Term
| "From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life...." - Chorus |
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Definition
| The Prologue does not merely set the scene of the play, it tells the audience exactly what is going to happen referring to an ill-fated couple with its use of the phrase “star-crossed,” which means against the stars. Stars were thought to control people’s destinies therefore creating the sense of fate by providing the audience with the knowledge that Romeo and Juliet will die even before the play has begun. The audience watch the play with an expectation that it fulfills the terms set in the Prologue. |
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Term
| "O brawling love, O loving hate...." - Romeo |
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Definition
| Romeo claims that he is madly in love with Rosaline and yet does not seem happy. Shakespeare uses Oxymorons of "love" and "hate" to show that Romeo and Rosaline are two opposites that can't go together. |
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Term
| "Earth hath swallow'd all my hopes but she." - Capulet |
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Definition
| All his other children are dead so Juliet is his only hope of continuing the family line. Initially the audience may feel pity for him however Shakespeare's use of the possessive pronoun "my" further implies that he is a practical man who gets what he wants; his children are merely possessions to him. A modern audience are immediately confronted with a sense of unease about his character. |
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Term
| "Take thou some new infection to thy eye, and the rank poison of the old will die." - Benvolio |
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Definition
He's referring to Rosaline here as the old infection. She's plagued Romeo's heart and he can't get her out of his mind. Benvolio is saying to look at some other girls and to get Rosaline out of his mind. Shakespeare used a clever technique of foreshadowing as he references poision which will eventually be the cause of Romeo's death.
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Term
| "Nurse, where's my daughter? call her forth to me." - Lady Capulet |
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Definition
| Imperatives are very frequent feature in Lady Capulets dialect. She asks a simplistic question and issues an order all in one line which shows her lack of compassion. She also refers to Juliet as "daughter". The collective noun is used to describe lots of daughters therefore this shows that Lady Capulet doesn't view Juliet as unique and special; just a matter of fact possession. |
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Term
| "What, lamb! What, ladybird!" - Nurse |
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Definition
| The relation between the "lamb" and the "ladybird" could imply that men kill the beauty of lambs in slaughter just as Juliet will also be inadvertently killed by men. |
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Term
| "The valiant Paris seeks you for his love" - Lady Capulet |
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Definition
| This suggests that Juliet is just an object to be found and that both Lady Capulet and Paris don't value her worth as a person. |
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Term
| "Come Pentecost as quickly as it will" - Capulet |
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Definition
| There is a semantic field of religion in Act 1 scene 5 shown through the use of religious lexical choices and imagery. Pentecost is a time of spirituality which suggests that Romeo and Juliet's spirits are being drawn together in perfect harmony by some spiritual force. |
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Term
| "O she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night as rich as a jewel...." - Romeo |
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Definition
| Romeo is thinking of Juliet's beauty in terms of brightness in contrast to the surrounding darkness. This shows that he has completely forgotten Rosaline. He describes her as a "rich jewel" which suggests that he is dazzled by her beauty. |
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Term
| "Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?" - Romeo |
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Definition
| This is another example of the semantic field of religion running throughout which shows the spiritual dimension to their love. |
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