The Prince Flashcards
The Prince is a relatively…kind of character in the play?
Undynamic
How is the Prince structurally important?
He appears three times, at the beginning, middle and end, each time after violent acts have disturbed the town
What does the Prince represent?
He represents law, order and justice (and is also a relative of Paris and Mercutio)
When the Prince first appears after the initial fight in 1.1, how does his language contrast with that used by Sampson and Gregory?
He uses Latinate language, speaks in elevated diction and uses a poetic register to describe the violence
Give three examples of the kind of language the Prince uses in his first long speech.
‘Rebellious subjects’ (a Latinate phrase, showing his status and education, but also oxymoronically reminding us that he is not fully in control of his ‘subjects’)
‘Neighbour-stained steel’: this poetic phrase sums up the civil violence of the feud
‘What ho you men, you beasts!’ Is the exclamation he uses to call the men back to order
The Prince’s sentence introduces an important plot point: what is it?
He introduces a sentence of death if anyone else ‘disturb our streets again’
This death sentence will become important at which point in the play?
The point of greatest tension: when Tybalt kills Mercutio and Romeo kills Tybalt
After the fight (3.1) when the Prince looks for the ‘vile beginners’ of the fray, which character explains how the fight worked out?
Benvolio: who tells the Prince that Romeo had ‘but newly entertained revenge’
Why does the Prince commute the sentence?
Because Romeo killed someone who ‘slew Mercutio’, Romeo’s friend. This shows he understands the logic of what Romeo did.
The Prince worries about showing mercy because…?
‘Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill’ [i.e. mercy causes more murders]
When the Prince appears at the end of the play, it follows more conflict in the graveyard -between who?
Paris and Romeo - Romeo kills Paris, the kinsman of the Prince
He also sees that Romeo and Juliet are dead and is there to judge who?
Capulet and Montague and Friar Lawrence
How does his tone affect the end the play?
It introduces a more negative note at the end (following the talk of golden statues between Capulet and Montague)
What are some examples of what he says at the end?
‘A glooming peace’ (oxymoron)
‘All are punished’ (moral voice of the play)
