| Bodes | be an omen of a particular outcome |
| boisterous | rough and stormy; violent |
| orisons | A prayer |
| dirges | A funeral hymn or lament |
| presage | an omen |
| penury | destitution |
| loathed | To dislike (someone or something) greatly |
| inundation | To cover with water |
| appertaining | To belong as a proper function or part |
| arbitrating | To submit to settlement or judgment by arbitration |
| “Oh, dear account! My life is my foe’s debt.” | Scene: Act 1 Scene 5Speaker: RomeoMeaning: His love for Juliet has brought him out of his depression. Since she is a Capulet,he owes his enemy for his new happiness. |
| “Affliction is enamored of thy parts/And thou art wedded to calamity” | Scene: Act 3 Scene 3Speaker: Friar LawrenceMeaning:Friar Laurence is saying that hardship seems to love Romeo, as it always seems to follow him around, and that Romeo isn’t really married to Juliet, he’s married to “calamity” |
| “Death is my son-in-law. Death is my heir” | Scene: Act 4 Scene 5Speaker: Lord CapuletMeaning: Death has taken my only heir so Death will know be the only person to inherit my forutne/ be my heir or son in law for Death has married Juliet rather than Paris |
| “Oh I am fortune’s fool!” | Scene: Act 3 Scene 1. After killing tybaltSpeaker: Romeo Meaning: Romeo’s remark “O, I am fortune’s fool!” illustrates the fact that Romeo sees himself as subject to the whims of fate. |
| “Graze where you will, you shall not house with me.” | Scene: Act 3 Scene 5Speaker: Lord CapuletMeaning: Eat wherever you want, but you can no longer live under my roof. Capulet is threatening to disown Juliet because she refuses to marry Paris. |
| But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,Who is already sick and pale with griefThat thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. . . .The brightness of her cheek would shame those starsAs daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heavenWould through the airy region stream so brightThat birds would sing and think it were not night. | Scene: Balcony scene. Act 2 scene 1Speaker: RomeoMeaning:Juliet’s surpassing beauty makes Romeo imagine that she is the sun, transforming the darkness into daylight. Romeo also says the moon is “sick and pale with grief” at the fact that Juliet, the sun, is far brighter and more beautiful. Romeo then compares Juliet to the stars, claiming that she eclipses the stars as daylight overpowers a lamp—her eyes alone shine so bright that they will convince the birds to sing at night as if it were day. |
| 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. | Scene: balcony scene. Act 2 Scene 1Speaker: JulietMeaning: Leaning out of her upstairs window, unaware that Romeo is below in the orchard, she asks why Romeo must be Romeo—why he must be a Montague, the son of her family’s greatest enemy. Still unaware of Romeo’s presence, she asks him to deny his family for her love. She adds, however, that if he will not, she will deny her family in order to be with him if he merely tells her that he loves her. |
| 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 atomiAthwart men’s noses as they lie asleep. | Scene: Act 1 Scene 4Speaker: MercutioMeaning: Mercutio is trying to convince Romeo to set aside his lovesick melancholy over Rosaline and come along to the Capulet feast. When Romeo says that he is depressed because of a dream, Mercutio launches on a lengthy, playful description of Queen Mab, the fairy who supposedly brings dreams to sleeping humans. The main point of the passage is that the dreams Queen Mab brings are directly related to the person who dreams them—lovers dream of love, soldiers of war, etc. But in the process of making this rather prosaic point Mercutio falls into a sort of wild bitterness in which he seems to see dreams as destructive and delusional. |
| From forth the fatal loins of these two foesA pair of star-crossed lovers take their life,Whose misadventured piteous overthrowsDoth with their death bury their parents’ strife | Scene: Prologue. Act 1 Scene 1Speaker: ChorusMeaning: The Chorus’s remark that Romeo and Juliet are “star-crossed” and fated to “take their lives” informs the audience that the lovers are destined to die tragically. |
| Then I defy you, stars. | Scene: Act 5 Scene 1Speaker: RomeoMeaning: After learning of Juliet’s death, Romeo declares himself openly opposed to the destiny that so grieves him. Sadly, in “defying” fate he actually brings it about. Romeo’s suicide prompts Juliet to kill herself, thereby ironically fulfilling the lovers’ tragic destiny. |
| “A plague o’ both your houses!” | Scene: Act 3 Scene 1Speaker: MercutioMeaning: Tension between the Montague and Capulet families has been mounting until a fight erupts in the streets. Romeo’s best friend, Mercutio, goads Tybalt Capulet into a duel. Mercutio is stabbed by Tybalt, who runs away. Mercutio curses both families in his final words, wishing a plague on both families. Mercutio’s words foreshadows the loss that both families will soon feel. |
