Crammer's Guide: 7 Top Romeo and Juliet Quotes (Act 2)
1
Mercutio: If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark
Scene: Act 2 Scene 1Themes: love, Mercutio, Romeo
Mercutio criticises Romeo's view of love. His use of a conditional sentence shows that he is logical and pragmatic. And when personifies love he mean Romeo - that is if Romeo is blind Romeo cannot hit the mark. The use of repetition demonstrates Mercutio's playful approach to language and life.
2
Romeo: It is the east, and Juliet is the sun
Scene: Act 2 Scene 2Themes: love, Romeo, Juliet
This is what Romeo says when he sees Juliet at her balcony after the Capulet's party. His metaphor, comaring Juliet to the sun suggests that she is a source of light and new life, as if his love for her is energising. That "It is the east" suggests that Juliet represents a new dawn for Romeo. It is as if his whole life has changed.
3
Juliet: that which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet
Scene: Act 2 Scene 2Themes: identity, love, Juliet
Juliet is looking for a way to justify her attraction to Romeo (an enemy to her family). She uses this analogy. She argues that Romeo's name doesn't matter. What matters are his qualities. Throughout the play we see Juliet's keen intelligence and her ability to think abstractly like this is just one example of her skill with language.
4
Romeo: My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself
Scene: Act 2 Scene 2Themes: identity, love, Romeo
In Act 1 Romeo is in love with Rosaline. He says "This is not Romeo". Here he is in love with Juliet. He calls her saint, implying that love for Romeo has a spiritual side to it. In this quote he uses two first person pronouns. This might show that while Romeo is in love with Juliet, he is really thinking more about himself. The adjective "hateful" to describe the effects of love suggests that Romeo is attracted to extreme emotion.
5
Friar Lawrence: For this alliance may so happy prove, / To turn your households' rancour to pure love.
Scene: Act 2 Scene 3Theme: love, marriage, conflict, Friar Lawrence
The friar agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet with the hope that he can bring an end to the violent rivalry between the Montagues and the Capulets. We see the friar's good intentions. He appears to see the two "households" as equal. We might think that the half-rhyme in this couplet might be a clue that this plan is unlikely to work.
6
Friar Lawrence: they stumble that run fast.
Scene: Act 2 Scene 3Theme: love, youth, Friar Lawrence, Romeo, Juliet
Here Friar Lawrence warns Romeo not to race into marriage. He uses the verb stumble to show that Romeo and Juliet may fall quite by accident. The story mirrors the nurse's story about Juliet who fell on her face as a child. So we can see that Juliet may have been destined to have a troubled youth.
7
Friar Lawrence: violent delights have violent ends
Scene: Act 2 Scence 6Theme: love, marriage, youth, Friar Lawrence, Romeo, Juliet
The Friar appears to be having second thoughts about marrying Romeo and Juliet. Here we see "violent delights", a euphemism for sex, is juxtaposed with "violent ends" which implies death. As an audience we see the Friar is aware of the risks of the marriage, and we have to ask ourselves why he does not do more to persuade the couple against it.
){kind=link}
0 Comments