shall betide of this grey-bearded sire? Of Friar Laurence thus arraigned, that good barefooted friar Because that many times he worthily did serve The commonwealth, and in his life was never found to swerve, He was dischargéd quite, and no mark of defame

3000Did seem to blot or touch at all the honour of his name. But of himself he went into an hermitage, Two miles from Verone town, where he in prayers passed forth his age; Till that from earth to heaven his heavenly sprite did fly, Five years he lived an hermit and

20 21

Classwork and Examination

Literary Terms

The works of Shakespeare are studied all over the world; teaching methods will vary from school to school, and there are many different ways of examining a student’s work. Some teachers and examiners ex-pect detailed knowledge of Shakespeare’s text; others ask for imagina-tive involvement with his characters and their situations; and there are even some teachers who want their students to share in the theatrical experience of directing and performing a play. Most people use a va-riety of methods. This section of the book offers a few suggestions for approaches to Romeo and Juliet which could be used in schools and colleges to help with students’ understanding and enjoyment of the play.

Terms

A reference in one work of literature to a person, place, or event in another work of literature or in history, art, or music. Example: “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,” (2.2.4) compares the moon with the Greek goddess Diana, who was the goddess of purity.

Allusion:

An extended comparison showing the similarities between two things.

Analogy:

the characters in his play. Though the two works have their differenc-es, no one can deny the similarities between them.

22 23Classwork and Examination

Distemper: To put out of temper; to disturb; to sicken.

Dramatic Irony: The audience knows something the characters do not.

Envious: A character wishing they had the same possessions or opportunities as another character.

Foreshadow: The use of hints or clues as a warning or indication of a future event.

Herald: A character who carries official messages, or to announce and super-vise tournaments.

Iambic Meter: Unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Example: á gain

Iambic Pentameter:

Five verse feet with each foot an iamb (a total of ten syllables).

Imagery: Language that appeals to any sense (sight, hearing, taste, touch, or smell), or any combination of these senses.

Intercession: The act of pleading.

Irony: Literary technique that portrays differences between appearance and reality.

Metaphor: Comparison between two unlike things with the intent of giving added meaning to one of them; a word or phrase used to represent or stand for something else.

Monologue: A long, uninterrupted speech presented in front of other characters.

Example: Juliet’s comparison of a rose to Romeo in her soliloquy.

Antagonist: The character or force that works against the protagonist: Introduces the conflict. Example: Romeo and Juliet’s parents.

Words spoken by a character in the play to the audience; usually in an undertone and not intended to be heard by another character.

Aside:

Blank Verse: Unrhymed iambic pentameter.

Characterization: The personality a character displays; the means by which the author reveals that personality.

Chide: To tell someone off.

Climax: The point of greatest emotional intensity, interest, or suspense in a narrative.

Conflict: A struggle (between two opposing forces or characters).

Conjure: Make something appear by magic, or as if by magic; make something appear as an image in the mind. /to charge, entreat, charm, bewitch, to call upon or command a spirit.

Couplet: Two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. Example: My only love, sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late!

Diction: A writer’s choice of words for clarity, effectiveness, and precision.



Soliloquy: A speech in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud when alone onstage.

Sonnet: A poem of fourteen lines using a fixed rhyme scheme.

Vocabulary Terms

Adversary: opponent; enemy

Ambiguity: statement or event in which meaning is unclear

Banishment: exile

Boisterous: stormy; violent; rowdy

Dexterity: skill; cleverness Idolatry: extreme devotion to a person or thing

Lament: to grieve for

Nuptial: wedding

Peruse: look over

Reconcile: to become friendly again

Shroud: a burial cloth


Motivation: A reason that explains or partially explains why a character thinks, feels, acts, or behaves in a certain way (results from a combination of the characters personality and the situation to be dealt with).

Oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines apparently contradictory terms. Example: “sweet sorrow”; “loving hate”

Peril: A situation of serious and immediate danger.

Perjury: The act of swearing falsely; a lie.

Perverse: Deliberately choosing to behave in a way other people find unaccept-able/unexpected.

Procure: To obtain or get through effort.

Protagonist: The main character in a play or story.

Pun: The humorous use of a word or phrase to suggest two or more mean-ings at the same time. Example: Romeo The game was ne’er so fair, and I am done. Mercutio Tut! Dun’s the mouse, the constable’s own word! If thou art Dun, we’ll draw thee from the mire. (1.4.39-41)

Repetition: The return of a word, phrase, stanza form, or effect in any form of lit-erature.

