| “I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes, / By her high forehead and her scarlet lip” (II.i.19-20) | a) Mercutiob) Visual Imagery, Dramatic Irony – We know he already loves Julietc) Love based on appearancesd) “If we talk about Rosaline’s looks, you’ll come out.” |
| “What light through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” (II.ii.2-3) | a) Romeob) Light Imagery, Metaphor – Juliet = Sunc) Love based on appearancesd) “Juliet is as beautiful as the sun that shines through the window.” |
| “The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, / As daylight doth a lamp” (II.ii.19-20) | a) Romeob) Light Imagery, Simile – Her Cheek = Daylight c) Love based on appearancesd) “She is more beautiful than the stars, just like daylight is more beautiful than a lamp.” |
| “See how she leans upon her hand / O, that I were a glove upon that hand, / That I might touch that cheek!” (II.ii.23-25) | a) Romeob) Metaphor – Glove = Romeo, Visual Imagery, Tactile Imageryc) Love based on appearancesd) “I wish I could be a glove on her hand so that I could touch her face.” |
| “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other word would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d, / Retain that dear perfection which he owes / Without that title” (II.ii.45-49) | a) Julietb) Metaphor – Romeo = Rosec) Love based on appearances, blinded by loved) “What do names even mean? If we called a rose by another name it would still be a rose. Romeo, too would still be perfect, if he had another name.” |
| “With love’s light wings did I o’erperch these walls!” (II.ii.70) | a) Romeob) Personification – Love has wingsc) Blinded by love / Not aware of consequencesd) “My love for you caused me to overlook the risk and climb over the wall to get you.” |
| “I have night’s cloak to hide me from their eyes” (II.ii.79) | a) Romeob) Personification – Night has a cloakc) Blinded by love, not aware of consequencesd) “They cant catch me in the dark.” |
| “I have not joy of this contract to-night; / It is too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden / Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be / Ere one can say it lightens” (II..ii.123-126) | a) Julietb) Simile – Their meeting and falling in love = Lightning, too fastc) Rushingd) “I don’t think we should go any further tonight. It’s all happening too quickly. Lightning happens too quickly and then disappears. If we rush, we might ruin this.” |
| “Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books, / But love from love, toward school with heavy looks” (II.ii.165-166) | a) Romeob) Simile – Loving someone = How schoolboys feel when school is overc) Blinded by love, Love is a cause of depressiond) “When your in love, you feel like school is over. But when you’re away from the person you love, you feel like you’re walking towards school.” |
| “How much salt water thrown away in waste, / to season love of it doth not taste” (II.iii.72-73) | a) Friar Laurenceb) Metaphor – Salt water = tearsc) Rushing, Love is a cause of depression, Real loved) “Your tears for Rosaline were wasted because you obviously didn’t really love her.” |
| “Without his roe, like a dried herring.” (II.iv.35) | a) Mercutiob) Simile – Romeo = dried herring, Dramatic Ironyc) Sexual Loved) “He is spent from having sex (with Rosaline).” |
| “Good Peter, to hide her face; for her fan’s the fairer face.” (II.iv.94) | a) Mercutiob) Verbal Irony, Metaphor – Fan = Facec) Humor, Judgement based on appearancesd) “Hide her face with the fan because the fan is better looking than her face.” |
| “I anger her sometimes | … |
Quotations and their meaning from Act 2 of Romeo and Juliet
August 20, 2019