| “For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” | Scene: Act 5 Scene 3Speaker: Prince EscalusMeaning:In the last two lines of the play, Prince Escalus remarks on the lives of Juliet and Romeo. He’s saying that no other tale has been this sad. While Escalus is right, his words also allow for the enduring quality of Romeo and Juliet’s love. |
| “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other word would smell as sweet.” | Scene: Act 2 Scene 2Speaker: JulietMeaning: Juliet expresses a very modern idea of that your name does not define you. In her world, your name — or the family that you come from — sets out how people view you. The idea that you should be judged solely on your own merit is a progressive idea for the setting that showcases Juliet’s rebellious streak. |
| “Good Night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.” | Scene: Act 2 Scene 2Speaker: JulietMeaning: In her farewell, Juliet expresses her sorrow about being away from her love, Romeo. But their parting is sweet, because the next time they meet, their wedding will take place. |
| One fairer than my love? The all-seeing sunNe’er saw her match since first the world begun. | Scene: Act 1 Scene 2Speaker: RomeoMeaning: A woman more beautiful than the one I love? The sun itself has never seen anyone as beautiful since the world began. |
| O, she doth teach the torchers to burn bright! | Scene: Act 1 Scene 5Speaker: RomeoMeaning: Romeo says Juliet so beautiful. Oh, she shows the torches how to burn bright! |
| Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night. | Scene: Act 1 Scene 5Speaker:RomeoMeaning: Did my heart ever love anyone before this moment? My eyes were liars, then, because I never saw true beauty before tonight. |
| It seems she hangs upon the cheek of nightAs a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear | Scene: Act 1 Scene 5Speaker: RomeoMeaning: She stands out against the darkness like a jeweled earring hanging against the cheek of an African. |
| See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!O that I were a glove upon that hand,That I might touch that cheek! | Scene:Speaker:Meaning: Look how she leans her hand on her cheek. Oh, I wish I was the glove on that hand so that I could touch that cheek. |
| Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast. | Scene: Act 2 Scene 3 Speaker: Friar LawrenceMeaning: Go wisely and slowly. Those who rush stumble and fall. Romeo needs to slow down with his love or something terrible could happen |
| This day’s black fate on more days doth depend.Thus but begins the woe others must end. | Scene: Act 3 Scene 1 Speaker: RomeoMeaning: The future will be affected by today’s terrible events. Today is the start of a terror that will end in the days ahead. |
| Romeo is banishèd –There is no end, no limit, measure bound,In that word’s death. No words can that woe sound. | Scene:Act 3 Scene 2Speaker: JulietMeaning:”Romeo has been banished.” That news brings infinite death. No words can express the pain. |
| Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is here,Where Juliet lives, and every cat and dogAnd little mouse, every unworthy thing,Live here in heaven and may look on her.But Romeo may not. | Scene: Act 3 Scene 3Speaker: RomeoMeaning:Romeo he says his punishment of banishment is “torture, not mercy. Heaven is here because Juliet lives here. Every cat and dog and little mouse, every unworthy animal that lives here can see her, but Romeo can’t.” |
| Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low,As one dead in the bottom of a tomb. | Scene: Act 2 Scene 5Speaker: JulietMeaning: Now that you are down there, you look like someone dead in the bottom of a tomb. Either my eyesight is failing me, or you look pale. Foreshadowing that the next time Juliet sees him, romeo will be dead. |
| Is there no pity sitting in the cloudsThat 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 bedIn that dim monument where Tybalt lies. | Scene: Act 3 Scene 5Speaker: JulietMeaning: Is there no pity in the sky that can see my sadness? Oh, my sweet mother, don’t throw me out! Delay this marriage for a month, or a week. Or, if you don’t delay, make my wedding bed in the tomb where Tybalt lies. |
| Or bid me go into a new-made graveAnd hide me with a dead man in his tomb –Things that, to hear them told, have made be tremble –And I will do it without fear or doubtTo live an unstained wife to my sweet love. | Scene: Act 4 Scene 1Speaker: JulietMeaning: Or tell me to climb down into a freshly dug grave, and hide me with a dead man in his tomb. All those ideas make me tremble when I hear them named. But I will do them without fear or dread in order to be a pure wife to my sweet love. |
| Not stepping o’er the bounds of modesty. | Scene: Act 4 Scene 2Speaker: JulietMeaning: |
| O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day!Most lamentable day. most woeful dayThat ever, ever did I yet behold.O day, O day, O day! O hateful day!Never was seen so black a day as this.O woeful day! O woeful day! | Scene:Act 4 Scene 5Speaker: NurseMeaning: I met the young man (Prince) at Lawrence’s cell. I treated him with the proper love, as well as I could, while still being modest. Irony |
