Romeo & Juliet - Journal # 5

Act I, Scene 5
Juliet: Go, ask his name. -If he be married,
My grave is like to be my wedding-bed.

This first exaple I picked because she says that her grave will be her wedding bed if she can't have Romeo, and it is a premonition because later on in the story, a very short while after she gets married to Romeo, she dies, so her grave is pretty much her wedding bed anyways, since it all happened so quick!


Act II, Scene 3
Friar Laurence: Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.

This second example I picked because Friar Laurence is telling Romeo that if Juliet and himself go too fast and rush into everything, nothing will work out. It is a premonition because Romeo and Juliet rushed into everything: they met, fell in love and got married all in one week, and then they both ended up dying for each other. Maybe if they hadn't rushed into everything, instead just taking things slow, they would've lived happily ever after.

Act II, Scene 6
Romeo: That one short minute gives me in her sight.
Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring Death do what he dare;
It is enough I may but call her mine.

This third example I picked because Romeo is saying that once Juliet & himself get married, death can come but it doesn't matter because he loves her and he has her now. It is a premonition because after they get married, Juliet takes the potion to pretend she's dead so she can be with Romeo, but Romeo thinks she's ACTUALLY dead and so "love-devouring Death do what he dare" happens to him later on. Then he drinks poison so he can die and be with her in heaven, but then Juliet wakes up and kills herself once she sees Romeo dead.

Romeo & Juliet - Journal # 4

1) Juliet's talk of Romeo and his name...

"'Juliet: Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
and for thy name which is no part of thee
Take all myself."

What Juliet is saying in this part, is that the name of a person shouldn't matter, they shouldn't be judged on that. She's saying that even if Romeo was named something else, he'd still be the same guy and she'd still love him, no matter what he's called.


2) Juliet's wish that Romeo not swear by the moon...

"Romeo: Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops---

Juliet: O, swear not by the moon, th'inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
lest that thy love prove likewise variable."

Why Juliet wishes that Romeo not swear by the moon is because the moon changes every day, and in a month the cycle is over, so when Romeo swears by the moon, it sounds like he's saying that it won't last more than a month, that the relationship is variable, and Juliet definatley does not want that.


3) Romeo and Juliet's love and 'lightning'...

"Juliet: Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract to-night.
It is too rash, too unadvisable, too sudden,
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say "it lightens." Sweet, good-night!"

In this part, Juliet is being sensible because Romeo and her JUST met, and he wants to get married right away, and Juliet is saying that she's not 100% sure about all this because it's too fast like the lightning, which is there one second and lightens up the sky, but is gone the next second and darkness falls again.

Romeo & Juliet - Journal # 3

There has been many different views on marriage expressed so far in the play, some include marrying for wealth and status, others for alliance, some for love and happiness, and another for repuatation and children.The only ones I agree with are Romeo & Juliet's views. He believes you should marry for love, no matter how good or bad it gets! While Juliet thinks quite the same, she wants to be in love with the one she marrys, and be able to meet him and get to know him before it all happens. You should be able to choose your own spouse, not an arranged marriage! All the others think marriage should have a meaning other than love; love is the last thing it should be about, but I think that's a horrible view, which is why I'm thankful we're not living in Elizabethan times, or else almost all women would have arranged marriages; so no choice allowed!That's what I think about the views on marriage so far in the play.