Romeo And Juliet Quotes Flashcards
Contextual points on the writer
William Shakespeare performed plays in London that the royal family liked (links to criticism of Verona’s society). Each of his other tragedies put the blame on fatal flaws within leading characters that ultimately led to the tragedy, providing insight into the darker aspects of human nature. He wrote R and J based on the poem, ‘the tragical history of Romeus and Juliet.’ He wrote it based on makings for a tragedy, humour in the opening lines, conflict, marriage, irony…etc.
Contextual info on the setting
Verona was known for passion and violence. It’s moral, social and philosophical values mirror that of Elizabethan England at the time. Did this to widen appeal of the play while deflecting accusations of criticism of Elizabethan society.
Contextual info on gender
Patriarchal society (linking to chain of being) despite being ruled by queen. Pride and honour were v important w constant idolise of control and power. Shakespeare implies that this ultimately leads to unnecessary violence/ irritation. Women were seen at lower statuses than men and were expected to be quiet and obedient; this is shown in act 1 scene 1 in which Lady Capulet/Montague attempt to stop their husbands from going out to fight and are consequently ignored. They had little control over their own lives (including marriage). Women were seen as mere possessions. Shakespeare uses the play to explore women’s roles in society through Juliet’s actions going against the ethics of that at the time (defying father). To be manly, you were expected not to tolerate any wrongs done against you. “An you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend, and you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets” Capulet
Contextual info on superstition
Primarily Protestant nevertheless majority believed in fate, destiny, fortune and astrology. Debate between these 2 aspects was common in the European Renaissance movement. Often was a way to disregard responsibilities for one’s own actions. Shakespeare raises the q as to how much control we have over our own lives. Is a tragedy as they are doomed from the beginning.
“I defy you stars!” Romeo
Marrying twice and suicide were both cells considered to be mortal sins.
Contextual info on performance of the play
Huge, rowdy audiences attended who often would respond verbally to incidents on stage. This is why it was important for Shakespeare to convey his themes repeatedly over a wide means. He did this via symbolism, characters, language, events and play structure.
Puritans criticised it as believed to be quite sinful, royal families still kept Shakespeare’s theatres open.
Contextual info on honour
Men idolised natural honour (w equals) as to lose honour was to lose all respect and reputation which couldn’t be regained. Explains Tybalt’s offence at Romeo turning up to their party yet Capulet’s lack of care. Ultimately leads to Mercutio’s death.
A women’s honour depended on one’s chastity. Losing one’s virginity before marriage would lose a woman’s honour and therefore she would lose everything (including her family).
Contextual info on love and family
Children were seen as property and were involved in arranged marriages, needing parental consent. In high society, children often raised by ‘wet nurses’, linking with Juliet’s close bond with nurse and seeing her as a mother figure. Explains why Juliet lacked strong bonds w her parents. Elizabethans would have blame R&J for their own deaths due to disobedience of their own family.
‘Courtly Love’ is displayed, involving hidden romance and lovesickness especially from the Male while the female remained passive. Ultimately depicted in balcony scene.
Quotes on love
‘Young men’s love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.’ Friar Laurence «_space;this demonstrates vanity and foolishness.
‘If love be rough with you, be rough with love.’ Mercutio «_space;presents sexual, physical love presented by Mercutio’s bawdy humor.
‘Go girl! Seek happy nights to happy days!’ Nurse «_space;shows that nurse thinks fondly of young girl and wants her to be happy, sees love as physical object to be sought out.
‘Younger than she are happy mothers made.’ Paris «_space;love presented as contractual
‘It pricks like thorn.’/ ‘under love’s heavy burden.’ Romeo «_space;love is presented to end in distress or sorrow, love has a price.
‘With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls.’ Contrasts with sinking feeling and love giving us power. Also links to religious, celestial side of love.
‘Stony limits cannot hold love out.’ R «_space;love is presented as undefeatable and freeing (despite family ties holding them back)
‘It is the east and Juliet is the sun’ R «_space;courtly love presented from lovesick R. J is related to the sun which is a giver of life and radiation. Demonstrates her unreachability due to ‘stony walls’, also links to ‘blushing pilgrims’ as R has travelled far to the ‘east’
Quotes on fate
Dramatic irony of play as R&J were doomed from beginning in prologue, ‘a pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.’ Prologue
‘Death-marked love’ prologue.
