Romeo (quotes)

Question 1

Montague: “Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out,/And makes himself an artificial knight.”
(1,1,133-34)

Answer 1

• Action of making “himself” an “artificial knight” implies self-inflicted isolation
• The dichotomy set up between “daylight” and “night” reflects Romeo’s conflicting emotions.

Question 2

Romeo: “…Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,/ O any thing of nothing first create!….”
(1,1,165-177)

Answer 2

• Use of oxymorons in this section highlights it ineffable quality of love: it is full of contradictions and does not make sense
• This speech is 13 lines, which is arguably an imperfect sonnet. This reflects the idea that Romeo’s experience with love is incomplete and flawed
• The regular rhyming couplets in the section indicates the unpredictable nature of love. This section highlights Romeo’s role as the Petrarchan lover, who suffers from unrequited love
• In Baz Luhrmann’s directorial interpretation, the poetry is personified - it is made more visible, as Romeo is shown writing his dialogue. This emphasises a Petrarchan self conscious suffering

Question 3

Romeo: “O, she is rich in beauty, only poor/ That when she dies, with beauty dies her store”.
(1,1,209-210)

Answer 3

• Caesura injects the line, much like how her death interrupts her “beauty”. The repetition of the verb “dies”, emphasises the indomitable transience of her “beauty” and “store”, which are semantically linked to the body.
• Use of adjectives concerning wealth “rich” and “poor” implies that women are commodities measured by their beauty and fertility.

Question 4

Romeo: “Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars./ One fairer than my love! The all-seeing sun/ Ne’er saw her match since first the world began”.
(1,2,93-95)

Answer 4

• Heretics were individuals with unorthodox religious beliefs, who were often burned to death in the Elizabethan era
• Romeo’s infatuation is analogous to faith and religion: Rosaline is portrayed as the perfect being, like God, and Romeo as a devout flower.
• If his eyes should stray and become “heretics”, Romeo demands biblical punishment, conveyed by the action of being “burnt”.
• The “sun” and “light” is a lexically cohesive motif associated with beauty and love.

Question 5

Montague: “S u h w, l f d o,/A m h a a k.”
(1,1,133-34)

Answer 5

Montague: “Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out,/And makes himself an artificial knight.”
(1,1,133-34)

Question 6

Romeo: “…W t, O b l, O l h,/ O a t o n f c!….”
(1,1,165-177)

Answer 6

Romeo: “…Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,/ O any thing of nothing first create!….”
(1,1,165-177)

Question 7

Romeo: “O, s i r i b, o p/ T w s d, w b d h s”.
(1,1,209-210)

Answer 7

Romeo: “O, she is rich in beauty, only poor/ That when she dies, with beauty dies her store”.
(1,1,209-210)

Question 8

Romeo: “T h, b f l./ O f t m l! T a-s s/ N’ s h m s f t w b”.
(1,2,93-95)

Answer 8

Romeo: “Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars./ One fairer than my love! The all-seeing sun/ Ne’er saw her match since first the world began”.
(1,2,93-95)