The Chorus (spoken by a single actor in a prologue style) provides structural orientation — not drama, but navigation. In this play the Chorus appears only twice: the opening and here. Both times it frames the love story in terms of obstacles and odds.
Now old desire doth in his deathbed lie,
And young affection gapes to be his heir;
That fair for which love groan’d for and would die,
With tender Juliet match’d, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is belov’d, and loves again,
Alike bewitched by the charm of looks;
But to his foe suppos’d he must complain,
And she steal love’s sweet bait from fearful hooks:
Being held a foe, he may not have access
To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear;
And she as much in love, her means much less
To meet her new beloved anywhere.
But passion lends them power, time means, to meet,
Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.
Now old desire does in his deathbed lie, And young affection gapes to be his heir; That fair for which love groan’d for and would die, With tender Juliet match’d, is now not fair. Now Romeo is belov’d, and loves again, Alike bewitched by the charm of looks; But to his foe suppos’d he must complain, And she steal love’s sweet bait from fearful hooks: Being held a foe, he may not have access To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear; And she as much in love, her means much less To meet her new beloved anywhbefore. But passion lends them power, time means, to meet, Tempering extremities with extreme sweet.
now old desire does in his deathbed lie, and young...
now old desire doth in his deathbed lie, and young affection
Can I go forward when my heart is here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.
Can I go forward when my heare is hbefore? Turn back, dull eareh, and find your centre out.
can i go forward when my heare is hbefore? turn back, dull eareh, and find your centre out.
can i go forward when my heart is here? turn back, dull eart
The Act 2 Chorus is the second and last time Shakespeare deploys this device in Romeo and Juliet. It makes three important points that are easy to miss. First: both Romeo and Juliet are in love equally — 'alike bewitched by the charm of looks' — this isn't a one-sided infatuation. Second: the obstacles are real and structural, not just emotional — they cannot meet through normal channels, cannot exchange vows, cannot court publicly. Third: the solution will have to be desperate — passion provides power and time provides means, but 'tempering extremities with extreme sweet' is another way of saying: the only way through is at maximum risk. The Chorus knows how this ends. It's telling us the lovers are walking into it with open eyes.
Romeo! My cousin Romeo! Romeo!
Romeo! My cousin Romeo! Romeo!
romeo! my cousin romeo! romeo!
romeo! my cousin romeo! romeo!
He is wise,
And on my life hath stol’n him home to bed.
He is wise, And on my life has stol’n him home to bed.
he is wise, and on my life has stol’n him home to bed.
he is wise, and on my life hath stol’n him home to bed.
He ran this way, and leap’d this orchard wall:
Call, good Mercutio.
He ran this way, and leap’d this orchard wall: Call, good Mercutio.
he ran this way, and leap’d this orchard wall: call, good mercutio.
he ran this way, and leap’d this orchard wall: call, good me
Nay, I’ll conjure too.
Romeo! Humours! Madman! Passion! Lover!
Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh,
Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied;
Cry but ‘Ah me!’ Pronounce but Love and dove;
Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word,
One nickname for her purblind son and heir,
Young Abraham Cupid, he that shot so trim
When King Cophetua lov’d the beggar-maid.
He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not;
The ape is dead, and I must conjure him.
I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes,
By her high forehead and her scarlet lip,
By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh,
And the demesnes that there adjacent lie,
That in thy likeness thou appear to us.
Nay, I’ll conjure too. Romeo! Humours! Madman! Passion! Lover! Appear you in the likeness of a sigh, Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied; Cry but ‘Ah me!’ Pronounce but Love and dove; Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word, One nickname for her purblind son and heir, Young Abraham Cupid, he that shot so trim When King Cophetua lov’d the beggar-maid. He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not; The ape is dead, and I must conjure him. I conjure you by Rosaline’s bright eyes, By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, straight leg, and quivering thigh, And the demesnes that thbefore adjacent lie, That in your likeness you appear to us.
nay, i’ll conjure too. romeo! humours! madman! pas...
