Shakespeare's Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (best book series to read txt) π
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57. Bankrupt. The early eds. have "banckrout" or "bankrout," as often in other passages and other writers of the time.
64. Contrary. The adjective is accented by S. on the first or second syllable. Cf. Ham. iii. 2. 221, etc. For the verb, see on i. 5. 87 above.
73. O serpent heart, etc. Cf. Macb. i. 5. 66:β
Mrs. Jameson remarks on this passage: "This highly figurative and antithetical exuberance of language is defended by Schlegel on strong and just grounds; and to me also it appears natural, however critics may argue against its taste or propriety. The warmth and vivacity of Juliet's fancy, which plays like a light over every part of her characterβwhich animates every line she uttersβwhich kindles every thought into a picture, and clothes her emotions in visible images, would naturally, under strong and unusual excitement, and in the conflict of opposing sentiments, run into some extravagance of diction." Cf. i. 1. 168 fol. above.
83. Was ever book, etc. Cf. i. 3. 66 above.
84. O, that deceit, etc. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 468: "If the ill spirit have so fair a house," etc.
86, 87. Mr. Fleay improves the metre by a slight transposition, which Marshall adopts:β
which may be what S. wrote.
Naught = worthless, bad. Cf. Much Ado, $1. $2. 157, Hen. V. i. 2. 73, etc. The word in this sense is usually spelt naught in the early eds., but nought when = nothing. Dissemblers is here a quadrisyllable. See p. 159 above.
90. Blister'd, etc. "Note the Nurse's mistake of the mind's audible struggle with itself for its decisions in toto" (Coleridge).
92. Upon his brow, etc. Steevens quotes Paynter: "Is it possible that under such beautie and rare comelinesse, disloyaltie and treason may have their siedge and lodging?" The image of shame sitting on the brow is not in Brooke's poem.
98. Poor my lord. Cf. "sweet my mother," iii. 5. 198 below. The figurative meaning of smooth is sufficiently explained by the following mangle. Cf. i. 5. 98 above, and see Brooke's poem:β
108. Worser. Cf. ii. 3. 29 above. S. uses it often, both as adjective and adverb.
112. Banished. Note how the trisyllabic pronunciation is emphatically repeated in this speech; as in Romeo's in the next scene (19-50).
116. Sour woe delights, etc. That is, "misfortunes never come single." Cf. Ham. iv. 5. 78:β
117. Needly will. Needs must. Needly was not coined by S., as some have supposed, being found in Piers Plowman and other early English. He uses it only here.
120. Modern. Trite, commonplace; the only meaning of the word in S. See A.Y.L. ii. 7. 156, Macb. iv. 3. 170, etc.
121. Rearward. Cf. Sonn. 90. 6:β
(that is, to attack me anew); and Much Ado, iv. 1. 128:β
The metaphor is a military one, referring to a rear-guard or reserve which follows up the attack of the vanguard or of the main army.
126. Sound. Utter, express; or "'to sound as with a plummet' is possible" (Dowden). That word's death = the death implied in that word.
130. Wash they, etc. That is, let them wash, etc. Some eds. put an interrogation mark after tears, as the 2d quarto does.
137. Wot. Know; used only in the present tense and the participle wotting.
Scene III.β1. Fearful. Full of fear, afraid; Cf. M.N.D. v. 1. 101, 165, etc.
2. Parts. Gifts, endowments. Cf. iii. 5. 181 below: "honourable parts."
6. Familiar. A quadrisyllable here.
7. Sour company. Cf. "sour woe" in iii. 2. 116 above, "sour misfortune" in v. 3. 82 below, etc. The figurative sense is a favourite one with S.
10. Vanish'd. A singular expression, which Massinger has imitated in The Renegado, v. 5: "Upon those lips from which those sweet words vanish'd." In R. of L. 1041 the word is used of the breath.
20. Exile. For the variable accent (cf. 13 above and 43 below), see on iii. 1. 190.
26. Rush'd aside the law. Promptly eluded or contravened the law. The expression is peculiar, and may be corrupt. "Push'd" and "brush'd" have been suggested as emendations.
