Romeo and Juliet (1917) Yale/Notes
NOTES
Prologue. That the speaker of this prologue and of that before Act Second appears as 'Chorus' is due to the influence which the classic tradition had upon English drama. A chorus, which often served to interpret the author's meaning, was an integral part of Greek and Latin plays, and was employed by some early English dramatists. Shakespeare used the old word to designate the actor who recited prologues.
Prol. 6. star-cross'd. The pseudo-science of astrology taught that human destinies were affected by the stars. Similar phrases throughout the play suggest the influence of Fate upon the fortunes of Romeo and Juliet.
Act First. Scene One. Nowhere else in the early editions of this play are there printed indications of the divisions into acts and scenes. The divisions made hereafter in this text, as well as the definite localizations of scenes, are those generally adopted by modern editors. On the Elizabethan stage there was often no sharp break between scenes, and the locality of the action was frequently left indefinite.
I. i. 1. carry coals. This phrase gets its meaning from the fact that in noble households the lowest menials were those who carried wood and coals.
I. i. 15. take the wall. In mediæval streets he who was nearest the house walls was safest from filth. Hence, to give the wall was an act of courtesy; to take it, the reverse.
I. i. 47. bite my thumb. 'To threaten or defy, by putting the thumbnail into the mouth, and with a jerk (from the upper teeth) to make it knack.' (Cotgrave.)
I. i. 65. kinsmen. This of course refers to Tybalt, whom Gregory sees approaching. Benvolio enters behind Gregory.
I. i. 79. Clubs. A bit of English rather than Italian color. This was the rallying cry of London apprentices, who used their clubs sometimes to enforce peace and sometimes to break it. Bills were weapons consisting of a long wooden handle having at one end a blade or axe-shaped head; partisans, long-handled spears having one or more lateral cutting projections.
I. i. 108. Free-town. Brooke's translation of the Italian name 'Villa Franca.'
I. i. 158. sun. Most editors follow Theobald in substituting 'sun' for 'same,' the word found in the early editions.
I. i. 176. view is muffled. Cupid, although commonly represented as blindfolded, is still able to direct his arrows where he likes.
I. i. 180. more with love. As presently appears, it was with one of the Capulets that Romeo believed himself in love.
I. i. 181–186. Such strained antitheses as these appear frequently in the more conventional love sonnets imitated from the Italian by Shakespeare's contemporaries.
I. i. 222. This probably means that since she refuses to have children she can in no way leave her beauty behind when she dies.
I. ii. S. d. Clown. This designation of Capulet's servant shows that the part was assigned to one of the low comedians or 'merrymen' of the company.
I. ii. 15. This may mean either, She is the one who will inherit my estate, or, the one in whom all my hopes are centered.
I. ii. 29. fennel. Capulet has reference to the supposed power of fennel to awaken passion. Fennel was thrown in the path of brides, and it was especially the flower of newly married couples. The reading of the first Quarto, 'female,' is commonly substituted in modern editions.
I. ii. 32–33. No satisfactory explanation of these lines has been offered. It is possible that they mean, When you see the many beauties at my house, you may include my daughter among them, even though you consider her to be relatively insignificant. Old Capulet later affects a similar modesty when he speaks of his 'trifling, foolish banquet.' He seems to be quibbling on the common idea that one is 'no number.'
I. ii. 45. In good time. Seeing two gentlemen, the servant thinks that they can help him, and says, 'At just the right time.'
I. iii. 33. 'Shake,' etc. A phrase to indicate the moment of the earthquake.
I. iii. 52. it brow. Shakespeare uses both 'it' and 'its' as the possessive.
I. iii. 86. margent. Lady Capulet compares the indications of character which may be found in the eyes to the commentary printed on the margin of a page. In speaking of a 'cover' (l. 88) she also quibbles on the contemporary French law term for a married woman, 'feme covert.'
