| “Two households, both alike in dignity,/In Fair Verona, where we lay our scene,” | Chorus: Two families of similar status in Fair Verona, Italy. |
| “If ever you disturb our streets again,/You lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace./For this time all the rest depart away.” | Prince: The next time the two families start a fight they will be put to death. |
| “True, I talk of dreams;/ Which are the children of an idle brain,/ Begot of nothing but vain fantasy,” | Mercutio: Yes, I’m talking about dreams, which are made by a bored brain. |
| “I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall,/ Now seeming sweet, convert to bitter gall.” | Tybalt, Foreshadowing: I will leave, but this interruption will turn against Romeo. |
| “My lips, Two blushing pilgrims, ready to stand/ To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.” | Romeo, Allusion: My lips are like pilgrims visiting a shrine with a kiss. |
| “I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes.” | Mercutio: I summon Romeo with Rosalind’s eyes. |
| “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.” | Juliet: What’s the meaning behind a name? A name does not change the meaning of the object. |
| “I know not how to tell thee who I am,/My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,/ because it is an enemy to thee;/ Had I written it, I would tear the word.” | Romeo: My name is your enemy, and I would change it if I could. |
| “I have no joy of this contract tonight./ It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden;” | Friar Laurence: This wedding is too sudden, blindly planned. |
| “But come, young waverer, come, go with me,/ In one respect I’ll thy assistant be;/ For this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households’ rancor to pure love.” | Friar Laurence: This marriage may resolve the feud between the families. |
| “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford/ No better term then this: thou art a villain.” | Tybalt: Romeo, the only thing I can call you is a villain. |
| “A plague on both your houses!/ They have made worms’ meat of me.” | Mercutio: Curse your houses! Their feud has killed me. |
| “I beg for justice, which though, Prince, must give./ Romeo slew Tybalt; Romeo must not live.” | Lady Capulet: I demand that the Prince gives me justice. Romeo killed Tybalt, he must die. |
| “And to’t they go like lightning; for, ere I/ could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain;” | Benvolio: Like lightning, before I could pull them apart, Tybalt was killed. |
| “Hold thy desperate hand./ Art thou a man? Thy form cried out thou art;/ Thy tears are womanist, thy wild acts denote/The unreasonable fury of a beast.” | Friar Laurence: Your crying is womanish. Your acts resemble a mindless beast. |
| “Then since the case so stands as now it doth,/ I think it best you married with the county./ O, he’s a lovely gentleman!” | Nurse: Because of the situation, you should marry County Paris. |
| “Methinks I see my cousin’s ghost/ Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body/ Upon a rapier’s point. Stay, Tybalt, Stay!/ Romeo, I come! This do I drink to thee.” | Juliet, Foreshadowing: I think I see the ghost of Tybalt, looking for Romeo, who killed him. I will come, Romeo! I drink this potion for you. |
| “Death lies on her like an untimely frost/ Upon the sweetest flower on all the field.” | Capulet: She died abruptly like a flower killed by a sudden frost. |
| “Here’s to my love!/ O true apothecary!/ Thy drugs are quick./ Thus with a kiss I die.” | Romeo: I hope this apothecary gave me real poison that will kill me quickly. With a kiss, I will die. |
| “Oh happy dagger/ This is thy sheath…” | Juliet, oxymoron: This is Romeo’s dagger. |
| “For never was a story of more woe/ than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” | Prince: There was never a more tragic tale than of Romeo and Juliet. |
English Romeo and Juliet
November 1, 2019