Quotes Flashcards
Mercutio
Act 2 Scene 1
Commenting on Romeo’s lovesickness and rashness
‘Romeo! Humours! Madman! Passion! Lover!’
Juliet
Act 1 Scene 3
ambiguously turning down a marriage to Paris
‘an honour I dream not of’
Juliet
Act 1 Scene 5
Juliet laments that Romeo is a Montague
‘My only love sprung from my only hate’
Romeo
Act 2 Scene 4
Romeo explains Mercutio’s self-obsession to the Nurse
‘A gentleman, Nurse, that loves to hear himself talk’
Tybalt
Act 1 Scene 5
Tybalt sees killing Romeo as justified
‘Now by the stock an honour of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin’
Friar Lawrence
Act 2 Scene 3
Foreshadows the uncontrollable power of his potions
‘Poison hath residence and medicine power’
Act 1 Prologue
R+J’s fated romance
‘Death-marked love’
Capulet
Act 1 Scene 3
Juliet gives Capulet hope, seen as she is kind, but revealed later to just be as a child-bearer and wife.
‘the hopeful lady of my Earth’
Mercutio
Act 1 Scene 4
Suggests that Romeo’s lovesickness is a result of being idle
‘the children of an idle brain/begot of nothing but vain fantasy’
Juliet
Act 1 Scene 5
Religious imagery suggesting the holiness of R + J’s relationship
‘This holy shrine’
Romeo
Act 1 Scene 5
Religious imagery
‘My lips, two blushing pilgrims’
Romeo
Act 2 Scene 2
Metaphor suggesting Juliet is good, pure and holy
‘what light through yonder breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun’
Juliet
Act 2 Scene 2
Laments who Romeo is
‘O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name’
Juliet
Act 2 Scene 2
Questions why it matters that Romeo is a Montague
‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet’
Friar Lawrence
Act 2 Scene 3
Comments on the blurred lines of good and bad and their consequences; sets up his ‘undignified’ actions later in the play
‘Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied,
And vice sometime by action dignified’
Mercutio
Act 2 Scene 4
Celebrates Romeo being able to have fun with him again; cured of lovesickness
‘Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo’
Nurse
Act 2 Scene 4
Admires Juliet; praises her to Romeo
‘my mistress is the sweetest Lady’
Nurse
Act 2 Scene 5
Teases Juliet; makes her wait for news of wedding
‘Jesu, what haste? Can you not stay awhile’
Romeo
Act 3 Scene 1
The hellish aura he takes on after Mercutio’s death at the hand of Tybalt
‘fire-eyed fury’
Romeo
Act 3 Scene 1
Comments on his bad luck/fate after killing Tybalt
‘O, I am fortune’s fool’
Mercutio
Act 3 Scene 1
Repeated as he is dying
‘a plague aboth your houses’
Juliet
Act 3 Scene 2
Ironic statement that Romeo is pure and good
‘Whiter than new snow off a raven’s back’
Juliet
Act 3 Scene 2
Oxymorons for Romeo
‘Beautiful tyrant’
‘Damned saint’
‘honourable villain’
Capulet
Act 3 Scene 4
Asserts that Juliet is governed by him; ironic as he doesn’t know about any of her affairs with Romeo
‘She will be ruled in all respects by me’
Juliet
Act 3 Scene 5
Ambiguous double meaning about Romeo and her reaction to Tybalt’s death
‘I never shall be satisfied With Romeo, till I behold him – dead – is my poor heart’
Capulet
Act 3 Scene 5
Shouts offensively at Juliet once she refuses to marry Paris
‘Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!’
‘green-sickness carrion’
Capulet
Act 3 Scene 5
Patriarchally stops Juliet from having a say
‘Speak not, reply not, do not answer me. My fingers itch’
Wants to be violent but resists
Juliet
Act 4 Scene 1
Juliet is suicidal; reflects Romeo’s overdramatic behaviour earlier in the play
‘Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife’
Capulet
Act 4 Scene 5
Reaction to Juliet’s ‘death’ ironic in context of Romeo. Can recognise that something affair-like has occurred
‘Death is my heir; my daughter he hath wedded’
Romeo
Act 5 Scene 3
Irony; says Juliet does not look dead
‘Death, that had sucked the honey of thy breath, hath no power yet upon thy beauty’
Juliet
Act 5 Scene 3
Last words; comments on the fate of her death
‘This is thy sheath’
Montague/Capulet
Act 1 Scene 1/Act 5 Scene 3
Strong contrast in referral to one another
‘Thou villain Capulet’
‘O brother Montague’
Montague
Act 5 Scene 3
Refers to Juliet; religious purity; contrast to gory death
‘raise her statue in pure gold’
Prince
Act 5 Scene 3
Fated love’s power has killed R + J
‘heaven finds means to kill your joys with love’
Prologue
What R+J are
‘star-crossed lovers’
Friar Lawrence
Act 4 Scene 1
Feels sorrow and shame for the pain inflicted on R+J; feels somewhat responsible
‘O Juliet, I already know thy grief, it strains me past the compass of my words’
Romeo And Juliet
Act 4 Scene 3/Act 5 Scene 3
They drink their respective potions in honour of each other
‘Here’s drink - I drink to love’
‘Here’s to my love!’
