Shakespeare Histories Comedies Passages

The language I have learned these forty years,

My native English, now I must forgo,

And now my tongue’s use is to me no more

Than an unstringed viol or a harp,

Or like a cunning instrument cased up,

Or, being open, put into his hands

That knows no touch to tune the harmony.

Richard II, 1.3 - Mowbray’s Exile

Oh, who can hold a fire in his hand

By thinking on the frosty Causcasus?

Or cloy the hunger edge of appetite

By bare imagination of a feast?

Or wallow naked in December snow

By thinking on fantastic summer’s heat?

Richard II, 1.3 - Bolingbroke’s Exile

Not all the water in the rough rude sea

Can wash the balm from an anointed king.

The breath of worldly men cannot depose

The deputy elected by the Lord.

For every man that Bolingbroke hath pressed

To lift shrewd steel against our golden crown.

Heaven for His Richard hath in heavenly pay

A glorious angel. Then, if angels fight,

Weak men must fall, for heaven still guards the right

Richard II, 3.2 - Richard defending his kingship and asserting divine right.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessèd plot, this earth, this realm, this England,

Richard II, 2.1 - John Gaunt talks about England

Bolingbroke See, see, King Richard doth himself appear,

As doth the blushing discontented sun

From out the fiery portal of the east,

When he perceives the envious clouds are bent

To dim his glory and to stain the track

Of his bright passage to the occident

York Yet looks he like a king. Behold, his eye,

As bright as is the eagle's, lightens forth

Controlling majesty. Alack, alack, for woe,

That any harm should stain so fair a show! (62-72)

Richard Down, down I come, like glist'ring Phaeton,

Wanting the manage of unruly jades. (177-178)

Richard II 3.3 - Bolingbroke, York, Richard sue the imagery of kingship

First—heaven be the record to my speech!—
In the devotion of a subject’s love,
Tend’ring the precious safety of my prince
And free from other misbegotten hate,
Come I appellant to this princely presence.—
Now, Thomas Mowbray, do I turn to thee;
And mark my greeting well, for what I speak
My body shall make good upon this earth
Or my divine soul answer it in heaven.
Thou art a traitor and a miscreant,
Too good to be so and too bad to live,
Since the more fair and crystal is the sky,
The uglier seem the clouds that in it fly.
Once more, the more to aggravate the note,
With a foul traitor’s name stuff I thy throat,
And wish, so please my sovereign, ere I move,
What my tongue speaks my right-drawn sword may
prove.

Richard II 1.1 - Bolingbroke Speech against Mowbray; Addressing Mowbray, barely addresses King

Let not my cold words here accuse my zeal.
’Tis not the trial of a woman’s war,
The bitter clamor of two eager tongues,
Can arbitrate this cause betwixt us twain.
The blood is hot that must be cooled for this.
Yet can I not of such tame patience boast
As to be hushed and naught at all to say.
First, the fair reverence of your Highness curbs me
From giving reins and spurs to my free speech,
Which else would post until it had returned
These terms of treason doubled down his throat.
Setting aside his high blood’s royalty,
And let him be no kinsman to my liege,
I do defy him, and I spit at him,
Call him a slanderous coward and a villain,
Which to maintain I would allow him odds
And meet him, were I tied to run afoot
Even to the frozen ridges of the Alps
Or any other ground inhabitable
Wherever Englishman durst set his foot.
Meantime let this defend my loyalty:
By all my hopes, most falsely doth he lie.

Richard II 1.1 - Mowbray Speech in Return to Bolingbroke; addressing King not Bolingbroke

Here, cousin, seize the crown.

Here, cousin,

On this side my hand, and on that side thine.

Now is this golden crown like a deep well

That owes two buckets, filling one another,

The emptier ever dancing in the air,

The other down, unseen, and full of water.

That bucket down and full of tears am I,

Drinking my griefs, whilst you mount up on high.

Richard II 4.1 - Richard Gives up the crown, buckets are significant

Now mark me how I will undo myself.

I give this heavy weight from off my head,

And this unwieldy scepter from my hand,

The pride of kingly sway from out my heart.

