Romeo and Juliet Quotes

Flashcards for reviewing Romeo and Juliet quotes and their meanings.

"Not proud you have, but thankful that you have. / Proud can I never be of what I hate, / But thankful even for hate that is meant in love"

Juliet says this to her parents. She is trying to respectfully decline the marriage to Paris, explaining she is thankful for the love and intentions behind the arrangement but cannot be proud of a situation (marriage to Paris) that she hates.

"Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast! / Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest!"

Romeo says this while watching Juliet at her balcony, expressing his longing to be the peace and tranquility she experiences in sleep.

"Indeed I never shall be satisfied / With Romeo till I behold him –dead / Is my poor heart so for a kinsman vexed."

Juliet says this to her mother, Lady Capulet. She uses double meaning—pretending to express that she won't be satisfied until she sees Romeo dead as revenge for Tybalt's death, but actually expressing her heartbreak and longing for Romeo.

"Or, if not so, then I hit it right: / Our Romeo hath not been in bed tonight"

Friar Laurence says this to Romeo, suspecting that Romeo has been with Juliet all night instead of sleeping.

"Uncle, This is a Montague, our foe."

Tybalt says this to Lord Capulet at the Capulet party, expressing his fury and recognition of Romeo as a Montague, their enemy, who has infiltrated their celebration.

"Send for the County. Go tell him of this. / I’ll have this knot knit up tomorrow morning."

Capulet says this to his household. He decides to move Juliet’s wedding to Paris to an earlier date, showing his impulsiveness and determination in arranging the marriage.

"I’ll look to like, if looking liking move."

Juliet says this to her mother. She agrees to consider Paris as a potential husband, indicating she’ll try to love Paris if it’s possible, but she is not making any promises.

"Two households, both alike in dignity, / In fair Verona where we lay our scene, / From ancient grudge break new mutiny, / Where civil blood make civil hands unclean."

The Chorus says this in the prologue, setting up the play's setting and main conflict between the two noble families, the Montagues and Capulets.

"Therefore hence, be gone. / But if thou, jealous, dost return to pry / In what I farther shall intend to do, / By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint / And strew this hungry churchyard with thy limbs."

Romeo says this to Balthasar when he is going to see Juliet in the tomb, he is warning Balthasar not to interfere with his plans at the Capulet tomb.

"A plague o’ both your houses!"

Mercutio says this as he is dying after being wounded in a fight between Tybalt and Romeo, cursing both the Capulets and Montagues for their feud that led to his death.

"Hold! Get you gone, be strong and prosperous / In this resolve. I’ll send a friar with speed / To Mantua, with my letters to thy lord."

Friar Laurence says this to Juliet, after she drinks the sleeping potion, encouraging Juliet to flee with Romeo so she doesn't marry Paris.

"Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch; marry, ‘tis enough."

Mercutio says this after being mortally wounded by Tybalt, downplaying the seriousness of his wound with wordplay, though he knows it is fatal.

"My only love, sprung from my only hate! / Too early seen unknown, and known too late!"

Juliet says this to herself after learning that Romeo is a Montague, expressing her shock and dismay that the boy she loves belongs to the family her family hates.

"Some shall be pardoned, and some punished; / For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

Prince Escalus says this at the end of the play, indicating that justice will be served in response to the tragic events and the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

"O, I am slain! If thou be merciful, / Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet."

Paris says this as he is dying. He wants to die beside Juliet, expressing his love for her even in death.

"O, then, I see that Queen Mab hath been with you. (from movie clip we watched)"

Mercutio says this to Romeo, teasing Romeo about dreams and suggesting that Queen Mab, the fairy of dreams, has visited him.

"Your first is dead –or ‘twere as good he were / As living here and you no use of him."

Friar Laurence says this to Romeo, after he kills Tybalt. He says Romeo might as well be dead if he’s banished, highlighting the severity of Romeo's situation.

"Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua’s law / Is death to any he that utters them."

The Apothecary says this to Romeo, acknowledging that he has poison available but selling it is illegal and punishable by death in Mantua.

"See how she leans her cheek upon her hand! / O, that I were a glove upon that hand, / That I might touch that cheek!"

Romeo says this while watching Juliet at her balcony, admiring Juliet’s beauty and expressing his infatuation with her.

"With love’s light wing’s did I o’erperch these walls; / For stony limits cannot hold love out, / And what love can do, that dares love attempt. / Therefore they kinsmen are no stop to me."

Romeo says this to Juliet, explaining that love gave him the strength to climb over the high walls into Juliet’s garden.

"No. / I have forgot that name and that name’s woe."

Romeo says this to Benvolio after meeting Juliet, indicating that he no longer cares about Rosaline and the pain of his unrequited love for her.

"Your lady mother is coming to your chamber / The day is broke; be wary; look about."

The Nurse says this to Juliet, warning that Juliet must be careful because her mom is coming to her chamber to talk about marrying Paris.

"Tybalt! My cousin! O my brother’s child! O Prince! O cousin! Husband! Oh, the blood is spilled / Of my dear kinsman!"

Juliet says this to the Nurse, she’s mourning Tybalt’s death and expressing her grief over the loss of her cousin.

"O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?"

Romeo says this to Juliet during their balcony scene, expressing his desire for Juliet’s reciprocation and assurance of her love.

"O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio’s dead!"

Benvolio says this to Romeo, announcing Mercutio’s death and explaining Tybalt is the person who did it.

"Thy lips are warm!"

Juliet says this as she is holding Romeo in the tomb, right before she kills herself, realizing that Romeo just died moments before she awoke.

"Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries / That thou hast done me; therefore turn and draw."

Tybalt says this to Romeo, expressing his intention to duel Romeo despite Romeo’s attempts to avoid conflict.