Simile: A word or phrase that compares one thing to a different thing.


Who is already sick and pale with griefThat thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.

(i) What is Juliet’s attitude toward the feud that has sep- arated the two families?(ii) What does Juliet want from Romeo?(iii)What is Juliet asking for?(iv)Would Juliet still love Romeo if he chose his family over her?

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?Deny thy father and refuse thy name,Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

(i) Romeo repeats the light and dark images he introduced when he saw Juliet for the first time. Why does Romeo compare Juliet to the sun?(ii) Why does he want the sun to kill the envious moon?(iii) Why is the moon envious?(iv) Could the light/dark motif be an example of foreshadowing?

3)

Comprehension QuestionsThese also present passages from the play and ask questions about them; and again you often have a choice of passages. But a detailed knowledge of the language of the play is asked for here, and you must be able to express unusual or archaic phrases in your own words; you may also be asked to comment critically on the effectiveness of Shak-


Examination

Context Questions

In written examinations, these questions present you with short pas-sages from the play and ask you to explain them. They are intended to test your knowledge of the play and your understanding of its words. Usually you have to make a choice of passages: there may be five on the paper, and you are asked to choose three. Be very sure that you know exactly how many passages you must choose. Study the ones offered to you, and select those you feel most certain of. Make your answers accurate and concise—don’t waste time writing more than the exam-iner is asking for:

1)

2)

O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comesIn shape no bigger than an agate stoneOn the forefinger of an alderman,Drawn with a team of little atomiOver men’s noses as they lie asleep.

(i) What does Mercutio’s speech reveal about dreams and the people dreaming them?(ii) What does Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech reveal about his character?(iii) How does Mercutio feel about dreams?

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,


a’ both your houses!’(iv)Is Mercutio’s death a turning point in the play? And if so, how come?(v) Comment on the stage directions.

2) ApothecaryWho calls so loud?

RomeoCome hither, man. I see that thou art poor.Hold, there is forty ducats. Let me haveA dram of poison, such soon-speeding gearAs will disperse itself through all the veins 5That the life-weary taker may fall dead,And that the trunk may be discharged of breathAs violently as hasty powder firedDoth hurry from the fatal cannon’s womb.

ApothecarySuch mortal drugs I have, but Mantua’s law 10Is death to any he that utters them.

RomeoArt thou so bare and full of wretchedness,And fear’st to die? Famine is in thy cheeks.Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes.Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back. 15The world is not thy friend nor the world’s law.


espeare’s language:

1) MercutioNo, ’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but ’tis enough, ’twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I warrant, for this world. A plague a’ both your houses! Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to 5 scratch a man to death! A braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book of arithmetic! Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.

RomeoI thought all for the best.

MercutioHelp me into some house, Benvolio, 10Or I shall faint. A plague a’ both your houses!They have made worms’ meat of me. I have it, and soundly too. Your houses! Exit [with Benvolio]

(i) Give the meaning of ‘Zounds’ (line 5); ‘braggart’ (line 6); ‘arithmetic’ (line 7).(ii) Express in your own words your sense of lines 12-13, ‘They have made worms’ meat of me/ I have i, and soundly too. Your houses!’(iii) Express your opinion on the repeated lines ‘A plague


like premonition has he had?4) Comment on the Queen Mab speech in terms of the Elizabethan

attitude toward the stars and astrology. Keep in Mind: The Elizabe-thans believed that the stars governed decisions, and even fate.

Scene 55) How does Romeo’s speech about his love for Juliet compare to his

speeches about being in love with Rosaline?6) Tybalt recognizes Romeo’s voice and tries to start a fight. What two

reasons does Lord Capulet give for stopping him?7) What is ironic about Juliet’s line “My grave is like to be my wedding

bed”?Act 2Prologue

8) Explicate the prologue using these questions as a guide: What themes are presented in the prologue? Why is this theme important to the rest of the play? Why is Shakespeare presenting this theme? How can this theme relate to modern readers?

9) Mercutio says Tybalt is “more than Prince of Cats,” a character in an animal story. In what way is Tybalt more dangerous than a cat? Also, what might this foreshadow?

