Romeo and Juliet: key quotes latest
2022/2023 graded A
"It is an honor that I dream not of." (1.3.70) ✔✔Speaker: Juliet
Context: Juliet is responding to her mother's question of 'will you marry?'
Meaning: Marriage is not something Juliet has thought of.
"Well, in that you miss: she'll not be hit with Cupid's arrow" (1.1.194) ✔✔Speaker: Romeo
Context: Romeo is explaining to his cousin, Benvolio, that he is in love
Meaning: Romeo's love wishes to stay a virgin.
"O she is rich in beauty, only poor, that when she dies with beauty dies her story" (1.1.201).
✔✔Speaker: Romeo
Context: Explaining to his cousin that he is in love
Meaning: When she dies, she will cut off all beauty from future generations.
"Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, and find delight writ there with beauty's pen"
(1.3.85). ✔✔Speaker: Lady Capulet
Context: Lady Capulet is trying to explain why Juliet should marry Paris
, Meaning: Paris is like a book and Juliet will be the cover that holds it together.
"This precious book of love, the unbound lover, to beautify him only lacks a cover" (1.3.91)
✔✔Speaker: Lady Capulet
Context: She is trying to explain why Juliet should marry Paris
Meaning: Juliet is a beautiful thing for Juliet to have.
"From ancient grudge to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean" (prologue)
✔✔Speaker: Narrator
Context: Explaining the events of what came before Romeo and Juliet's death
Meaning: The two households, the Montague's and the Capulet's, are in feud that makes them
fight and shed civilian blood.
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star- crossed lovers take there life"
(prologue) ✔✔Speaker: Narrator
Context: Explaining what caused Romeo and Juliet's deaths
Meaning: Because of all the fighting, a Montague (Romeo) and a Capulet (Juliet) who are lovers,
kill themselves.
2022/2023 graded A
"It is an honor that I dream not of." (1.3.70) ✔✔Speaker: Juliet
Context: Juliet is responding to her mother's question of 'will you marry?'
Meaning: Marriage is not something Juliet has thought of.
"Well, in that you miss: she'll not be hit with Cupid's arrow" (1.1.194) ✔✔Speaker: Romeo
Context: Romeo is explaining to his cousin, Benvolio, that he is in love
Meaning: Romeo's love wishes to stay a virgin.
"O she is rich in beauty, only poor, that when she dies with beauty dies her story" (1.1.201).
✔✔Speaker: Romeo
Context: Explaining to his cousin that he is in love
Meaning: When she dies, she will cut off all beauty from future generations.
"Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, and find delight writ there with beauty's pen"
(1.3.85). ✔✔Speaker: Lady Capulet
Context: Lady Capulet is trying to explain why Juliet should marry Paris
, Meaning: Paris is like a book and Juliet will be the cover that holds it together.
"This precious book of love, the unbound lover, to beautify him only lacks a cover" (1.3.91)
✔✔Speaker: Lady Capulet
Context: She is trying to explain why Juliet should marry Paris
Meaning: Juliet is a beautiful thing for Juliet to have.
"From ancient grudge to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean" (prologue)
✔✔Speaker: Narrator
Context: Explaining the events of what came before Romeo and Juliet's death
Meaning: The two households, the Montague's and the Capulet's, are in feud that makes them
fight and shed civilian blood.
"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star- crossed lovers take there life"
(prologue) ✔✔Speaker: Narrator
Context: Explaining what caused Romeo and Juliet's deaths
Meaning: Because of all the fighting, a Montague (Romeo) and a Capulet (Juliet) who are lovers,
kill themselves.