"Ay, sir, but she will none, she gives you thanks. / I would the fool were married to her grave."

Lord Capulet says this to Paris that Juliet refuses Paris and appreciates the offer and she won't marry him.

"Thou wast the prettiest babe that e’er I nursed."

The Nurse says this to Juliet, reminiscing and reflecting on Juliet’s childhood, highlighting her close relationship with Juliet.

"I will be brief, for my short date of breath / Is not so long as is a tedious tale. / Romeo, there dead, was husband to Juliet; / And she, there dead, that Romeo’s faithful wife."

Prince Escalus says this to the families of the Montague's and Capulet's, he’s explaining what happened.

"Once more, on pain of death, all men depart."

Prince Escalus says this, ordering peace after the initial street fight in Verona, warning that further disturbances will be punished severely.

"I pray thee, [. . .] let’s retire: / The day is hot, the Capulets abroad, / And, if we meet, we shall not ‘scape a brawl."

Benvolio says this to Mercutio, warning that trouble may come if they stay out in the streets of Verona, given the tension between the Montagues and Capulets.

"He shall be endured / Am I the master here, or you? Go to. / Go to. Go to. / You are a saucy boy: is’t so, indeed?"

Lord Capulet says this to Tybalt at the Capulet party, telling Tybalt to leave Romeo alone. He is asserting his authority as the head of the household.

"It is an honour that I dream not of."

Juliet says this to her mother, indicating that she isn’t thinking about marriage.

"Affliction is enamored of thy parts. / And thou art wedded to calamity"

Friar Laurence says this to Romeo, misfortune loves Romeo.

"For all this same, I’ll hide me hereabout: / His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt."

Balthasar says this, he’s suspicious of Romeo’s actions so he decides to hide because he doesn't trust Romeo.

"How, how, how, how? Chopped logic? What is this?"

Lord Capulet says this to Juliet, he’s furious Juliet is arguing about marrying Paris.

"Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast."

Friar Laurence says this to Romeo, advising him to approach love with caution, emphasizing that rushing leads to mistakes.

"Stay, fellow. I can read."

Romeo says this to the servingman, offering to read a Capulet invitation, which leads him to discover that Rosaline will be at the party.

"Why then, O brawling love, O loving hate, / O anything of nothing first create."

Romeo says this to himself when talking about Rosaline, expressing his confusion and frustration with the conflicting emotions of being in love.

"Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee. / Obey and go with me, for thou must die."

Paris says this to Romeo when he encounters him at the Capulet tomb, confronting Romeo because he believes Romeo is desecrating graves.

"And for that offense / Immediately we do exile him hence."

Prince Escalus says this to Romeo, declaring that Romeo is banished from Verona as punishment for killing Tybalt.

"An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life / Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled. / But by and by comes back to Romeo, / Who had but newly entertain’d revenge, / And to’t they go like lightning; for, ere I / Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain; / And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly; This is the truth, or let Benvolio die."

Benvolio says this to Prince Escalus, telling the truth about the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio, and Tybalt and Romeo.

"Welcome from Mantua."

Balthasar says this to Romeo, greeting Romeo.

"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / by any other name would still smell as sweet"

Juliet says this to herself, pondering the significance of names and suggesting that names don’t define a person.

"He jests at scars that never felt a wound."

Romeo says this about Mercutio, observing that Mercutio jokes about love because he’s never experienced the pain of it himself.

"Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?"

Abram says this to Sampson, looking for a fight and instigating conflict between the Montagues and Capulets.

"The slip, sir, the slip! Can you not conceive?"

Mercutio says this to Romeo, using wordplay and teasing Romeo about his love-sickness.

"O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle/ [. . .] Be fickle, Fortune / For then I hope thou will not keep him long, But send him back!"

Juliet says this to the Nurse, she laments Romeo’s exile and blames fate for their misfortunes.

"There art thou happy. Tybalt would kill thee, / But thou slew’st Tybalt; there art thou happy too."

Friar Laurence says this to Romeo, reminding Romeo of his blessings despite his banishment.

"Love give me strength, and strength shall help afford / Farewell, dear father."

Juliet says this to herself, resolving to go through with the plan to fake her death.

"Part, fools! / Put up your swords; you know not what you do."

Benvolio says this, trying to stop the initial street fight between the Montagues and Capulets, urging them to put away their swords.

"Is the day so young?"

Romeo asks this to Benvolio, expressing that time feels slow due to his sadness over Rosaline's rejection.

"But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart; / My will to her consent is but a part."

Lord Capulet says this to Paris, encouraging Paris to win Juliet’s heart and affection.

"Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days."

The Nurse says this to Juliet, teasing Juliet about romance and anticipating her wedding night with Paris.

"My young lady bade me inquire you out. If ye should lead her a fool’s paradise, as they say, it were a very gross behavior. If you should deal double with her, truly it well an ill thing."

The Nurse says this to Romeo, warns Romeo not to break Juliet’s heart.

"Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get thee to the church o’ Thursday / Or never look me in the face: / Speak not, reply not, do not answer me; / My fingers itch."

Lord Capulet says this to Juliet, furious at Juliet for refusing to marry Paris and defying his wishes.

"Then she is well, and nothing can be ill: / Her body sleeps in Capels’ monument, / And her immortal part with angels lives."

Romeo says this to Balthasar, Juliet is “in heaven.”

"Put this in any liquid thing you will, / And drink it off; and, if you had the strength / Of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight."

The Apothecary says this to Romeo, these are the instructions given for the poison's usage, highlighting its deadly potency.

"I could not send it, --here it is again, -- / Nor get a messenger to bring it thee, / So fearful were they of infection."

friar john to friar laurence Explaining why the letter didn’t reach Romeo.