28. Dear mercy. True mercy. Cf. Much Ado, i. 1. 129: "A dear happiness to women," etc.
29. Heaven is here, etc. "All deep passions are a sort of atheists, that believe no future" (Coleridge).
33. Validity. Value, worth. Cf. A.W. v. 3. 192:β
See also T.N. i. 1. 12 and Lear, i. 1. 83.
34. Courtship. Courtesy, courtliness (as in L. L. L. v. 2. 363: "Trim gallants, full of courtship and of state," etc.); with the added idea of privilege of courting or wooing. For a similar blending of the two meanings, cf. A.Y.L. iii. 2. 364.
38. Who. Cf. i. 1. 109 and i. 4. 97 above.
42. Free men. Bitterly sarcastic.
45. Mean. Often used by S. in the singular, though oftener in the plural. Cf. W.T. iv. 4. 89:β
See also v. 3. 240 below.
48. Howling. For the association with hell, cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 374 and Ham. v. 1. 265.
49. Confessor. For the accent, see on ii. 6. 21 above.
52. Fond = foolish; as often in S. Cf. iv. 5. 78 below.
55. Adversity's sweet milk. Cf. Macb. iv. 3. 98: "the sweet milk of concord," etc.
59. Displant. Transplant. S. uses the word only here and in Oth. ii. 1. 283: "the displanting of Cassio."
60. Prevails. Avails. Cf. unprevailing in Ham. i. 2. 107.
62. When that. This use of that as a "conjunctional affix" is common. Cf. ii. 6. 25 above.
63. Dispute. That is, reason. The verb is used transitively in a similar sense in W.T. iv. 4. 411 and Macb. iv. 3. 220.
70. Taking the measure, etc. Cf. A.Y.L. ii. 6. 2: "Here lie I down, and measure out my grave."
77. Simpleness. Folly. Elsewhere = simplicity, innocence; as in Much Ado, iii. 1. 70, M.N.D. v. 1. 83, etc. Cf. simple in ii. 5. 38 and iii. 1. 35.
85. O woful sympathy, etc. The early eds. give this speech to the Nurse. Farmer transferred it to the Friar, and is followed by most of the modern eds.
90. O. Grief, affliction. In Lear, i. 4. 212, it means a cipher. It is also used for anything circular; as marks of small-pox (L. L. L. v. 2. 45), stars (M.N.D. iii. 2. 188), a theatre (Hen. V. prol. 13), and the earth (A. and C. v. 2. 81).
94. Old. Practised, experienced. Cf. L. L. L. ii. 1. 254, v. 2. 552, T. and C. i. 2. 128, ii. 2. 75, etc.
98. My conceal'd lady. Not known to the world as my wife. Conceal'd is accented on the first syllable because before the noun.
103. Level. Aim; as in Sonn. 117. 11: "the level of your frown;" Hen. VIII. i. 2. 2: "the level Of a full-charg'd confederacy," etc. Cf. the use of the verb in Much Ado, ii. 1. 239, Rich. III. iv. 4. 202, etc.
106. Anatomy. Contemptuous for body; as in T.N. iii. 2. 67.
108. Hold thy desperate hand! etc. Up to this point, as Marshall remarks, the Friar "treats Romeo's utter want of self-control with a good-humoured tolerance.... It is only when the young man's passion threatens to go to the point of violating the law of God and man that he speaks with the authority of a priest, and in the tone of stern rebuke. This speech is a most admirable composition, full of striking good sense, eloquent reasoning, and noble piety."
109. Art thou, etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:β
113. Ill-beseeming. Cf. i. 5. 76 above.
115. Better temper'd. Of better temper or quality. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. i. 1. 115: "the best temper'd courage in his troops."
118. Doing damned hate. Cf. v. 2. 20 below: "do much danger," etc.
119. Why rail'st thou, etc. Malone remarks that Romeo has not here railed on his birth, etc., though in Brooke's poem he does:β
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