It contains no rhyme, but each line has an internal rhythm with a regular rhythmic pattern. As with most of Shakespeare’s important characters, these two speak in blank verse. He is followed by Tybalt, who wants to get in on the action. The verse lines begin when Benvolio enters in an attempt to break up the fight. Their words flow freely, without concern for where the line ends on the page. The servants, who have crossed paths in the street, insult each other hoping for, but not wanting to be blamed for, a fight. We can recognize the beginning of this passage as prose. Put up thy sword, / Or manage it to part these men with me. Tybalt: What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? / Turn thee, Benvolio, Look upon thy death.īenvolio: I do but keep the peace. I serve as good a man as you.īenvolio: Part fools! / Put up your swords. Sampson: But if you do sir, I am for you. Sampson: No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir. The first scene of Romeo and Juliet is written in prose, until Benvolio and Tybalt, the more important and higher born characters in the play, enter:Ībraham: Do you bite your thumb at us, sir? For example, the majority of The Merry Wives of Windsor is written in prose because it deals with the middle-class. However, sometimes important characters can speak in prose. These are characters such as criminals, servants, and pages. When a character in a play speaks in prose, you know that he is a lower class member of society. Shakespeare’s audiences would recognize the speech as their language.
Prose is the form of speech used by common, and often comic, people in Shakespearean drama. In Romeo and Juliet prose is less common than verse. One idea that may help is to remember that his plays are written in two forms: prose and verse. However, if you understand more about his language, it is easier to understand. They accuse him of not speaking English and refuse to believe that ordinary people spoke the way his characters do. Many students-and adults, for that matter-find Shakespeare difficult to read and hard to understand. (2.2.133–136) Shakespeare’s Language: Prose vs Verse She uses the sea as a simile to help him understand: Toward the end of the scene, Juliet tries to tell Romeo how much she loves him. He creates for us the idea that the moon is a woman who is “sick and pale with grief,” seemingly jealous of Juliet’s beauty. In these same lines Romeo has furthered his metaphor by using personification. That thou her maid art far more fair than she.” (2.2.3–6) Romeo begins by using the sun as a metaphor for his beloved Juliet: The famous balcony scene of the play is overflowing with figurative language. Recognizing when his characters are speaking figuratively helps to understand what they are saying. Shakespeare uses many types of figurative language like metaphor, simile, and personification.
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