Links to renaissance movement at time in which debate sparked between fate/predominantly Protestant faith. Shows that no one can escape fate (?). Shakespeare uses foreshadowing throughout play, ‘I would the fool were married to her grave!’ Lady C
‘My grave is like to be my wedding bed.’ J «_space;fate could also be seen as an excuse to rid responsibility.
‘Oh i am fortune’s fool!’ R «_space; Groaning shows courtly love while implying foolishness of love could be mistaken for the personified fortune being a higher power.
Fate could be blamed for R&J’s death.
Conflict quotes
‘Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word.’ Prince Escalus.
Juxtaposed homonym of ‘civil’ demonstrates lack of civilisation/ disregard for the impacts on others in Verona. Shows that it happens over very little and could easily be avoided.
‘My only love sprung from my only hate!’ J «_space;contrasting abstract nouns show her contrasting feelings while also show her innocence as hasn’t experienced love but has already been taught to hate.
‘ a plague ‘o’ both your houses!’ Mercutio»_space; important role as outsider which ultimately shows effects conflict has had on those not supposed to be involved.
‘O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!’ Mercutio «_space;factor of patriarchal society as have been taught not to accept any insult or honour is lost. Shows how casual violence is.
Quotes about death theme
Tragedy, suicide is a recurring theme in Shakespeare’s plays. Chorus foreshadows deaths and creates sympathy due to doomed relationship. ‘Death mark’d love’.
Both lovers have intimations of oncoming death, death threats were more casual in Elizabethan times.
‘An you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend, and you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets.’ «_space;shows that inability to fit in with society results in death (may as well be dead once honor is lost) linking w J’s suicide. Elizabethans became sensitised to high numbers of deaths at time in plague, modern audience may be more sympathetic.
Juliet’s drug-induced deathlike state foreshadows actual death.
‘Death lies on her like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field.’ «_space;shows that even in death, she’s held down by restraints of society. Foreshadows mix up in the plan and her going against stereotypes. You could say that society was to blame for her death.
She was described to be ‘martyred’ showing her image of holiness and linking to earlier connotations of her holiness in contrastin situation.
Apothecary from whom R buys poison has ‘famine in thy cheeks’ further foreshadows death as poison is bought off a symbol of death..
Many people are to blame for R&J’s death but you could say that it ultimately took their deaths to end family feuds and let them realise their misplaced values.
‘The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head’ Prince E «_space;sun contrasts to iciness of atmosphere and desolation due to lack of R&J’s presence, show change must be caused in society, imagery of J in balcony scene, ‘his’ links to male patriarch’s fault as sun is usually referred to as a female.
Quotes on betrayal in the play
‘This intrusion shall, now seeming sweet, convert to the bitt’rest gall’ Tybalt after party is gatecrashed by Montague. Shows Montague’s crossing of moral boundaries and fickleness of men as sharp change in emotions which also symbolises start of chain of events leading to their death. Modal verb implies inevitability of conflict reenflicted by R’s betrayal. Homonym represents imprudence yet disgust/illness.
‘A plague o’ both your houses!’ M»_space; feels resent for involvement in family feuds and R’s lack of action.
‘I was hurt under your arm.’ M «_space;literal yet representative betrayal of R, m was in refuge of R who did a bad job.
‘Deny thy father and refuse thy name.’ J to R «_space;easily betray parents for stranger
‘O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face!’ J «_space;R betrays J creating conflict of emotions as he killed bride’s cousin. Still loves R despite murder of T. Links to devil and snake tempting A&E in garden of Eden (evangelical belief), shows she was deceived by vanity and naivety. Chain of oxymorons displays her conflicting emotions towards R’s betrayal. ‘Dove-feathered raven! Wolvish-ravening lamb!’ J about R»_space; lamb reflects innocence and society’s effect. Dove links to purity and angelicism around J despite murder.
