The Tragedy of

Romeo and Juliet

By : William Shakespeare

By: Rudi Salam Sinulingga

Act I

This list of Romeo and Juliet quotes is no where near exhaustive. It will,

however, give you a good start to understanding the play.

Quote: From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / A pair of star-crossed

lovers take their life / Whose misadventured piteous overthrows / Doth with

their death bury their parents' strife (Prologue, 6-9)

Analysis: Shakespeare gives us the plot of the play before the play even

begins. There is obviously more to be learned from the play than the series

of events. Fatal loins makes for an interesting discussion.

Quote: O she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs

upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear-- / Beauty too

rich for use, for Earth too dear! (I, v, 43-46)

Analysis: Romeo proclaims his infatuation for Juliet. He has seen her for

about 2.63 seconds and has never spoken with her. He utters this mere

hours after uttering similar thoughts about Rosaline. These words give

insight into Romeo's instability and his being controlled by his emotions.

The final line foreshadows Juliet's death.

Act II

Quote: O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? / Deny thy father and refuse thy

name (II, ii, 33-34.

Analysis: The key word in Juliet's question is wherefore, which means why, not where as

many foolish neophyte Shakespeareans believe. Juliet, in these lines, declares her

willingness to disown her own family if she can be with her true love, who she's known for

almost an hour-and-a-half. And you wonder why fathers go bald.

Quote: What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as

sweet. (II, ii, 43-44).

Analysis: Juliet still tries to subdue her conscience with this reasoning, claiming that

Romeo's name matters not, for he is her true love. Juliet is wrong. A rose would not smell as

sweet if you called it a Harkraken or Schnockter or a Sewage Weed. That's just my

analysis. What do you think?

Quote: Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till

it be morrow (II, ii, 184-5).

Analysis: Juliet speaks all the good lines. She's a rather aggressive Middle Ages girl, don't

you think? Juliet obviously cares little for societal restrictions.

CHARACTERThe Montagues

LORD MONTAGUE: wealthy nobleman of Verona and enemy to Lord Capulet

LADY MONTAGUE: his wife

ROMEO: their son

BENVOLIO: Lord Montague’s nephew, Romeo’s cousin and friend

BALTHASAR: Romeo’s servant

ABRAM: a servant

The Capulets

LORD CAPULET: wealthy nobleman of Verona and enemy to Lord Montague

LADY CAPULET: his wife

JULIET: their daughter, who is thirteen years old

TYBALT: Lady Capulet’s nephew, Juliet’s cousin

OLD MAN: elderly relative of the family

NURSE: servant who has cared for Juliet since infancy

PETER: the Nurse’s servant

SAMPSON: servant

GREGORY: servant

Others

CHORUS: actor who speaks directly

to the audience to introduce the play

PRINCE ESCALUS: ruler of Verona

COUNT PARIS: relative of the Prince

and suitor to Juliet

MERCUTIO: relative of the Prince and

Romeo’s friend

FRIAR LAWRENCE: Catholic priest of

the order of Franciscans and a

pharmacist

APOTHECARY: pharmacist in Mantua

FRIAR JOHN: Franciscan priest

PAGE: servant to Paris

OFFICERS AND CITIZENS OF

VERONA, RELATIVES OF BOTH

FAMILIES,

MASKERS, OFFICERS, GUARDS,

WATCHMEN, SERVANTS, AND

ATTENDANTS

SETTING

SCENE:

Italy—the

cities of

Verona and

Mantua. The

fourteenth

century.

PLOTRomeo and Juliet, at

least the one written

by Shakespeare, is a

play. The point of

view is the point of

view of the audience

watching the play.

Terms used to

describe the point of

view of a narrator in

a story or novel are

inappropriate to

plays.

MORALISM

For a general discussion of the themes in

"Romeo and Juliet," see the Themes

section of the eNotes study guide.

However, for lessons or morals that can

be applied more directly to your own life,

you'd need to draw parallels between the

play's situations and actions and your own

life. Ideally, you'll encounter a true love.

Can you draw lessons from this play for

that? Here's an easier one. Almost

everyone will have a first love. For most

people, that love will not be their deepest

or truest love. Can you draw lessons from

Romeo's affection for Rosalind and how it

melts away when he sees Juliet to guide

you when thinking about your first love?

THEME

Another theme one can take from

this play is the destructive power of

hatred. The hatred that exists

between the Montagues and the

Capulets ultimately costs Romeo,

Juliet, and Romeo's best friend

Mercutio, their lives. Ironically

enough, these three young people

were relatively uninvolved in, but

still deeply affected by the feuding

of the rival families. One might

even speculate that it was the

forbidden nature of the relationship

because of the feud that made

Romeo and Juliet not just fall in

love, but become immediately

obsessed with one another.

POINT OF VIEW

An interesting question.

Since it is a play, the main

point of view is an

objective one: we see all

events from the outside,

as if we were observing

them. If you translated this

to the way points of view

are described for fiction,

that would be THIRD

PERSON limited, since

we can't see inside the

characters' minds.