Quotes

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  • Created by: Ash
  • Created on: 21-05-18 15:57

Love (1)

"What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours? / Not having that, which, having, makes them short." 

"that" is love.  This quote shows that Romeo completely infatuated with Rosaline. When he's not daydreaming about Rosaline in his room, making an "artificial night", he is moping around in a grove of "sycamore" trees, where those who are sick with love tend to hang out . The thing is, Rosaline has absolutely no interest in Romeo, but he pursues her anyway. This suggests that he's not in love with Rosaline as he is obsessed with the idea of being in love which is supported by the fact that he says, upon meeting Juliet, "Did my heart love till now? ... For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.", which shows him question his heartbreak over Rosaline and after forget about her.

"Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; / Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes; / Being vexed a sea nourish'd with loving tears: / What is it else? a madness most discreet, / A choking gall, and a preserving sweet."

These are pretty big words coming from a teenager. All this abstract language—love as "smoke," as "fire," as a "sea," as "madness"—suggest that maybe Romeo knows more about love from books than his own experience, showing that he is obssessed by the idea of being in love.

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Love (2)

"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! / It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night / Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear"

 Romeo forgets all about his "love" for Rosaline the exactly second he sees Juliet, which makes us think that he was never really in love with Rosaline to begin with. But does this also mean that Romeo's desire for Juliet is nothing more than meaningless infatuation or is it something more.

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun"

In this monologue, Romeo elevates Juliet to heavenly status by aligning her with the "sun" and the "stars." He's working with some celestial metaphors - examples of the light/dark imagery which is prevalent in the shakespearian play.

"O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art / As glorious to this night"

Here, Romeo uses hyperbolic (and perhaps slightly blaspemous for the era) religious imagery to show he is in love and that Juliet isn't another hormonal teenager's infatuation like Rosaline and that this is love.

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Love (3)

"my true love is grown to such excess, I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth"

This quote displays Juliet saying how her love for Romeo has grown so much that it is beyond the process of being expressed by mere words.

"My only love sprung from my only hate!" 

This quote shows Juliet realising Romeo is a Montague and laments his family nature. This quote shows how ironic her love is and how the two emotions love and hate are interconnected.

"For this driveling love is like a great natural, that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole."

This quote shows one of the many viewpoints on love in the play. This is the view of Mercutio, that love is ridiculous, gets in the way of having fun and being sociable, changing people for the worse and alienating them from their friends

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Hate/Conflict (1)

"From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean"

This quote establishes the family feud, which causes the conflict in the play. The fact that this violence happens could be a criticism towards other cultures, like Italy, displaying that . Or it could be linked to the idea of conflict caused by honour being prevalent in Britain and Shakespeare basing the play in Italy was to avoid hate for his criticism of British society and honour.

"No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir"

This presents hate/conflict to be silly due to the comedic bravado (child-like) of the Capulet servants as well as because of the fact that they are fighting over who's masters were better (misplaced honour) and resort to doing offensive gestures instead of voicing their feelings. Such petiness further displays the conflict to be silly and ridiculous.

"What, ho! You men, you beasts" "mistempered weapons"

When they're called "beasts", he implies that their hatred doesn't seem to have any rational cause – it is simply the result of passions they refuse to restrain, supported by the adjective "mistempered"(wrongly used weapons) to describe their weapons.

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Hate/Conflict (2)

"by the stock and honor of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin."

This shows "mistempered" familial honour since he wants to kill Romeo because he crashed the capulet ball. Such pettiness further presents hate/conflict to be silly.

"(draws his sword) Part, fools! Put up your swords. You know not what you do."

" I hate the word (peace), as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee. Have at thee, coward!"

"O brawling love, O loving hate"

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