| I dreamt my lady came and found me dead. But awakened me with a kiss | Scene: Act 5 Scene 1Speaker: RomeoMeaning: I had a dream that my lady came and found me dead. It’s a strange dream that lets a dead man think! She came and brought me back to life by kissing my lips. I rose from the dead and was an emperor. Foreshadowing |
| O my love, my wife!Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath,Hath had no power on thy beauty.Thou art not conquered. Beauty’s ensign yetIs crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, | Scene: Act 5 Scene 3Speaker:Meaning: Oh, my love! My wife! Death has sucked the honey from your breath, but it has not yet ruined your beauty. You haven’t been conquered. There is still red in your lips and in your cheeks. Death has not yet turned them pale. Saying Juliet doesn’t look like she’s dead (because she really isn’t) |
| A greater power than we can contradictHath thwarted our intents. | Scene: Act 5 Scene 3Speaker: Friar LawrenceMeaning: A greater power than we can fight has ruined our plan. Common theme of Fate destining Romeo and Juliet’s love to end in tragedy. |
| My only love sprung from my only hate!Too early seen unknown, and known too late!Prodigious birth of love it is to me,That I must love a loathed enemy | Scene: Act 1 Scene 5Speaker: JulietMeaning:Juliet speaks with her nurse after meeting Romeo at the conclusion of Act I. She remarks that she fell in love with Romeo right away, and only later discovered that he is a Montague (“known too late”). |
| Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,Take him and cut him out in little stars,And he will make the face of heaven so fineThat all the world will be in love with night | Scene: Act 3 Scene 2Speaker: JulietMeaning:After their initial meeting, Juliet speaks to herself while waiting for Romeo, her imagination the stuff of “heaven” and “stars” and describing how beautiful Romeo is. |
| O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical!Dove-feather’d raven! wolvish-ravening lamb! | Scene: Act 3 Scene 2Speaker: JulietMeaning:Juliet learns that Romeo has killed Tybalt and vents her anger in good/evil terms. Thus Romeo, is a “serpent” with the face of a flower, a “dragon” in a “fair” cave. |
| “What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the wordAs I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.” | Scene: Act 1 Scene 1Speaker:TybaltMeaning: Tybalt says this to Benvolio and exclaims his hatred of the Montagues and refuses to stop fighting |
| “But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart.My will to her consent is but a part.” | Scene: Act 1 Scene 2Speaker: Lord CapuletMeaning: Tells Paris that Juliet must agree to marry Paris for his approval is only half of the deal |
| “Compare her face to some that I will showAnd I will make thee think thy swan a crow.” | Scene: Act 1 Scene 2Speaker: BenvolioMeaning: Tells romeo to go the Capulet’s feast so he can get over Rosaline and see that Rosaline isn’t as pretty as the other at the feast |
| “I fear too early for my mind misgivesSome consequence yet hanging in the starsShall bitterly begin this fearful dateWith this night’s revels, and expire the termOf a despised life closed in my breastBy some vile fortune of untimely death.” | Scene: Act Scene 4Speaker: RomeoMeaning: Foreshadowing of bad things to come and not being able to stop fate |
| With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit . . .O, she is rich in beauty; only poorThat, when she dies, with beauty dies her store. | Scene: Act 1 Scene 1Speaker: RomeoMeaning: He describing that Rosaline is beautiful, but will die with her chastity for she refuses to marry |
| If I profane with my unworthiest handThis holy shrine, the gentle sin is this:My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready standTo smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. | Scene: Act 1 Scene 5Speaker: RomeoMeaning: Romeo is flirting with Juliet saying she is a saint and that he must purged his sins through her. |
| “If ever you disturb our streets again,Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.” | Scene: Act 1 Scene 1Speaker: Prince EscalusMeaning: Threatens the Montagues and Capulets that if they disturb the peace again, they will be executed |
| “O brawling love, O loving hate, / O anything, of nothing first created!” | Speaker: RomeoMeaning: O brawling love! O loving hate! Love that comes from nothing! Oxymorons. Describes Romeos heartbreak and how painful love isScene: act 1 Scene 1 |
| “Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs; / Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;/ Being vexed, a sea nourished with loving tears.” | Speaker: RomeoMeaning: Here’s what love is: a smoke made out of lovers’ sighs. When the smoke clears, love is a fire burning in your lover’s eyes. If you frustrate love, you get an ocean made out of lovers’ tears. Scene: Act 1 Scene 1 |
Romeo and Juliet test
September 2, 2019