I. iii. 89. fish lives in the sea. Since it is said that fish-skin was sometimes used for binding books, this probably means that the girl who is to be the cover for this fair book has not yet been caught.
I. iv. 1. this speech. It was common for those who came uninvited to a feast to appear masked and preceded by a messenger, sometimes dressed as Cupid, who made a formal, complimentary apology for the intrusion.
I. iv. 37. proverb'd. Two proverbs are implied in the following lines: 'A good candle-holder (spectator) proves a good gamester'; and one to the effect that he does well who is done when the game's at the fairest.
I. iv. 40. Dun's the mouse. Mercutio's quip is not clear. Perhaps the phrase is simply, Keep still—hence the constable's own word. Dun's in the Mire was a Christmas game wherein Dun, the horse (a log of wood), was supposed to be got out of the mire by the players.
I. iv. 42. save your reverence. At once an apology for a remark of doubtful propriety and an adjective referring to excrement.
I. iv. 45. lights. Mercutio puns on the word 'lights,' referring to the second meaning, 'enlightenments,' and then says, Take our real meaning, where our sound opinion is much more often found than in the subtle embroideries thereon which our cleverness suggests to us.
I. iv. 56. agate-stone. In allusion to the small figures often cut in agates to be used as seals.
I. iv. 66. worm. 'It was supposed, and the notion probably encouraged for the sake of promoting industry, that when maidens were idle, worms bred in their fingers.' (Nares.)
I. iv. 90. plats the manes. There was a superstition that malignant spirits, carrying tapers of wax, sometimes haunted stables in the night-time, dropping wax on the horses' manes, thereby plaiting them in inextricable knots.
I. iv. 115. Exeunt. The stage direction of the Folio reads, 'They march about the stage, and serving-men come forth with napkins.' This indicates the original stage business—the procession of maskers approaching the rear-stage, supposed to be the house of Capulet, and the entrance therefrom of the servants, indicating that the scene is thereafter within the house. After the servants' conversation the procession of the maskers appeared to enter the house, while Capulet and his guests came from another room (the rear-stage) to meet them.
I. v. 31. tables up. Tables of flat leaves hinged together and placed on trestles were often used. When removed they were turned up.
I. v. 97–110. These lines form a sonnet. The following lines begin another sonnet, and incomplete sonnets may be found elsewhere in the play.
I. v. 98. the gentle sin. If my touch be a profanation, it is that of the pious pilgrim who has come to do honor to the shrine of a saint. Perhaps the 'gentle' sin is to touch with the lips instead of the rough hand. This whole dialogue derives its point from Romeo's being costumed as a pilgrim. His dress is represented by Inigo Jones as a long loose gown, with large sleeves, a round cape, a broad-leafed hat turned up in front and fastened with a cockle-shell and in the left hand a pilgrim's staff.
I. v. 122. Romeo means that Juliet has brought him into what may be a costly relation with his enemies; for he must pay with his life if Juliet be taken from him.
II. i. 2. dull earth. I.e., my body. As the particles of earth seek their center, so Romeo seeks what is now the center of his existence.
II. i. 13. Abraham Cupid. Cupid is so called 'in derision of the eternal boyhood of Cupid, though in fact he was at least as old as Father Abraham.' (Schmidt.) Perhaps there is also reference to 'Abraham men,' i.e., vagabonds who feigned madness. Other suggestions are that the phrase means 'the light-haired Cupid,' since 'auburn' was sometimes spelled 'abram'; or 'naked Cupid' (Jensen, MLN. 30. 62).
shot so true. This refers to a stanza from the ballad of King Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid (see Child's Ballads):
'The blinded boy that shoots so trim
From heaven down did hie,
He drew a dart and shot at him,
In place where he did lie.'
II. i. 15–16. Mercutio 'has begun his burlesque adjuration to Romeo in the character of a wizard conjuring up a spirit, in keeping with the midnight hour and Romeo's invisibility. Romeo's failure to answer suggests to him another situation to parody, that of the showman with the performing ape, which has been trained to "play dead" or to pretend disobedience.' (Strunk, MLN. 32. 215.)
