The County Paris Flashcards
Of honourable reckoning are you both;
And pity ‘tis you lived at odds so long.
But now, my lord, what say you to my suit?
Paris is appealing to Capulet in order to persuade him to give Juliet’s hand in marriage instead of just asking Juliet himself. Paris doesn’t seem to care about what else Capulet has to say as he quickly changes the subject
As all the world–why, he’s a man of wax
This suggests that he is aesthetically perfect that he could have been carved out of wax
Verona’s summer hath not such a flower.
Comparing him to a flower also suggest his handsome and caring nature
And find delight writ there with beauty’s pen;
Examine every married lineament,
And see how one another lends content
And what obscured in this fair volume lies
Find written in the margent of his eyes.
This is an extended metaphor comparing Paris to a book. The book is written with ‘beauty’s pen’ showing that it’s content is filled with goodness, suggesting Paris is a good man. It also suggests Paris is handsome but maybe this is his only good attribute meaning Paris and Juliet would only ever have superficial love, nothing meaningful.
That book in many’s eyes doth share the glory,
Prince Paris is admired by many and Lady Capulet tries to convince Juliet to marry him by giving her a sense of urgency, suggesting he could just as easily go marry someone else
So shall you share all that he doth possess,
The view of marriage that the man and woman share material goods
Not hiding the fact that Paris is wealthy, thought of as a business transaction
These times of woe afford no time to woo.
Madam, good night: commend me to your daughter.
Compared to Romeo, Paris’s actions are honourable because he asks permission from Juliet’s parents before ‘wooing’ her, hence making clear his intentions to marry her.
Happily met, my lady and my wife!
Paris is extremely certain like Lord Capulet that Juliet will marry him but that is not the case
Beguiled, divorced, wronged, spited, slain!
Most detestable death, by thee beguil’d,
By cruel cruel thee quite overthrown!
Both he and Capulet personify death as Juliet’s husband and blame it for what it has done to Juliet. Paris claims that Juliet was tricked into death, and inflicted by mental agony as he and Capulet state that she was “ beguiled, slain, (even though her body is intact) distressed, despised, and wronged.”
Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I strew,–
O woe! thy canopy is dust and stones;–
Paris looks to his betrothed and speaks of her grave as a “bridal bed”, performing the ceremonies of a husband to wife after marriage. The ceremonies quickly shift to “obsequies”, or funeral ceremonies. In the 1st line, Paris fantasies about what might have been but in the 2nd line he faces the reality of what is actually in front of him - a funeral scene
Which with sweet water nightly I will dew,
Or, wanting that, with tears distill’d by moans:
The obsequies that I for thee will keep
Nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.
Paris will cry for his to-be-bride every night, describing his tears as “sweet water” and “dew”. Paris gets to engage with nature in a sweet, kind way that is a gentle representation of his grief, contrasting him from Romeo who is forced into a passionate, wild vision of nature that is as unchanging as his fate.
Stop thy unhallow’d toil, vile Montague!
Can vengeance be pursued further than death?
Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee:
Obey, and go with me; for thou must die.
The fact that Paris is expressing such a vile hatred towards the Montagues shows how he still feels part of the Capulet family