Scene 4

10) How do the actions of the nurse add to the suspense?Act 3Scene 1

11) Why do you think Tybalt approaches Mercutio and Benvolio and wants a “word” with one of them?


The world affords no law to make thee rich.Then be not poor, but break it, and take this. [holds out money]

(i) Explain the meaning in the lines ‘fatal cannon’s womb’ (line 9); ‘Mantua’s law’ (line 10); ‘fear’st to die’ (line 13).(ii) Explore the main theme(s) this scene represents to the overall play.(ii) Explain the tragedy of this scene.

Discussion Questions

Talking about the play—about the issues it raises and the characters who are involved—is one of the most rewarding and pleasurable as-pects of the study of Shakespeare. It makes sense to discuss each scene as it is read, sharing impressions—and perhaps correcting misappre-hensions. It can be useful to compare aspects of this play with other fictions—plays, novels, films—or with modern life:

PrologueExplicate the Prologue of Romeo and Juliet.1)

Act 1Scene 1 and 2

How does Scene 1 and 2 foreshadow what will likely occur at Cap-ulet’s dinner party?

2)

Scene 43) Why does Romeo feel uneasy about going to the party? What dream-


Act 4Scene 2

21) If you were Juliet’s parents would her quick change of mind surprise you? Why or why not?

Scene 3-422) One of the important soliloquies in this play is in this scene. Thor-

oughly summarize this soliloquy.23) Why is this soliloquy important to the play?24) Do you think Juliet is courageous or foolish to take the drug? Why?

Act 5Scene 1

25) What premonition does Romeo have at the beginning of this scene?26) What news does Balthasar bring? What theme does this play on and

what are the consequences of this information?Scene 2

27) What does Friar John tell Friar Lawrence?28) After hearing this news from Friar John, what does Friar Lawrence

intend to do?

Character Study

Shakespeare is famous for his creation of characters who seem like real people. We can judge their actions and we can try to understand their thoughts and feelings—just as we criticize and try to understand the people we know. As the play progresses, we learn to like or dislike, love or hate, them—just as though they lived in our world. Characters can be studied from the outside, by observing what they do, and lis-


12) After Tybalt insults Romeo, Romeo responds. Explain his lines. What is the “reason” Romeo has for ignoring the insult?

13) Even when he is dying, Mercutio continues to joke and to make puns. Explain one of the puns he makes.

14) What is the Prince’s decree, and what are the reasons he gives for making it?

Scene 215) When the nurse agrees with Juliet, Juliet has a different reaction to

Romeo’s killing of Tybalt. Explain.

Scene 316) How does the scene end?

17) Based on how she has been shown thus far, is the Nurse a reliable messenger? Predict what will occur when the Nurse visits Romeo at Friar Lawrence’s cell.

18) From the beginning of the play, Romeo acts impulsively. In what way is he still impulsive in this scene?

19) Explain Friar Lawrence’s plan.Scene 4 and 5

20) Why do Capulet and Lady Capulet think Juliet is sad? a. What decision does Capulet make for Juliet? b. Lady Capulet misunderstands Juliet’s sadness, and Juliet does not want her to know what has happened between Romeo and Juliet. What does Juliet say about Tybalt and Romeo to keep the truth from her mother? c. What is Juliet’s response when she is told the news that she is to marry Paris? How has she changed since Act 1? d. What is her mother’s reaction to Juliet’s response?


6) In the character of Mercutio, give your opinion of Tybalt in the mo-ment before they begin to fight in Act3, Scene1.

7) How would Juliet describe (perhaps in a confidential diary) her par-ents’ behaviour in their feud with the Montagues and her mother’s desire to marry her to Paris?

8) Benvolio rarely has the focus of the play placed on him. However, (assuming he would confide his thoughts to a letter, diary, or close friend) what would he really think of Romeo and Mercutio’s actions during each of the different scenes he is involved in.

9) Devise a new monologue for Mercutio during Act 1, Scene 4 using modern instances. Would his metaphors of a corrupt Verona be dif-ferent or similar to today’s modern society?

10) Write the letter Friar Lawrence sent Romeo informing him of his and Juliet’s plan. How would he have told Romeo?

11) How would you characterize Mercutio based on his behavior in Act1, Scene 4? Write a brief character description, and include your analysis of his friendship with Romeo.

