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Romeo and JulietPart 19

Part 19

  1. That when she dies, etc. "She is rich in beauty, and only poor in being subject to the lot of humanity, that her store, or riches, can be destroyed by death, who shall, by the same blow, put an end to beauty" (Johnson); or, as Mason puts it, "she is poor because she leaves no part of her store behind her." Her store may mean "beauty's store," as Dowden suggests. Cf. V. and A. 1019: "For he, being dead, with him is beauty slain."

  2. In that sparing makes huge waste. Cf. Sonn. 1. 12: "And, tender churl, makes waste in niggarding."

  3. Starv'd. The early eds. (except the 4th folio) have "sterv'd," the old form of the word, found in several other passages in the folio (M. of V. iv. 1. 138, Cor. iv. 2. 51, etc.) and rhyming with deserve in Cor. ii. 3. 120. Cf. Spenser, F.Q. iv. 1. 4:--

"Untill such time as noble Britomart Released her, that else was like to sterve Through cruell knife that her deare heart did kerve." There it means to die (its original sense), as in Hen. VII. v. 3. 132.

  1. To call hers, exquisite. "That is, to call hers, which is exquisite, the more into my remembrance and contemplation" (Heath); or "to make her unparalleled beauty more the subject of thought and conversation" (Malone). For question = conversation, cf. A.Y.L. iii.

  2. 39, v. 4. 167, etc. But why may not question repeat the idea of examine? Benvolio says, "Examine other beauties;" Romeo replies, in substance, that the result of the examination will only be to prove her beauty superior to theirs and therefore the more extraordinary.

  3. These happy masks. Steevens took this to refer to "the masks worn by female spectators of the play;" but it is probably = the masks worn nowadays. They are called happy as "being privileged to touch the sweet countenances beneath" (Clarke).

  4. Strucken. The early eds. have "strucken" or "strooken." S. also uses struck (or strook) and stricken as the participle.

  5. Passing. Often used adverbially but only before adjectives and adverbs. Cf. L. L. L. iv. 3. 103, Much Ado, ii. 1. 84, etc.

  6. Pay that doctrine. Give that instruction. Cf. L. L. L. iv. 3. 350: "From women's eyes this doctrine I derive;" A. and C. v. 2. 31:--

"I hourly learn A doctrine of obedience," etc.

SCENE II.--4. Reckoning. Estimation, reputation.

  1. Fourteen years. In Brooke's poem her father says, "Scarce saw she yet full xvi. yeres;" and in Paynter's novel "as yet shee is not attayned to the age of xviii. yeares."

  2. Made. The 1st quarto has "maried," which is followed by some editors. The antithesis of make and mar is a very common one in S. Cf. ii. 4. 110 below: "that God hath made for himself to mar." See also L. L. L. iv. 3. 191, M.N.D. i. 2. 39, A.Y.L. i. 1. 34, T. of S. iv. 3. 97, Macb. ii. 3. 36, Oth. v. 1. 4, etc. On the other hand, examples of the opposition of married and marred are not uncommon in Elizabethan writers. Cf. A.W. ii. 3. 315: "A young man married is a man that's marr'd."

  3. All my hopes but she. Capulet seems to imply here that he has lost some children; but cf. iii. 5. 163 below.

  4. My earth. My world or my life; rather than my lands, my landed property, as some explain it. It was apparently suggested by the earth of the preceding line.

  5. My will, etc. My will is subordinate to her consent. The old man talks very differently in iii. 5 below.

  6. Dark heaven. The darkness of night. Cf. i. 5. 47 below.

  7. Young men. Malone compares Sonn. 98. 2:--

"When proud-pied April dress'd in all his trim Hath put a spirit of youth in every thing."

  1. Female. The quartos (except the 1st) and 1st folio have the curious misprint "fennell."

  2. Inherit. Possess; as in Temp. iv. 1. 154, Rich. II. ii. 1. 83, Cymb. iii. 2. 63, etc.

  3. Which on more view, etc. A perplexing line for which many emendations have been suggested. With the reading in the text the meaning seems to be: which one (referring to her of most merit), after your further inspection of the many, my daughter (who is one of the number) may prove to be,--one in number, though one is no number. The quibble at the end alludes to the old proverb that "one is no number." Cf. Sonn. 136. 8: "Among a number one is reckon'd none." Dowden points thus: "Which on more view of, many--mine being one--May," etc., and explains thus: "On more view of whom (that is, the lady of most merit), many (other ladies)--and my daughter among them--may stand in a count of heads, but in estimation (reckoning, with a play on the word) none can hold a place." The general sense of the passage is clear, whatever reading or analysis we adopt. Capulet says in substance: Come to my house to-night, and decide whom you like best of the beauties gathered there; if Juliet be the one, well and good. He has already told Paris that she shall be his if he can gain her love, but discreetly suggests that he look more carefully at the "fresh female buds" of Verona before plucking one to wear on his heart.

  4. Written there. Cf. Brooke's poem:--

"No Lady fayre or fowle was in Verona towne: No knight or gentleman of high or lowe renowne: But Capilet himselfe hath byd vnto his feast: Or by his name in paper sent, appoynted as a geast."

  1. One fire, etc. Alluding to the old proverb that "fire drives out fire." Cf. J.C. iii. 1. 171: "As fire drives out fire, so pity pity;" Cor. iv. 7. 54: "One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail," etc.

