| narrator (foreshadows the tragedy at the end of the story; this quote illustrates how the lovers’ relationship is fated to end tragically) | A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life. (Prologue) |
| Romeo (speaking about Juliet to himself at the party when he first sees her before their first conversation one another) | Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night. (I, v) |
| Romeo (talking to himself about Juliet’s sudden appearance at her balcony when he first enters the orchard of the Capulets; he compares Juliet to the sun because she seems to transform the night into day and eclipses even the stars; this quote is a primary example of Shakespeare’s use of contrast between light and dark in this play) | But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. (II, ii) |
| Juliet (talking to herself and reminiscing about Romeo before Romeo reveals himself; she does not want the circumstances of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets to interfere with her potential relationship with Romeo, so she talks to herself about the value of familial titles to herself and how either Romeo or she should abandon his or her family in order to have a sustainable relationship; this quote shows how there is a significant tension between familial and social identity and inner identity in this play) | O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?……. What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. (II, ii) |
| Friar Lawrence (talking to Romeo about the circumstances of his relationship status after Romeo says that he must quickly leave the church; the Friar is surprised that Romeo would abandon his infatuation of Rosaline for a sudden deep relationship with Juliet, so he advises Romeo to not rush through the relationship and/or marriage too quickly, saying that those who rush stumble and fall) | Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast. (II, iii) |
| Mercutio (talking to Romeo and Benvolio after he has been mortally wounded by Tybalt; he curses both the Capulets and the Montagues for their family feud and how it has led to many serious consequences that now include his death) | A plague o’ both your houses! They have made worms’ meat of me! (III, i) |
| Romeo (talking to Benvolio about Mercutio’s recent death at the hands of Tybalt; he talks about how Mercutio’s death that day will affect many relationships and events in Verona for many days to come and how the killing of Mercutio is the start of a certain “terror” that will end in the coming days; this quote foreshadows the tragic ending of the play) | This day’s black fate on more days doth depend: this but begins the woe others must end. (III, i) |
| Romeo (talking to Friar Lawrence about the consequences of his banishment and what effect they will have on his relationship with Juliet; he laments how his banishment is torture and how everything and everybody in Verona can still see Juliet while he will not be able to see Juliet at all after Friar Lawrence points out that the prince had given him a merciful punishment as the punishment would normally have been death) | Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is here where Juliet lives, and every cat and dog and little mouse, every unworthy thing, live here in heaven and may look on her, but Romeo may not. (III, iii) |
| Juliet (talking to her mother, who disregards her comments, after her father has berated her for disobeying his orders to marry Paris soon; she pleads with her mother to delay the marriage in a way that indicates that she would even take death over marriage to Paris, but her mother does not listen to her; she then grieves over her situation to the Nurse) | Is there no pity sitting in the clouds that sees into the bottom of my grief? O sweet my mother, cast me not away! Delay this marriage for a month, a week, or if you do not, make the bridal bed in that dim monument where Tybalt lies. (III, v) |
| Juliet (talking to Friar Lawrence about what she should do to avoid marrying Paris and potentially reunite with Romeo and how she could do this after Paris meets with her and the Friar in the church about their marriage the next day; in this paragraph, she tells the Friar about various far-fetched plans to prevent her from marrying Paris and how she would follow any plan that the Friar would give her in order to be a pure wife to Romeo; this indicates her devotion to Romeo and their relationship) | Or bid me go into a new-made grave, and hide me with a dead man in his shroud – things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble – and I will do it without fear or doubt, to live an unstain’d wife to my sweet love. (IV, i) |
| Romeo (talking to Balthasar after receiving the news of Juliet’s “death”; this quote shows how Romeo is going against the control of fate, symbolized by the stars and their movement, and how the love between Romeo and Juliet seems to be in opposition to the decrees of destiny) | Then I defy you, stars! (V, i) |
| Friar Lawrence (talking to Juliet in the tomb after they both notice Romeo’s recent suicide; the Friar explains to Juliet how fate or some supernatural being that they could not stop had stopped their intended plan and that their best option is to quickly flee before they are discovered) | A greater power than we can contradict hath thwarted our intents. (V, iii) |
| Prince (discussing to all present in the tomb about the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet; this quote also reflects on how the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet was fated to occur this way) | For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo. (V, iii) |
Romeo and Juliet Quotes and Quote Analysis
August 15, 2019