Links to beginning of play when both meet (love at first sight)
‘Love’s sweet bait from fearful hooks’ chorus «_space;foreshadows deception
Romeo quotes
‘Under love’s heavy burden do i sink.’ R «_space; personification of love blames love and shows control that love has over him and how influential.
‘With love’s light wings did I o’er-perch these walls.’ R «_space;love is personified and gives him power in comparison to sinking. Alliteration highlights his passion and displays r freeing himself from society’s responsibilities.
He rushes into feelings due to his passion, ‘did my heart love till now?’. Personifies heart, showing how he lets emotions control him. Love at first sight links w fate and hes dazed by her beauty. Yet shows his fickleness after just getting over Rosaline.
Religious imagery is used, ‘Holy shrine’ and ‘pilgrim’ shows unreachability/idolatry and fits in w courtly love.
Celestial imagery continues in balcony scene, ‘it is the east, and Juliet is the sun.´sun rises in east, implying new love is blossoming.
His passion can lead to rage v quick. ´Fire’eye´d fury be my conduct now!´R, only sees red, so sees no other option as to the situation. Alliteration exaggerates danger associated w R´s hotheadedness, fire can be unpredictable and so spread quickly (impulsive). Exclamative further shows volatility.
Fury could indicate how society has pushed him past the edge.
Says that J’s love has made him ‘effeminate’, showing how he already considers himself property of J, considered insult and weak to be feminine, contrasting w her love giving him wings.
Juliet quotes
‘My only love sprung from my only hate!’ «_space;repetition of only highlights innocence and youth as not yet experienced love, takes responsibility for her own feelings though as indicated by ‘my’. Springing is a verb w lack of control and surprise for sudden feelings in love.
She displays a rational side to her when R asks for her hand in marriage. ‘Too rash, too unadvised, too sudden, too like the lightning.’ J’s sensible side is brought out and contrasted w R’s rash side. ‘Too’ highlights the many risks involved w their relationship. ‘Unadvised’ shows her uncertainty to make her own choices, used to having fam make all her choices for her. Lightening suggests impact within society and links to her betrayal by him later on in the play.
‘Give me my Romeo, and when I shall die, take him and cut cut him out into little stars and he will make the face of heaven so bright that all the world will be in love with night’. Ultimately foreshadows her death, while use of imperative verbs indicate her taking control over her own life and going against stereotypes. Celestial imagery reciprocates R’s description of her as ‘sun’ (light of each other’s lives). Referring to him as face of heaven shows a sense of purity which highlights dramatic irony as he has just murdered Tybalt.
‘He shall not make me there a joyful bride.’ Moral verb demonstrates her control that she is deciding to take on and ‘make me’ shows that husband is expected to control her. Article, ‘a’ demonstrates how she will be defined by the marriage and property. She cares more about happiness than honour.
Despite this, one could say she falters in her resilience as she stays loyal to Romeo once he kills her cousin, Shakespeare suggests that J now relies on him and is trapped within the marriage. ‘O serpent heart hid with a flowering face’, acknowledging betrayal, she associated R with a serpent (predator) connotes Satan and fits w evangelical belief that A&E sinned which affects the rest of the world. Feels deceived by R and now feels vulnerable within the marriage. ‘Flowering’ shows a vainer side to love. Juxtaposition shows her conflicting feelings.
Capulet quotes
At the beginning of the play, shows concerns for J’s welfare and tries to delay marriage w Paris. ‘My will to her consent is but a part.’ His calm conduct now contrasts w later scenes in the play, demonstrating his volatility. This fits in w the modern day father figure.
Describes R as ‘baggage’ as conflict escalates showing how he views her as property and a burden as she’s ungrateful for what he’s done for her.
‘Speak not, reply not, do not answer me.’ Rule of 3 of verbs I thin lexical field of speech highlight his oppression of J and her lack of control over her own life. Imperatives implement his dominance and how that his voice can be used as a weapon.
‘An you be mine, I’ll give you to my friend; and you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets.’foreshadows J’s death, imperatives within lexical field of lowliness. Shows how inability to fit in w society results in death. Took the death of his daughter to see his faults. ‘And with my child my joys are buried ‘, refers to her as child, revealing her innocence and vulnerability, now values happiness over reputation. Buried shows the permanence of death.