12) Servants are present and an important aspect of the play since they give a lower-class perspective on the events taking place; in Act 4, Scene 5, the Musicians give such a perspective. Describe the events of the Capulets waking up to discover Juliet’s death through the eyes of these Musicians.

13) Romeo falls in love twice throughout the play; first with Rosaline, then with Juliet. Write two different diary entries describing his feel-ings for these two women, and explore the differences between love and infatuation.


tening sensitively to what they say. This is the scholar’s method; the scholar—or any reader—has access to the whole play, and can see the function of every character within the whole scheme of that play. An-other approach works from the inside, taking a single character and looking at the action and the other characters from his/her point of view. This is an actor’s tecnique when creating a character—who can have only a partial view of what is going on—for performance; and it asks for a student’s inventive imagination. The two methods—both useful in different ways—are really complementary to each other:

a) from ‘outside’ the character1) Two members of the dramatis personae are especially valuable as in-

struments of the dramatist; describe the characters and functions ofa) Tybaltb) Mercutio

2) Describe Mercutio’s function in the play. How does the meaning of his name contribute to his personality?

3) What are the different ways Romeo and Juliet approach love and how does that help to describe their personality?

4) Write obituaries fora) Mercutiob) Tybaltc) Romeo

5) Trace the development of the character of Juliet.

b) from ‘inside’ the character


make your points more strongly:

1) How does the suicidal impulse that both Romeo and Juliet exhibit re-late to the overall theme of young love?

2) Discuss the relationships between parents and children in Romeo and Juliet. How do Romeo and Juliet interact with their parents? Are they rebellious, in the modern sense? How do their parents feel about them?

3) Apart from clashing with Tybalt, what role does Mercutio play in the story? Is he merely a colorful supporting character and brilliant source of comic relief, or does he serve a more serious purpose?

4) Describe how Shakespeare treats death in Romeo and Juliet by com-paring one of the following: the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Mercutio, and Mercutio and Tybalt.

Projects

In some schools, students are asked to do more ‘free-ranging’ work, which takes them outside the text—but which should always be rele-vant to the play. Such Projects may demand skills other than reading and writing: design and artwork, for instance, may be involved. Some-times a ‘portfolio’ of work is assembled over a considerable period of time; and this can be presented to the examiner as part of the student’s work for assessment. The availability of resources will, obviously, do much to determine the nature of the Projects; but this is something that only the local teach-ers will understand. However, there is always help to be found in librar-ies, museums, and art galleries:


Activities

These can involve two or more students, preferably working away from the desk or study-table and using gesture and position (‘body-lan-guage’) as well as speech. They can help students to develop a sense of drama and the dramatic aspects of Shakespeare’s play—which was written to be performed, not studied in a classroom. Students who have the necessary equipment can record the Activities and invite criticism of colleagues in their own, or neighbouring, schools:

1) Act the play—at least one or two scenes.2) Transpose Act 3, Scene 5 into the twenty-first century and the lan-

guage of our own time. How do you think the characters felt af-ter spending the night together. How would you feel? This activity could also be written as a diary entry, either from the point of view of Romeo or Juliet.

3) Devise a scene in which the Montagues and Capulets have a conver-sation regarding their feud. What issues do you think they will dis-cuss?

4) Enact the scene between Tybalt and Mercutio (Act 3, Scene 1), transposing it to a different setting—e.g. how would the scene play out in a high school setting?

Essays

These will usually give you a specific topic to discuss, or perhaps a question that must be answered, in writing, with a reasoned argu-ment. They never want you to tell the story of the play, and does not need to be reminded of it. Relevant quotations will always help you to

38 39

Suggested Further Readings

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books, 1999.Bloom, Harold, ed. William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. New York: Chelsea House, 2000.Brooke, Albert. The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet. N.p.: n.p., 1562.Gill, Roma. Oxford School Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet. 3rd ed. London: Oxford UP, 2001.Greenblatt, Stephen. “Introduction to Romeo and Juliet.” The Norton Shakespeare. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1997.SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Romeo and Juliet.” SparkNotes. com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.Weiss, Rene. Romeo and Juliet. London: Arden Shakespeare, 2012.


Suggested Topics1) Teenage love.2) Famous performers in Romeo and Juliet.3) Adaptations of Romeo and Juliet.4) Violence and Corruption in thirteenth century Verona.

the william shakespeare school presents romeo and juliet

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