Romeo and Juliet

“Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents' strife.

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

And the continuance of their parents' rage,

Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;

The which if you with patient ears attend,

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.” 

The Prologue provides a complete overview of the play, including its tragic ending. Spelling out what is going to happen points to an important theme of the play—human actions often seem out of human control. Chance and uncontrollable impulse push the characters to their fates. Is what happens in this play indeed written in the stars? Notably, this Prologue is a sonnet, a form that will become important throughout the play (see Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting, below).

“GREGORY

To move is to stir; and to be valiant is to stand:

therefore, if thou art moved, thou runn'st away.

SAMPSON

A dog of that house shall move me to stand: I will

take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's.

GREGORY

That shows thee a weak slave; for the weakest goes

to the wall.

SAMPSON

True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels,

are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push

Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids

to the wall.

GREGORY

The quarrel is between our masters and us their men.

SAMPSON

’Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I

have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the

maids, and cut off their heads.

GREGORY

The heads of the maids?

SAMPSON

Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads;

take it in what sense thou wilt.

GREGORY

They must take it in sense that feel it.

SAMPSON

Me they shall feel while I am able to stand: and

’tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh.

GREGORY

’Tis well thou art not fish; if thou hadst, thou

hadst been poor John. Draw thy tool! here comes

two of the house of the Montagues.

SAMPSON

My naked weapon is out: quarrel, I will back thee.” 

This lengthy sequence of ribald puns is our first taste of Verona. From it, we learn a great deal about this world. It’s a place full of impulsive young men showing off, and a place where words don’t always mean what they seem to mean. Sexuality, violence, and ego are all present in this ever-building string of sex jokes.

“Here’s much to do with hate, though more with love.

Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate,

O anything of nothing first create!

O heavy lightness, serious vanity,

Misshapen chaos of well-seeming forms,

Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health,

Still-waking sleep that is not what it is!

This love feel I, that feel no love in this.

Dost thou not laugh?”

Romeo’s lengthy reflection on the paradoxes of love is at once prescient and a little ridiculous. He’s right in noting the difficulties of love—that it can be at once tormenting and beautiful, absurd and deadly serious—and all these truths will come into play soon. However, he’s also addressing the sensible and peace-loving Benvolio, who, while he claims a line later to be weeping over Romeo’s suffering, seems to be at least suppressing a little smile here.