II. i. 36. medlars. The double meaning here and frequently elsewhere in Mercutio's speeches cannot decently be explained.
II. Scene Two. That there was no break here on Shakespeare's stage is shown by the fact that there is no direction for Romeo's entrance and that the first line of his speech rimes with the last of Benvolio's. Romeo's friends probably remained outside the trees placed on the stage (or whatever stage property—if any—represented 'this orchard wall'), while Romeo disappeared on the other side. After they leave he comes out, and Juliet appears at the window above. The indication of a new scene here is merely a convention of modern editions, and on the stage the two scenes are still given as one.
II. ii. 6. her maid. I.e., a servant and follower of the virgin goddess Diana, also goddess of the moon.
II. ii. 31. lazy-puffing. In old woodcuts clouds are often represented as having faces with distended cheeks from which they puff out wind; but possibly the correct reading is the 'lazy-pacing' of the first Quarto.
II. iii. 88. That you spoke memorized, conventional phrases without really knowing the elements of love.
II. iv. 20. prince of cats. In the old animal epic of Reynard the Fox the prince of cats is named Tybert, or Tybalt.
II. iv. 25. silk button. This is made clear by the following quotation: 'Thou that takest upon thee to hit anie Englishman with a thrust upon anie button' (Silver's Paradoxes of Defence, cited by Staunton).
II. iv. 34. grandsire. Probably Mercutio thus addresses Benvolio because of the latter's quiet, conservative character unlikely to sympathize with new and extravagant modes.
II. iv. 36. pardonnez-mois, etc. Along with such affectations of French words came also the large French breeches ill-suited to old-fashioned seats. Mercutio puns on the two meanings of form, 'bench' and 'fashion,' and on French 'bon' and English 'bone.'
II. iv. 40. without his roe. 'That is, he comes but half himself; he is only a sigh—O me! that is, me O!, the half of his name.' (Seymour.)
II. iv. 42. Petrarch. The love sonnets in which the Italian poet Petrarch (1304–1374) glorified his adored Laura were extremely popular and much imitated in Shakespeare's time.
II. iv. 66. pump well flowered. 'Here is a vein of wit too thin to be easily found. The fundamental idea is that Romeo wore pinked pumps—that is, punched in holes with figures.' (Johnson.)
II. iv. 77. wild-goose chase. A kind of horse race in which the rider who fell behind was obliged to follow the leader over whatever ground he chose.
II. iv. 152. 'Lady, lady, lady.' From the refrain of the popular old ballad of Chaste Susanna.
II. iv. 225. dog's name. That R was called the dog's letter because he 'arres and barks against the moon,' does not clear the nurse's meaning. Probably it was no clearer to the nurse herself.
III. i. 125. depend. The unhappy destiny of to-day hangs over many future days.
III. i. 194. hate's. The conventional reading, from Q1. If the reading of Q2, 'hearts',' be substituted, the meaning is that by the loss of his kinsman Escalus has been so drawn into the quarrel that he too shares in the actions dictated by the promptings of affection.
III. ii. 1. fiery-footed steeds. The horses of the sun, which, when Phaethon undertook to drive them, ran away.
III. ii. 6. runaways' eyes. One of the difficult phrases in the text of Shakespeare about which it is possible to think almost anything and to prove nothing. The present editor is inclined to believe that, unless the text is hopelessly corrupt, the runaways are the horses of the sun referred to above, so that the wish that they may close their eyes in sleep is another way of wishing for the coming of darkness. Among the many other readings and explanations which have been offered, perhaps the most plausible is that of Stewart, who would read 'runaway's,' and who believes the runaway to be Juliet herself, who is running away from her maiden modesty.
III. ii. 14. hood, etc. Terms from falconry.
III. ii. 53. God save the mark. Originally a formula to avert an evil omen (?); hence one of apology for mentioning something disagreeable or improper.
