When Romeo first sees Juliet at the Capulet's feast in act 1, scene 5, of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, he's totally smitten with her before he even knows her name:
ROMEO: [to a Servingman]What lady's that which doth enrich the handOf yonder knight?
SERVINGMAN I know not, sir.
ROMEO: O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!It seems she hangs upon the cheek of nightAs a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear—Beauty too rich for use, for Earth too dear.. . . Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight,For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night. (1.5.48–60, emphasis added)
In the same scene—and he still doesn't know her name—he speaks to Juliet directly:
ROMEO: [To JULIET] If I profane with my unworthiest handThis holy shrine (emphasis added)
And a little later, he says:
ROMEO: O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. (1.5.114, emphasis added)
Then, in the balcony scene in act 2, scene 2, Romeo (who knows Juliet's name now) sees her at a window:
ROMEO: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.. . . Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,Having some business, do entreat her eyesTo twinkle in their spheres till they return. (2.2.2–17, emphasis added)
JULIET: Ay me.
ROMEO: [Aside] She speaks.O, speak again, bright angel! (2.2.27–29, emphasis added)
He then refers to her as a "dear saint" and then "fair saint" in act 2.
Romeo doesn't have much more to say about Juliet until near the end of the play when he goes into Juliet's grave, and says a few words about her and to her:
ROMEO: For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makesThis vault a feasting presence full of light... (5.3.85–86, emphasis added)
Sunday, October 21, 2012
How does Romeo describe Juliet in Romeo and Juliet?
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