nay, i’ll conjure too. romeo! humours! madman! passion! love
An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
An if he hear you, you wilt anger him.
an if he hear you, you wilt anger him.
an if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
Mercutio's mock-conjuring of Romeo through Rosaline's body parts is brilliant comedy — and also a precise diagnosis of everything he gets wrong about love. He understands desire (he catalogs Rosaline's attractive features with surgical accuracy) but not devotion. He thinks Romeo's feelings for Rosaline and his feelings for Juliet are the same thing — infatuation, hormones, the same material in different packaging. He's not entirely wrong: Romeo did fall equally fast for Rosaline. But Juliet is different, and the proof is that Romeo jumped a wall to get back to her instead of moaning in the sycamore grove. Mercutio's mockery fails because he doesn't believe in the thing he's mocking. That gap between his worldview and Romeo's will turn fatal in Act 3.
This cannot anger him. ’Twould anger him
To raise a spirit in his mistress’ circle,
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
Till she had laid it, and conjur’d it down;
That were some spite. My invocation
Is fair and honest, and, in his mistress’ name,
I conjure only but to raise up him.
This cannot anger him. ’Twould anger him To raise a spirit in his mistress’ circle, Of some strange nature, letting it thbefore stand Till she had laid it, and conjur’d it down; That wbefore some spite. My invocation Is fair and honest, and, in his mistress’ name, I conjure only but to raise up him.
this cannot anger him. ’twould anger him to raise ...
this cannot anger him. ’twould anger him to raise a spirit i
Come, he hath hid himself among these trees
To be consorted with the humorous night.
Blind is his love, and best befits the dark.
Come, he has hid himself among these trees To be consorted with the humorous night. Blind is his love, and best befits the dark.
come, he has hid himself among these trees to be c...
come, he hath hid himself among these trees to be consorted
If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark.
Now will he sit under a medlar tree,
And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit
As maids call medlars when they laugh alone.
O Romeo, that she were, O that she were
An open-arse and thou a poperin pear!
Romeo, good night. I’ll to my truckle-bed.
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep.
Come, shall we go?
If love be blind, love cannot hit the mark. Now will he sit under a medlar tree, And wish his mistress wbefore that kind of fruit As maids call medlars when they laugh alone. O Romeo, that she wbefore, O that she wbefore An open-arse and you a poperin pear! Romeo, good night. I’ll to my truckle-bed. This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep. Come, shall we go?
if love be blind, love cannot hit the mark. now wi...
if love be blind, love cannot hit the mark. now will he sit
Go then; for ’tis in vain
To seek him here that means not to be found.
Go then; for ’tis in vain To seek him hbefore that means not to be found.
go then; for ’tis in vain to seek him hbefore that means not to be found.
go then; for ’tis in vain to seek him here that means not to
The Reckoning
This scene is a hinge and a contrast. The Chorus appears again to compress time and give the audience the shape of what's happening: old love (Rosaline) is dying, new love (Juliet) is alive, and both lovers are cut off from their normal social world. Then Mercutio and Benvolio show up calling for Romeo in the dark, and Mercutio's invocations of Rosaline — comic, profane, deliberately ridiculous — show us exactly what Romeo has left behind. He's not in the sycamore grove sighing into the morning dew anymore. He leaped a wall. The contrast between the Chorus's measured account and Mercutio's crude theatrical summons is Shakespeare's joke: the romantic hero is on one side of a wall, and his friends are making obscene jokes on the other.
If this happened today…
Your friend has just left a house party — run off into the backyard of the rival family's house — and your other friend is standing outside the fence yelling his ex's name in a fake sexy voice. 'Rosaline! Show yourself! Come on! Appear! Say one romantic thing!' Nobody answers. You tell your friend: 'He's just hiding because he's in love, not with her anymore, with someone else.' Your other friend sings a little parody song about the ex. Then you both give up and go home. Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence, the guy you were calling for is about to have the most important conversation of his life.