Prologue Act 1
The Purpose
Sets mood; expect tragedy and conflict
Starting the play with violence
Purpose
Sets tone and setting of conflict
Tybalt
Act 1 Scene 1
First line
‘look upon thy death’
Romeo
Act 1 Scene 1
Contrasts of love
‘choking gall’
‘preserving sweet’
Presence of Paris and Rosaline
Purpose
To make Romeo seem more passionate
Rosaline: ‘chaste’
Romeo
Act 2 Scene 6
Dramatic Irony
‘love-devouring death do what he dare’
Juliet
Act 4 Scene 3
Final soliloquy - atmosphere, personification
‘foul mouth’ (tomb)
Act 3 Scene 1
Romeo blames fate though its actually his fault
‘O I am fortune’s fool’ - fricative aggression sound
‘In my temper softened valour’s steel’ - soliloquy (inner egotistical thoughts - no witnesses) that states that he must kill Tybalt
Act 5 Scene 3
Romeo is a tragic hero to Paris
‘….with me in sour misfortunes book. I’ll bury thee in a triumphant grave’
Act 1 Scene 5
Romeo is impulsive and nonsensical
‘I ne’er saw true beauty till this night’
Capulet is trying for Juliet - finds a better partner than Romeo
Romeo gets Juliet killed
Feud
Paris is from a wealthy family
He’s trying to make her happy after Tybalt’s death
He increases her role and status in the family to please her
Nurse betrays Juliet
Advises to marry Paris - practical move Betrays Juliet's fear of hell Gives up risk Protects own interests Expects affair with Romeo to continue 'I think it best you married with the county... Romeo’s a dishclout to him. An eagle, madam,'
What to do with the extract - structure
WHY IS THAT EXTRACT WHERE IT IS
R + J don’t grow in maturity at all
Their parents change after the kids deaths - interpretations of purpose
Encourages avoidance of arranged marriage as it leads to Juliet’s pain and tragedy
Encouraged parents not to allow children to follow passions - disaster ensues
Imagery of Tybalt by Mercutio
Doom - are our lives controlled by fate?
Or is it social convention that dooms then - feud, arranged marriage? If they didnt have to worry about these it wouldve had a happy ending
‘Prince of Cats’ - celebration of violence
‘He fights as you sing prick-song’
‘He rests on minim rest’
Star crossed from the initial prologue
True love is an illusion - overidealised, seen by Romeo and Juliet
Context evidence
Unconventionally married an older woman (Anne Hathaway) - marriage is about security, not childish desire
Soliloquy of Romeo
Social convention drives his actions
‘O sweet Juliet,/Thy beauty hath made me effeminate /And in my temper soften’d valour’s steel!’
Romeo
Before going to the Capulet ball
Ignores his fate even though he knows about it
‘My mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars, shall bitterly begin his fearful date with this night’s revels’
His terrible fate is beginning, but he goes anyway
Contrary to greek tragedy, where heroes avoid their fate, shakespearean tragedy sees protagonist run towards it, ‘hamartia’ so he may not be a tragic hero.
Male aggression
Sampson and Gregory
A1S1
Do you bite your thumb at us sir
I do bite my thumb sir
Act 1
Lovesickness
Romeo - fairly meaningless
‘Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs’
Final line
‘For never was a story of more than that of juliet and her romeo’
Rhyme suggests finality and fate
All are punishèd
All are punishèd
Romeo
Act 1
His infatuation with love is ingenuine and incorrect
Oxymorons show this His supposed ideas are a pose ‘Feather of lead’ ‘Heavy lightness’ Meaningless; grovelling about unrequited love
Mercutio
Response to romeos bad poetry
‘Speak but one rhyme and i am satisfied… pronounce but love and dove’
‘Marry, she had a better love to berhyme her’
Friars risktaking
Results in reconciliation
BUT
Could have resulted in him being jailed
BUT
Possibility of following God’s orders - does accomplish end of feud
Star crossed lovers - Death is inevitable - Friar has given it a greater meaning - making the best of an impossible deal
Juliet’s fear of hell
Why not just marry Paris? She would be happy?
Believes her monogamy will condemn her to hell
BUT would God condone arranged marriage?
Suicide - might as well go to hell because she will be with Romeo
Capulet is a good father
Finds best match for his daughter - much better than Romeo even without the feud - from a much more wealthy and prominent family
Believes it will bring her ‘joy’ because she is ‘grief-stricken’ because of Romeo - he has no idea and is just doing his best
Has no reason to think her rejecting of Paris is reasonable
Older than Lady Capulet at marriage
Why is Tybalt’s challenge in next scene after marriage
Suggested it has caused tragedy - or just a criticism of marriage - or promoting Romeo’s new adult behaviour, begins to tap into male aggression
Romeo
Act 1 Scene 5
God sacrifices R+J to end feud - similar to Jesus
‘he that hath the steerage of my course’
Purpose of Romeo killing Paris
Romeo kills Paris
Shows love is violent - attack on romantic love - prepared to kill each other even though Juliet is already dead - objectifying leads to tragic consequences for men and women - thinking irrationally
Warms against not ‘loving moderately’
If no arranged marriage…
If no arranged marriage, the play would have ended well, clearly in love, sonnet in act1scene5
Shakespeares perception of true love
True love is idealised and fake; should just be concerned with securing a future