With mine own tears I wash away my balm,

With mine own hands I give away the crown,

With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,

With mine own breath release all duteous oaths,

All pomp and majesty I do forswear

My manors, rents, revenues I forgo,

My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny

Richard II 4.1 - Richard undoes his kingliness in reversal of traditional ceremony — Richard is master of ceremony

Long mayst thou live in Richard's seat to sit,

And soon lie Richard in an earthly pit!

God save King Henry, unkinged Richard says,

And send him many years of sunshine days!

What more remains?

Richard II 4.1 - Richard is being petty to Bolingbroke

They love not poison that do poison need,
Nor do I thee. Though I did wish him dead,
I hate the murderer, love him murderèd.
The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labor,
But neither my good word nor princely favor.
With Cain go wander through shades of night,
And never show thy head by day nor light.

Lords, I protest my soul is full of woe
That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow.
Come mourn with me for what I do lament,
And put on sullen black incontinent.
I’ll make a voyage to the Holy Land
To wash this blood off from my guilty hand.

March sadly after. Grace my mournings here
In weeping after this untimely bier.

Richard II 5.6 - Bolingbroke (Now king Henry) final lines of play making same mistake as richard

I know you all, and will awhile uphold

The unyoked humor of your idleness.

Yet herein will I imitate the sun,

Who doth permit the base contagious clouds

To smother up his beauty from the world,

That, when he please again to be himself,

Being wanted, he may be more wondered at

By breaking through the foul and ugly mists

Of vapors that did seem to strangle him.

If all the world were playing holidays,

To sport would be as tedious as to work,

But when they seldom come, they wished-for come,

And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.

So when this loose behavior I throw off,

And pay the debt I never promised,

By how much better than my word I am,

By so much shall I falsify men’s hopes;

And, like bright metal on a sullen ground,

My reformation, glittering o’er my fault,

Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes

Than that which hath no foil to set it off.

I’ll so offend to make offense a skil,

Redeeming time when men least think I will.

Henry IV 1.2 - Hal is twofaced and is purposefully being bad to later appear good

So shaken as we are, so wan with care,
Find we a time for frighted peace to pant,
And breathe short-winded accents of new broils
To be commenced in strands afar remote.
No more the thirsty entrance of this soil
Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood;
Nor more shall trenching war channel her fields,
Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs
Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes,
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close of civil butchery
Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,
March all one way and be no more opposed
Against acquaintance, kindred and allies:
The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends,
As far as to the sepulchre of Christ,
Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross
We are impressed and engaged to fight,
Forthwith a power of English shall we levy;
Whose arms were moulded in their mothers' womb
To chase these pagans in those holy fields
Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nail'd
For our advantage on the bitter cross.
But this our purpose now is twelve month old,
And bootless 'tis to tell you we will go:
Therefore we meet not now. Then let me hear
Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland,
What yesternight our council did decree
In forwarding this dear expedience.

Henry IV 1.1 - Henry opening speech

My lord, I did deny no prisoners,

But I remember, when the fight was done,

When I was dry with rage and extreme toil,

Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword,

Came there a certain lord, neat and trimly dressed,

Fresh as a bridegroom, and his chin new-reaped

Showed like a stubble-land at harvest-home.

He was perfumed like a milliner,

And ‘twixt his finger and his thumb he held

A pouncet-box, which ever and anon

He gave his nose and took ‘t away again—

Who therewith angry, when it next came there

Took it in snuff—and still he smiled and talked;

And, as the soldiers bore dead bodies by

He called them untaught knaves, unmannerly

To bring a slovenly unhandsome corpse

Betwixt the wind and his nobility.

With many holiday and lady terms

He questioned me; among the rest demanded

My prisoners in your majesty’s behalf.

Henry IV 1.3 - Hotspur refusal to give up prisoners to Henry

I am a rogue, if I were not at half-sword with a
dozen of them two hours together. I have 'scaped by
miracle. I am eight times thrust through the
doublet, four through the hose; my buckler cut
through and through; my sword hacked like a
hand-saw--ecce signum! I never dealt better since
I was a man: all would not do. A plague of all
cowards! Let them speak: if they speak more or
less than truth, they are villains and the sons of darkness.

Henry IV 2.4 - Falstaff makes up story about beating up the thugs who mugged him

was it for me to kill the
heir-apparent? should I turn upon the true prince?
why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules: but
beware instinct; the lion will not touch the true
prince. Instinct is a great matter; I was now a
coward on instinct. I shall think the better of
myself and thee during my life; I for a valiant
lion, and thou for a true prince. But, by the Lord,
lads, I am glad you have the money. Hostess, clap
to the doors: watch to-night, pray to-morrow.
Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles
of good fellowship come to you! What, shall we be
merry? shall we have a play extempore?

Henry IV 2.4 - Falstaff pretends he knew it was Hal the whole time

I am accursed to rob in that thief's company: the
rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know
not where. If I travel but four foot by the squier
further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt
not but to die a fair death for all this, if I
'scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have
forsworn his company hourly any time this two and
twenty years, and yet I am bewitched with the
rogue's company. If the rascal hath not given me
medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged; it
could not be else: I have drunk medicines. Poins!
Hal! a plague upon you both! Bardolph! Peto!
I'll starve ere I'll rob a foot further. An 'twere
not as good a deed as drink, to turn true man and to
leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that
ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven
ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me;
and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough:
a plague upon it when thieves cannot be true one to another!

Henry IV 2.2 - Falstaff bitching before highway robbery

'Tis not due yet; I would be loath to pay him before
his day. What need I be so forward with him that
calls not on me? Well, 'tis no matter; honour pricks
me on. Yea, but how if honour prick me off when I
come on? how then? Can honour set to a leg? no: or
an arm? no: or take away the grief of a wound? no.
Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? no. What is
honour? a word. What is in that word honour? what
is that honour? air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it?
he that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? no.
Doth he hear it? no. 'Tis insensible, then. Yea,
to the dead. But will it not live with the living?
no. Why? detraction will not suffer it. Therefore
I'll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon: and so
ends my catechism.

Henry IV 5.1 - Falstaff

for my single self,

I had as lief not be as live to be

In awe of such a thing as I myself.

I was born free as Caesar, so were you;

We both have fed as well, and we can both

Endure the winter’s cold as well as he.

Julius Caesar 1.2 - Cassius talking to Brutus about some “Why is Caesar so great we’re just like Caesar man we should probably kill Caesar”

Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world

Like a Colossus, and we petty men

Walk under his huge legs and peep about

To find ourselves dishonorable graves.

Julius Caesar 1.2 - Cassius says JC is a threat to Roman Republic

When went there by an age, since the great flood,

But it was famed with more than with one man?

When could they say, till now, that talked of Rome.

That her wide walks encompassed but one man?

Julius Caesar 1.2 - Cassius Still being like why is Caesar so great

Would he were fatter! But I fear him not:
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much;
He is a great observer and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men: he loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music;
Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit
That could be moved to smile at any thing.
Such men as he be never at heart's ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous.
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd
Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar.
Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf,
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him.

Julius Caesar 1.2 - Caesar says he isn’t scared of Cassius but he actually is scared of Cassius

Between the acting of a dreadful thing

And the first motion, all the interim is

Like a phantasma or a hideous dream.

The genius and the mortal instruments

Are then in counsel, and the state of man,

Like to a little kingdom, suffers then

The nature of an insurrection.

Julius Caesar 2.1 - Brutus is deciding whether or not to join the conspiracy against Caesar

It must be by his death. And for my part

I know no personal cause to spurn at him,

But for the general. He would be crowned.

How that might change his nature, there’s the question.

. . .

since the quarrel

Will bear no color for the thing he is,

Fashion it thus: that what is he, augmented,

Would run to these and these extremities,

And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg,

Which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous

And kill him in the shell.

Julius Caesar 2.1 - Brutus rationalizes killing Caesar, believing it is for the greater good of Rome, comparing Caesar to a dangerous serpent's egg.

Well, Brutus, thou art noble. Yet I see

Thy honorable mettle may be wrought

From that it is disposed.

Julius Caesar 1.2 - Cassius acknowledges Brutus's noble qualities but warns that they can be influenced or changed.

Censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you

may be the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any

dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to

Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why

Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved

Caesar less, but I loved Rome more. . . . As Caesar loved me,

I weep for him. As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it. As he was

valiant, I honor him. But as he was ambitious, I slew him.

There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his

valor, and death for his ambition. Who is here so base that

would be a bondman? If any, speak, for him I have offended.

Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak,

for him I have offended. Who is here so vile that will not love

his country? If any, speak, for him have I offended. I pause for

a reply.

Julius Caesar 3.2 - Brutus appeal to the public

You all did love him once, not without cause.

What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?

O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts,

And men have lost their reason!

[he weeps]

Bear with me.

My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

And I must pause till it come back to me.

Julius Caesar 3.2 - Antony mourning Caesar to the public using pathos appeal

Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up

To such a sudden flood of mutiny.

They that have done this deed are honorable.

What private griefs they have, alas, I know not.

Julius Caesar 3.2 - Antony tries to calm the public

Besides, it were a mock

Apt to be rendered, for someone to say,

“Break up the Senate till another time

When Caesar’s wife shall meet with better dreams.”

If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper

“Lo, Caesar is afraid”?

Julius Caesar 2.2 - Decius mocks Caesar's wife Calpurnia's dreams to persuade him to attend the Senate, suggesting that avoiding confrontation would be seen as cowardice.

I could be well moved, if I were as you;

If I could pray to move, prayers would move me.

But I am constant as the Northern Star,

Of whose true-fixed and resting quality

There is no fellow in the firmament.

The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks;

They are all fire, and every one doth shine.

But there’s but one in all doth hold his place.

So in the world: ‘tis furnished well with men,

And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive,

Yet in the number I do know but one

That unassailable holds on his rank,

Unshaked of motion; and that I am he

Let me a little show it, even in this.

Julius Caesar 3.1 - Caesar declares his unwavering resolve and superiority, comparing himself to the Northern Star to emphasize his steadiness amidst chaos before getting stabbed

I grant I am a woman, but withal

A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife.

I grant I am a woman, but withal

A woman well reputed, Cato’s daughter.

Think you I am no stronger than my sex,

Being so fathered and so husbanded?

Julius Caesar 2.1 - Portia bitches about being a woman

Cassius. How many ages hence

Shall this our lofty scene be acted over

In states unborn and accents yet unknown!

Brutus. How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport,

That now on Pompey’s basis lies along

No worthier than the dust!

Cassius. So oft as that shall be

So often shall the knot of us be called

The men that gave their country liberty.

Julius Caesar 3.1 - Cassius and Brutus talk about how killing Caesar will go down in history

O, methinks how slow

This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires

Like to a stepdame, or a dowager,

Long withering out a young man's retinue.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1 - Theseus opening line wants to marry Hippolyta ASAP

Four days will quickly step themselves in night;

Four nights will quickly dream away the time;

And then the moon, like to a silver bow

New bent in heaven, shall behold the night

Of our solemnities.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1 - Hippolyta is like “you can wait Theseus calm down”

I have a widow aunt, a dowager

Of great revenue, and she hath no child.

From Athens is her house remote seven leagues;

And she respects me as her only son.

There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee;

And to that place the sharp Athenian law

Cannot pursue us.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1 - Lysander is like “We can run away Hermia!!”

Either to die the death or to abjure
Forever the society of men.
Therefore, fair Hermia, question your desires,
Know of your youth, examine well your blood,
Whether (if you yield not to your father’s choice)
You can endure the livery of a nun,
For aye to be in shady cloister mewed,
To live a barren sister all your life,
Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.
Thrice-blessèd they that master so their blood
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage,
But earthlier happy is the rose distilled
Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn,
Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1 - Theseus on love, kinda sexual lots of blood and virgin

HERMIA 
Belike for want of rain, which I could well
Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes.
LYSANDER 
Ay me! For aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth.
But either it was different in blood—
HERMIA 
O cross! Too high to be enthralled to low.
LYSANDER 
Or else misgraffèd in respect of years—

HERMIA 
O spite! Too old to be engaged to young.
LYSANDER 
Or else it stood upon the choice of friends—
HERMIA 
O hell, to choose love by another’s eyes!
LYSANDER 
Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,
War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,
Making it momentany as a sound,
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,
Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and Earth,
And, ere a man hath power to say “Behold!”
The jaws of darkness do devour it up.
So quick bright things come to confusion.
HERMIA 
If then true lovers have been ever crossed,
It stands as an edict in destiny.
Then let us teach our trial patience
Because it is a customary cross,
As due to love as thoughts and dreams and sighs,
Wishes and tears, poor fancy’s followers.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1 - Lysander and Hermia gaffing about love

The fairy land buys not the child of me.

His mother was a votress of my order,

And, in the spiced Indian air, by night,

Full often hath she gossiped by my side,

And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands,

Marking th'embarked traders on the flood;

When we have laughed to see the sails conceive

And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind;

Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait

Following--her womb then rich with my young

squire--

Would imitate, and sail upon the land

To fetch me trifles, and return again

As from a voyage, rich with merchandise.

But she, being mortal, of that boy did die,

And for her sake do I rear up her boy,

And for her sake I will not part with him

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.1 - Titania about the little Indian boy

O, is all forgot?

All schoolday's friendship, childhood innocence?

We, Hermia, like two artificial gods,

Have with our needles created both one flower,

Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion,

Both warbling of one song, both in one key;

As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds,

Had been incorporate. So we grew together,

Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,

But yet a union in partition.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3.2 - Helena being like Hermia how did you forget me you bitch????

Most radiant Pyramus, most lily-white of hue,

Of color like the red rose on triumphant briar,

Most brisky juvenal, and eke most lovely Jew,

As true as truest horse, that never yet would tire.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3.1 - Flute as Thisbe waxing poetic

O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!

To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne?

Crystal is muddy. O, how ripe in show

Thy lips, those kissing cherries, tempting grow!

That pure congealed white, high Taurus' snow,

Fann'd with the eastern wind, turns to a crow

When thou holdst up thy hand.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3.2 - Demetrius waking up and being like wow i love helena

My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind;

So flewed, so sanded; and their heads are hung

With ears that sweep away the morning dew;

Crook-kneed and dewlapped like Thessalian bulls;

Slow in pursuit, but matched in mouth like bells

Each under each. A cry more tuneable

Was never hollowed to, nor cheered with horn

In Crete, in Sparta, nor in Thessaly

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 4.1 - The character Theseus describing his hounds and their pedigree.

HIPPOLYTA

'Tis strange my Theseus, that these
lovers speak of.

THESEUS

More strange than true: I never may believe
These antique fables, nor these fairy toys.
Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination,
That if it would but apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy;
Or in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush supposed a bear!

HIPPOLYTA

But all the story of the night told over,
And all their minds transfigured so together,
More witnesseth than fancy's images
And grows to something of great constancy;
But, howsoever, strange and admirable.

A Midsummer Night's Dream 5.1 - Theseus and Hippolyta talking about all the weird shit going on

Should I go to church

    And see the holy edifice of stone

    And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks,

    Which touching but my gentle vessel's side

    Would scatter all her spices on the stream,

    Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks,

    And in a word, but even now worth this,

    And now worth nothing?

Merchant of Venice 1.1 - Salarino on trade routes and church

In my schooldays, when I had lost one shaft

    I shot his fellow of the selfsame flight

    The selfsame way, with more advised watch,

    To find the other forth; and by adventuring both,

    I oft found both.

Merchant of Venice 1.1 - Bassanio is not reliable to lend money to

Yet his means  are in supposition: he hath an argosy bound to Tripolis,  another to the Indies; I understand, moreover, upon the Rialto, he hath a third at Mexico, a fourth for England--and other ventures he hath, squandered abroad. But ships are but boards, sailors but men; there be land rats and water rats, water thieves and land thieves--I meanpirates--and then there is the peril of waters, winds, and rocks.

Merchant of Venice 1.3 - Shylock on Antonio’s money

No, not take interest, not, as you would say,
 Directly “interest.” Mark what Jacob did.
 When Laban and himself were compromised
 That all the eanlings which were streaked and pied
 Should fall as Jacob’s hire, the ewes being rank
 In end of autumn turnèd to the rams,
 And when the work of generation was
 Between these woolly breeders in the act,
 The skillful shepherd pilled me certain wands,
 And in the doing of the deed of kind
 He stuck them up before the fulsome ewes,
 Who then conceiving did in eaning time
 Fall parti-colored lambs, and those were Jacob’s.
 This was a way to thrive, and he was blest;
 And thrift is blessing if men steal it not.

Merchant of Venice 1.3 - Shylock take on bible/torah story about money and shepherds

Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs,

dimensions, senses, affections, passions?--fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

Merchant of Venice 3.1 - Shylock crash out over Jessica marrying a Christian

In Belmont is a lady richly left;

    And she is fair, and fairer than that word,

    Of wondrous virtues. Sometimes from her eyes

    I did receive fair speechless messages.

    Her name is Portia, nothing undervalued

    To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia;

    Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth,

    For the four winds blow in from every coast

    Renowned suitors, and her sunny locks

    Hang on her temples like a golden fleece

    Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos' strond,

    And many Jasons come in quest of her.

Merchant of Venice 1.1 - Bassanio about Portia and why he needs money

Therefore, Jew

Though justice be thy plea, consider this:

That in the course of justice, none of us

Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy.

Merchant of Venice 4.1 - Portia in disguise to Shylock at the trial

You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand,
Such as I am: though for myself alone
I would not be ambitious in my wish,
To wish myself much better; yet, for you
I would be trebled twenty times myself;
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more rich;
That only to stand high in your account,
I might in virtue, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account; but the full sum of me
Is sum of something, which, to term in gross,
Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractised;
Happy in this, she is not yet so old
But she may learn; happier than this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn;
Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed,
As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours
Is now converted: but now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o'er myself: and even now, but now,
This house, these servants and this same myself
Are yours, my lord: I give them with this ring;
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love
And be my vantage to exclaim on you

Merchant of Venice 3.2 - Portia to Bassanio after he wins, she speaks same language as Shylock with cultural background of Bassanio

O, my lord,
When you went onward on this ended action,
I look'd upon her with a soldier's eye,
That liked, but had a rougher task in hand
Than to drive liking to the name of love:
But now I am return'd and that war-thoughts
Have left their places vacant, in their rooms
Come thronging soft and delicate desires,
All prompting me how fair young Hero is,
Saying, I liked her ere I went to wars.

Much Ado 1.1 - Claudio likes Hero after looking at her once after returning from war

'Tis certain so; the prince wooes for himself.
Friendship is constant in all other things
Save in the office and affairs of love:
Therefore, all hearts in love use their own tongues;
Let every eye negotiate for itself
And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch
Against whose charms faith melteth into blood.
This is an accident of hourly proof,
Which I mistrusted not.

Much Ado 2.1 - Claudio is easily deceived when trusting only his senses to make sense of the world

Give not this rotten orange to your friend.

She’s but the sign and semblance of her honor.

​Behold how like a maid she blushes here!

​O, what authority and show of truth

​Can cunning sin cover itself withal!

​Comes not that blood as modest evidence

​To witness simple virtue? Would you not swear.

​All you that see her, that she is a maid.

​By these exterior shows? But she is none:

​She knows the heat of a luxurious bed;

​Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty.

Much Ado 4.1 - Claudio publicly shames Hero at the altar

How will this fadge? my master loves her dearly;
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
My state is desperate for my master's love;
As I am woman,--now alas the day!--
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!
O time! thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!

Twelfth Night 2.3 - Viola stressed about the messy love triangle at work

This fellow is wise enough to play the fool;
And to do that well craves a kind of wit:
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
And, like the haggard, cheque at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practise
As full of labour as a wise man's art
For folly that he wisely shows is fit;
But wise men, folly-fall'n, quite taint their wit.

Twelfth Night 3.1 - Viola about Feste and clownery and observations

If music be the food of love, play on.
 Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
 The appetite may sicken and so die.
 That strain again! It had a dying fall.
 O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound
 That breathes upon a bank of violets,
 Stealing and giving odor. Enough; no more.
 ’Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
 O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou,
 That, notwithstanding thy capacity
 Receiveth as the sea, naught enters there,
 Of what validity and pitch soe’er,
 But falls into abatement and low price
 Even in a minute. So full of shapes is fancy
 That it alone is high fantastical.

Twelfth Night 1.1 - Orsino opening spiel about love

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. Thy fates open their hands, letthy blood and spirit embrace them, and to inure thyself to what thou art like to be, cast thy humble slough and appear fresh. Be opposite with a kinsman, surly withservants; let thy tongue tang arguments of state; put thyself into the trick of singularity. She advises thee that sighs for thee. Remember who commended thy yellow stockings, and wished to see thee ever cross-gartered: I say, remember.

Twelfth Night 2.5 - Malvolio tricked by glazing

I could not stay behind you. My desire

    (More sharp than filed steel) did spur me forth,

    And not all love to see you (though so much

    As might have drawn one to a longer voyage)

    But jealousy what might befall your travel,

    Being skilless in these parts

Twelfth Night 3.3 - Antonio

There is a fair behavior in thee, captain;
And though that nature with a beauteous wall
Doth oft close in pollution, yet of thee
I will believe thou hast a mind that suits
With this thy fair and outward character.
I prithee, and I'll pay thee bounteously,
Conceal me what I am, and be my aid
For such disguise as haply shall become
The form of my intent

Twelfth Night 1.2 - Viola talking to Captain

Our natures do pursue,
Like rats that ravin down their proper bane,
A thirsty evil; and when we drink we die.

Measure for Measure 1.2 - Claudio “what i did was wrong i know i know”

Thus stands it with me: upon a true contract
I got possession of Julietta's bed:
You know the lady; she is fast my wife,
Save that we do the denunciation lack
Of outward order: this we came not to,
Only for propagation of a dower
Remaining in the coffer of her friends,
From whom we thought it meet to hide our love
Till time had made them for us. But it chances
The stealth of our most mutual entertainment
With character too gross is writ on Juliet.

Measure for Measure 1.2 - Claudio about marriage as a private or public affair

Angelo,
There is a kind of character in thy life,
That to the observer doth thy history
Fully unfold. Thyself and thy belongings
Are not thine own so proper as to waste
Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee.
Heaven doth with us as we with torches do,
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd
But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends
The smallest scruple of her excellence
But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines
Herself the glory of a creditor,
Both thanks and use

Measure 1.1 - Duke picks Angelo because he’s crazy virtuous

Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus,
Another thing to fall. I not deny,
The jury, passing on the prisoner's life,
May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two
Guiltier than him they try. What's open made to justice,
That justice seizes

Measure for Measure 2.1 - Angelo “you can resist temptation fam”

Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once;
And He that might the vantage best have took
Found out the remedy. How would you be,
If He, which is the top of judgment, should
But judge you as you are?

Measure for Measure 2.2 - Isabella being like you can’t judge you’re not God

What's this, what's this? Is this her fault or mine?
The tempter or the tempted, who sins most?
Ha!
Not she: nor doth she tempt: but it is I
That, lying by the violet in the sun,
Do as the carrion does, not as the flower,
Corrupt with virtuous season. Can it be
That modesty may more betray our sense
Than woman's lightness? Having waste ground enough,
Shall we desire to raze the sanctuary
And pitch our evils there? O, fie, fie, fie!
What dost thou, or what art thou, Angelo?
Dost thou desire her foully for those things
That make her good?

Measure for Measure 2.2 - Angelo kinda obsessed with Isabella

Craft against vice I must apply:
With Angelo to-night shall lie
His old betrothed but despised;
So disguise shall, by the disguised,
Pay with falsehood false exacting,
And perform an old contracting.

Measure for Measure - Duke tricking Angelo to make things right