Romeo and Juliet (quotes)

quotes to remember and understand

“You kiss by the book.”

🡺 Juliet playfully teases Romeo, showing her wit. It means he kisses perfectly, almost like he learned it from a book. This moment begins their intense, fast-paced love.

“My only love sprung from my only hate!”

🡺 Juliet is shocked to find out Romeo is a Montague. This quote shows the central conflict between love and hate and her emotional turmoil.

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

🡺 Juliet is not asking where he is, but why he has to be Romeo (a Montague). She wishes he had a different name. This quote shows the power of identity and family loyalty in the conflict.

“Romeo, I come! This do I drink to thee.”

🡺 She drinks the potion to be with Romeo. This shows her bravery and determination, and the tragic path her love leads her on.

“O happy dagger! This is thy sheath: there rust, and let me die.”

🡺 Juliet kills herself with Romeo’s dagger. She uses personification to call the dagger “happy,” because it will reunite her with Romeo in death.

“Love is a fire. It started warm, but now it burns everything in me.”

• Extended Metaphor - A metaphor that continues over several lines to build depth.

• Juliet compares love to fire: at first comforting, but now dangerous and painful. It shows how her feelings have changed.

“I waited for the truth. I waited for peace. I waited for him.”

• Anaphora - Repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning of several lines.

• Repetition of “I waited” builds rhythm and emotion. It shows longing and disappointment.

“He broke my heart. She broke my trust. They broke me.”

• Epiphora - Repeating a word or phrase at the end of sentences.

• The repetition of “broke” at the end of each line builds intensity and heartbreak.

“He is my joy and my pain.”

• Antithesis - A contrast of two opposite ideas in one sentence.

• “Joy” and “pain” are opposites. Putting them together shows Juliet’s emotional conflict.

“O Romeo, do you even know what you’ve done to me?”

• Apostrophe - Speaking to someone or something that isn’t there.

• Juliet talks directly to Romeo even if he’s not there. It shows how much he fills her thoughts.

“I cried and screamed and broke and still, no one came.”

• Polysyndeton - Repeating “and” or other conjunctions to create a dramatic list.

• Repeating “and” adds intensity, like the emotions are piling up.

“He came, he saw, he ruined everything.”

• Asyndeton - Leaving out “and” to speed up the sentence.

• Without “and,” the line feels fast and sharp — shows how quickly things went wrong.

“The stars have cursed us from the start.”

• Allusion - A reference to another famous idea, story, or figure.

• Refers to “star-crossed lovers” — adds a tragic, fated feeling to Juliet’s words.

“If only I had stopped him sooner…”

• Ellipsis - A sentence that trails off to show emotion or silence.

• The unfinished thought shows regret and sadness without saying it directly.

“To love him is to suffer. To leave him is to die.”

• Parallelism - Repeating a sentence structure for rhythm and contrast.

• The sentence patterns match, creating a rhythm and showing how both choices feel painful.

“His name is a wound I can’t heal.”

• Metaphor - Saying something is something else to show emotion or meaning.

• Juliet compares Romeo’s name to a wound, showing her pain is deep and constant.

“This pain is like fire under my skin.”

• Simile - Comparing two things using “like” or “as.”

• The pain of love feels hot and uncontrollable — very intense.

“Beautiful disaster.”

• Oxymoron - Two opposite words together to show conflict or confusion.

• Juliet feels torn: her love is amazing but has caused destruction.

“The night listens to my tears.”

• Personification - Giving human feelings or actions to something non-human.

• Juliet feels like even the night understands her sorrow.

“I’d die a thousand times to hear his voice.”

• Hyperbole - Exaggeration to show strong feelings.

• This shows just how much she misses Romeo — it’s dramatic but emotional.

“How can I love someone I should hate?”

• Rhetorical Question - A question that doesn’t need an answer — used to reflect or express emotion.

• Shows her inner conflict clearly and dramatically.

“Gone. Gone. Gone.”

• Repetition - Saying the same word or phrase again to build emotion or rhythm.

• Repeating the word makes the loss feel heavy and real.

“Foolish fights fuel fear.”

• Alliteration - Repeating the same first sound in words close together.

• The repeating ‘f’ sound adds rhythm and emphasis.

“The silence wrapped around me like a cold blanket.”

• Imagery - Describing something so clearly that the reader/listener can picture or feel it.

• Helps the audience feel Juliet’s loneliness.

“He gave me love… and took away my peace.”

• Juxtaposition - Placing two opposite ideas close together to highlight contrast.

• Shows how Romeo is both her comfort and her pain.