  2. Holp. Used by S. oftener than helped, for both the past tense and the participle.

  3. Cures with. Is cured by. S. does not elsewhere use cure intransitively. Languish occurs again as a noun in A. and C. v. 2. 42: "That rids our dogs of languish." On the passage cf. Brooke:--

"Ere long the townishe dames together will resort: Some one of bewty, favour, shape, and of so lovely porte: With so fast fixed eye, perhaps thou mayst beholde: That thou shalt quite forget thy loue, and passions past of olde.

The proverbe saith vnminded oft are they that are vnseene. And as out of a planke a nayle a nayle doth drive: So novell love out of the minde the auncient loue doth rive."

  1. Your plantain-leaf. The common plantain (Plantago major), which still holds a place in the domestic materia medica. For its use in healing bruises, cf. L. L. L. iii. 1. 74:--

"Moth. A wonder, master! here's a costard broken in a shin.

Costard. O sir, plantain, a plain plantain! ... no salve, sir, but a plantain!"

Steevens quotes Albumazar: "Bring a fresh plantain leaf, I've broke my shin." A broken shin, like a broken head (M.W. i. 125, T.N. v.

  1. 178, etc.) is one that is bruised, so that the blood runs, not one that is fractured. The plantain was supposed to have other virtues. Halliwell-Phillipps quotes Withals, Little Dictionarie for Children, 1586: "The tode being smitten of the spyder in fighte, and made to swell with hir poyson, recovereth himselfe with plantaine."

  2. Not mad, but bound, etc. An allusion to the old-time treatment of the insane. Cf. C. of E. iv. 4. 97: "They must be bound and laid in some dark room;" and A.Y.L. iii. 2. 420: "Love is merely a madness, and, I tell you, deserves as well a dark house and a whip as madmen do."

  3. Good-den. Printed "godden" and "gooden" in the early eds., and a corruption of good e'en, or good evening. God gi' good-den in the next line is printed "Godgigoden" in the quartos and first three folios, "God gi' Good-e'en" in the 4th folio. This salutation was used as soon as noon was past. See on i. 1. 157 above, and cf. ii. 4. 105 fol. below.

  4. Rest you merry! For the full form, God rest you merry! (= God keep you merry), cf. A.Y.L. v. 1. 65, etc. It was a common form of salutation at meeting, and oftener at parting. Here the servant is about to leave, thinking that Romeo is merely jesting with him. Cf. 79 below.

66-69. Signior Martino, etc. Probably meant to be prose, but some editors make bad verse of it.

  1. Mercutio. Mercutio here figures among the invited guests, although we find him always associating with the young men of the Montague family. He is the prince's "kinsman," and apparently on terms of acquaintance with both the rival houses, though more intimate with the Montagues than with the Capulets.

  2. Rosaline. This shows that Rosaline is a Capulet.

  3. Up. Dowden plausibly prints "Up--," assuming that "Romeo eagerly interrupts the servant, who would have said 'Up to our house.'"

  4. Crush a cup, etc. A common expression in the old plays. We still say "crack a bottle."

  5. Unattainted. Unprejudiced, impartial; used by S. only here.

  6. Fires. The early eds. have "fire," which White retains as an admissible rhyme in Shakespeare's day.

  7. Who often drown'd, etc. Alluding to the old notion that if a witch were thrown into the water she would not sink. King James, in his Dæmonology, says: "It appeares that God hath appointed for a supernatural signe of the monstrous impietie of witches, that the water shall refuse to receive them in her bosom that have shaken off them the sacred water of baptism, and wilfully refused the benefit thereof."

  8. That crystal scales. The reading of the early eds., changed by some to "those," etc.; but scales may be used for the entire machine. Dyce says it was often so used by writers of the time.

  9. Lady's love. Some substitute "lady-love," which S. does not use elsewhere. Clarke suggests that your lady's love may mean "the little love Rosaline bears you," weighed against that of some possible maid.

  10. Scant. Not elsewhere used adverbially by S. Scantly occurs only in A. and C. iii. 4. 6.

SCENE III.--1. On the character of the Nurse Mrs. Jameson says:--

"She is drawn with the most wonderful power and discrimination. In the prosaic homeliness of the outline, and the magical illusion of the colouring, she reminds us of some of the marvellous Dutch paintings, from which, with all their coarseness, we start back as from a reality. Her low humour, her shallow garrulity, mixed with the dotage and petulance of age--her subserviency, her secrecy, and her total want of elevated principle, or even common honesty--are brought before us like a living and palpable truth....

"Among these harsh and inferior spirits is Juliet placed; her haughty parents, and her plebeian nurse, not only throw into beautiful relief her own native softness and elegance, but are at once the cause and the excuse of her subsequent conduct. She trembles before her stern mother and her violent father, but, like a petted child, alternately cajoles and commands her nurse. It is her old foster-mother who is the confidante of her love. It is the woman who cherished her infancy who aids and abets her in her clandestine marriage. Do we not perceive how immediately our impression of Juliet's character would have been lowered, if Shakespeare had placed her in connection with any commonplace dramatic waiting-woman?--even with Portia's adroit Nerissa, or Desdemona's Emilia? By giving her the Nurse for her confidante, the sweetness and dignity of Juliet's character are preserved inviolate to the fancy, even in the midst of all the romance and wilfulness of passion."

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