Language and Narration

The Theme in the Work

In the prologue to Act I, the Chorus, who speaks to the audience from outside the action and belongs to neither house, tells the whole play in fourteen lines: the old feud of two families of Verona, the pair of lovers born from them, and the death of the two, which ends the discord of their parents. Whoever watches knows the end before the action begins. In the prologue to Act II, the Chorus returns, again in fourteen lines, and explains what the audience would find strange: Romeo's old desire for Rosaline is dying like an old man on his deathbed, and the young affection for Juliet waits to become the heir.

Romeo's speech changes with what he feels. In scene 1 of Act I, suffering for Rosaline, he speaks in pairs of opposites: "brawling love," "loving hate," "heavy lightness," "bright smoke," "cold fire," "sick health," poet's formulas for a woman who never appears on stage. In scene 5 of Act I, before Juliet, language stops being a monologue: the two share fourteen rhymed lines in which Romeo says his lips are pilgrims and Juliet answers that saints have hands that pilgrims touch, and the kiss comes right after these lines; she still teases him that he kisses "by the book." In scene 2 of Act III, Juliet uses the same register of opposites against Romeo, calling him a serpent's heart under a flower's face, and corrects herself at once.

Mercutio and the Nurse speak differently, with circumlocution, puns, and coarseness, and in scene 4 of Act II the two speak in prose. In scene 4 of Act I, Mercutio answers Romeo's dream with the long speech on Queen Mab, the midwife of the fairies who visits each person's dreams, and Romeo tells him to hush because he talks of nothing. In scene 4 of Act II, Mercutio and Romeo trade puns on the English word "pink," which means at once "carnation" and "the height" of courtesy, and Mercutio mocks the Nurse with coarse insinuations, while the Nurse gets tangled when speaking of the letter with which "Romeo" and "rosemary" begin. In scene 3 of Act I, the Nurse loses herself in a long recollection of Juliet's weaning when her mother tries to speak of marriage.

Words also decide what happens. In scene 1 of Act III, the wounded Mercutio says that tomorrow they will find him "a grave man," an expression that can mean serious or of the grave, and Benvolio tells the Prince how the brawl began, while Lady Capulet answers that he is kin to Montague and so will not tell the truth; the Prince banishes Romeo instead of condemning him to death. In scene 2 of Act III, the Nurse gives the news in the wrong order, says "he is dead" before saying who, and Juliet concludes it is Romeo; when she hears the word "banished," she says that it has slain ten thousand Tybalts. In scene 1 of Act IV, Juliet answers Paris with double-meaning phrases. In scene 3 of Act V, Friar Laurence tells the Prince the whole story, and Romeo's letter and Balthasar's account confirm it.

The way each one speaks shows which world he lives in: Romeo speaks in formulas while he suffers for Rosaline and changes when he meets Juliet, Mercutio and the Nurse bring down with prose, circumlocution, and pun the love that the lovers raise in verse, and the Chorus gives the end before the beginning. But the words that weigh most are those that arrive out of time or out of order: a piece of news given halfway, a word that kills more than a death, the account of a friar that the Prince accepts after Balthasar, Paris's page, and a letter confirm it. Who tells, and when they tell, decides what the others do.

Where It Appears

• Prologue to Act I: The Chorus tells in fourteen lines that the lovers born of two enemy houses will die and that their death will end their parents' feud: the audience knows the end before the first scene.
• Scene 1 of Act I: Alone with Benvolio, Romeo speaks of his love for a girl who has sworn chastity, whom the scene does not even name, in pairs of opposites such as "brawling love" and "loving hate."
• Scene 4 of Act I: Mercutio answers Romeo's dream with the speech on Queen Mab, the fairy who visits each person's dreams, and Romeo tells him to hush because he talks of nothing.
• Scene 5 of Act I: At the ball, Romeo and Juliet exchange lines of pilgrim and saint, which end in a kiss, and Juliet tells him he kisses "by the book."
• Prologue to Act II: The Chorus returns and explains in fourteen lines that Romeo's old desire is dying and that the new affection for Juliet is the heir, making clear to the audience that love is now mutual.
• Scene 4 of Act II: In the street, Mercutio and Romeo trade puns, Mercutio mocks the Nurse with coarse jokes, and the Nurse hits back with threats and gets tangled when speaking of the letter of "Romeo" and of "rosemary."
• Scene 1 of Act III: The wounded Mercutio plays on the word "grave" and repeats the curse on the plague, and Benvolio tells the Prince of the brawl, but Lady Capulet recalls that he is kin to Montague and so would not tell the truth.
• Scene 2 of Act III: The Nurse says "he is dead" without saying who, and Juliet thinks it is Romeo; on learning that he has been banished, she says that this word alone has slain ten thousand Tybalts.
• Scene 1 of Act IV: Before Paris, in the friar's cell, Juliet answers with double-meaning phrases that he takes as love and that she says for Romeo.
• Scene 3 of Act V: Friar Laurence tells the Prince how he married the two, gave the potion, and wrote to Romeo, and Balthasar, Paris's page, and Romeo's letter confirm the account.

Passages

The Chorus announces the end before the play begins:

Romeo speaks of what he feels for Rosaline in pairs of opposites:

Juliet, on a word that weighs more than her cousin's death: