| “I’ll look to like, if looking liking move; but no more deep will I endart mine eye than your consent gives strength to make it fly” | Juliet is talking to her mother about checking Paris/This quote shows that Juliet is mature and respectful. She hasn’t really thought about marriage, but she will do as her mother wishes and give Paris a look. |
| “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” | Romeo sees Juliet through a window while he creeping around the yard/In this quote, Romeo is already worshipping Juliet and placing her on a pedestal. He constantly compares her to things in the sky or heavens, things above him. |
| “Deny thy father and refuse thy name” | Juliet on her balcony speaking her thoughts about Romeo while he secretly listens below/Juliet is wishing Romeo wasn’t a Montague. She suggests he would forfeit his name so they can be together. |
| “What’s in a name?” | Again, Juliet on her balcony speaking her thoughts about Romeo while he secretly listens below/This quote shows Juliet is quite a modern thinker for her time. She is questioning the value of titles and names at a time when they meant everything. |
| “There lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords” | Romeo responds to Juliet’s suggestion that he is in great danger sneaking around her yard/This shows Romeo’s immaturity and overblown romanticism. In contrast, Juliet is far more mature and rational. |
| “Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford no better term that this: thou art a villain” | Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel for a perceived slight/This shows Tybalt’s extreme sensitivity and excessive pride. He is looking for a reason to fight |
| ” I do protest, I never injured thee, but love thee better than thou canst devise till thou…” | Romeo is telling Tybalt that he doesn’t want to fight him/This is an example of dramatic irony, as the Tybalt is unaware of the marriage between Romeo and Juliet |
| “O calm, dishonorable, vile submission!” | Mercutio can’t stand Romeo’s refusal to stand up for himself/ This shows Mercutio’s pride. His inability to stand by ultimately kills him |
| “A plague o” both your houses!” | Mercutio curses both houses after he stabbed Tybalt/ Mercutio lays equal blame on both families . He is a victim of their senseless feud |
| “Ask for me tomorrow and you will find me a grave man” | Mercution just before his death/This shows Mercutio’s jocular character. Even in death he jests. |
| “O, I am fortune’s fool!” | Romeo has just killed Tybalt/Romeo repeatedly refers to the stars and other cosmic forces in the play. He believes in fate. |
| “Then I defy you, stars” | Romeo has just learned Juliet is dead/This again shows Romeo’s belief in fate, but not Romeo is determined to buck it |
| “Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night” | Romeo in the immediate grief of Juliet’s death/Romeo intends to kill himself. Again he is impulsive, emotional, and extreme |
| “I dare no longer stay” | Friar Lawrence before he runs/Shows he is cowardly |
| “All are punish’d”;”A glooming peace this morning with it brings” | The Prince addresses the families at the end of the play/These two quotes effectively summarize the new reality; both families have lost their way bet and suffer equally, but mutual loss has brought a new peace and the feud is over |
Romeo and Juliet Important Quotes
October 22, 2019