III. ii. 121. rearward. This carries out the figurative suggestion of an army begun in l. 114. Possibly there may also be a play on 'rear word.'
III. iii. 97. conceal'd. Not the lady, but her being his lady, is concealed.
III. v. 31. change eyes. The toad having beautiful eyes and the lark very ugly ones, there was a popular saying that there had been an exchange between the two.
III. v. 59. Dry sorrow. Sorrow and anxiety were supposed to exhaust the blood, thus causing pallor.
III. v. 95. dead. This word may be taken as part of either the preceding or the following clause, and thus serves the double meaning of the whole speech.
III. v. 222. green. 'The brilliant touch of green visible in very light hazel eyes, and which gives wonderful clearness and animation to their look, has been admiringly denoted by poets from time immemorial.' (Clarke.)
IV. i. 38. evening mass. Although even at this time evening Masses were exceptional, they were occasionally celebrated, and especially at Verona.
IV. i. 47. It puts upon my mind a strain which it is unable to meet.
IV. iii. 30. This line appears only in the first Quarto, and may have been omitted intentionally by Shakespeare in revising the play. On the other hand, it may have been carelessly dropped out.
IV. iii. 48. mandrakes'. A plant the root of which was supposed to resemble a human figure and, when pulled from the earth, to emit shrieks which drove insane or killed any who heard them.
IV. iii. 59. The universally accepted text of this line (cf. appendix on Text) has only the authority of the corrupt first Quarto. Although the relative merit of the two lines may be debatable, the reading here adopted has become so familiar that any change has been deemed inadvisable.
IV. iv. 4. curfew bell. The bell used at night for the curfew was apparently also rung in the early morning.
IV. v. 79. rosemary. Rosemary, being an evergreen, was regarded as a symbol of immortality, and hence used at funerals. Also, as a symbol of enduring love, it was used at weddings, and had been brought to the Capulets for this purpose.
IV. v. 83. Though tears are natural, excessive mourning for the dead appears ridiculous when considered from the standpoint of reason.
IV. v. 101 S. d. Enter Peter. The second Quarto has here, 'Enter Will Kemp,' which shows that the part of Peter was played by this favorite comedian, and which may throw light on the reason for introducing this scene.
IV. v. 102. Heart's ease. A popular tune. 'My heart is full of woe' was the refrain of a familiar ballad.
IV. v. 116. give you the minstrel. The minstrel was a gleeman or 'gleekman'; hence this is a punning phrase repeating the idea of 'give you the gleek.' The minstrel's reply seems to be only the stupid retort, If I'm 'only a minstrel,' you're only a servant.
IV. v. 129 ff. These are the opening lines of a song printed in The Paradise of Dainty Devices (1576).
IV. v. 133. Catling. Shakespeare's names for these musicians were connected with their art. A 'catling' is a small lute-string of catgut; a 'rebeck,' a three-stringed predecessor of the violin; a 'sound-post,' a part of a stringed instrument.
V. i. 1. flattering truth. 'The verisimilitude of visions presented during sleep. "Flattering" is here used in the sense of "illusive."' (Clarke.)
V. i. 45. beggarly account, etc. A few boxes which, being empty, amount to almost nothing.
V. iii. 108. Depart again. After these words the second and third Quartos and the Folios have:
Come, lie thou in my arms.
Here's to thy health, whereere thou tumblest in.
O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.
Depart again?
Since these lines do not appear in the other Quartos, and since much of what they contain is later repeated, they are omitted from modern texts. Miss Porter, however, argues with some force that unless Romeo takes the poison at this point its effect is amazingly quick.
V. iii. 110. set up . . . rest. Cf. IV. v. 6. Here 'rest' has also its usual sense.
V. iii. 122. stumbled at graves. This was considered a bad omen.
V. iii. 221. And let mischance, etc. Let patience control your sense of misfortune.