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 his old desire lies dying on its deathbed, And young new affection waits to inherit his place. That beautiful woman for whom love groaned and would have died, Compared with gentle Juliet, is no longer beautiful. Now Romeo is beloved and loves in return, Alike bewitched by the charm of their looks. But to his supposed enemy he must complain, And she steals love's sweet bait away from fearful hooks. Since he is considered a foe, he cannot reach her To breathe such vows as lovers typically swear. And she, equally in love, has even fewer means To meet her new beloved anywhere at all. But passion gives them power, and time gives them means to meet, Mixing extreme dangers with extreme sweetness.
His old crush is dying now, and his new love is taking its place. That girl he used to be crazy about does not matter anymore—not compared to Juliet. Romeo is in love and loved in return, both struck by how beautiful each other is. But there is a huge problem: he is supposed to hate her family, and she his. They cannot be together, cannot even talk openly, cannot find any way to meet. Love gives them the strength to find a way anyway, And somehow they discover moments together, Mixing danger and sweetness.
old love's dead new love's here - juliet they can't be together families are enemies but love finds a way
Can I go forward when my heart is here?
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.
How can I go forward when my heart stays here? Turn back, dull body, and find what makes you whole.
How can I leave when my heart is here? My body should turn back—my real center is here.
how can i leave? my heart's here
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! Cousin Romeo! Romeo!
Romeo! Cousin, where are you? Romeo!
romeo where r u?? ROMEO??
He is wise,
And on my life hath stol’n him home to bed.
He is clever enough to sneak off home to bed.
He is a smart guy. He probably went home to sleep.
he probably went home to bed
He ran this way, and leap’d this orchard wall:
Call, good Mercutio.
He went this direction and jumped over that orchard wall. Call out for him, Mercutio.
He went this way and jumped over that wall. Help me call for him, Mercutio.
he jumped the wall help me call him
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.
No, I will use magic too. Romeo! Spirit! Madman! Lover! Appear to me as a sigh. Speak just one rhyme and I will be satisfied. Cry out 'Oh me!' Say the words Love and dove. Speak one beautiful word to Venus, my gossip, a single nickname for her blind boy and heir, Young Abraham Cupid, that one who shot so perfectly when King Cophetua fell for the beggar-maid. He does not hear, he does not move, he does not stir. The fool is dead and I must conjure him back. I conjure you by Rosaline's bright eyes, By her high forehead and her scarlet lip, By her fine foot, her straight leg, and her quivering thigh, And the regions near there, That you appear to us in your true form.
No, I will use magic too. Romeo! Lover boy! Come on! Show yourself as a sigh, just say one romantic line and I will stop. Cry 'Help me!' Say 'love' and 'dove.' Tell the goddess of love something beautiful about her blind baby Cupid, The guy who was so good with his bow he made a king fall for a beggar girl. He is not answering, not moving, nothing. He must be dead—I have to bring him back with magic. I am calling on Rosaline's bright eyes, her forehead, her red lips, her feet and legs—all of her—to make Romeo show himself to us.
romeo come out just say one line be romantic rosaline's waiting show urself
An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger him.
If he hears you, he will become very angry.
If he hears you, he is going to be mad.
he'll be angry if he hears this
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 will not anger him. What would upset him is if I raised a spirit in his girlfriend's presence, Some strange creature, leaving it there for her to get rid of—that would be an insult. But my magic is fair and honest, and in the name of his mistress, I am simply calling him out of hiding.
This will not upset him. What would upset him is if I brought up some weird spirit while his girlfriend was there and left it for her to deal with—that would be rude. But I am being polite and honest. For the sake of his girlfriend, I am just calling him out of hiding.
this won't upset him i'm being respectful just calling him out
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 hidden himself among these trees to spend time with the brooding night. His love is blind and darkness suits it best.
He is hiding in these trees, enjoying the dark, moody night. His love is blind—it makes sense it would hide in the dark.
he's hiding in the trees with the dark night his love is blind
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 is blind, it cannot hit its target. Now he will sit under a medlar tree and daydream about his girlfriend in ways I cannot say aloud. Romeo, if she were, if she were what a girl means when she laughs secretly! Romeo, good night. I am going to sleep. This rough ground is too cold for me to rest on. Shall we go then?
If love is blind, it cannot hit anything. So Romeo will sit under a tree and daydream about his girlfriend—making wishes I should not repeat. Come on, Romeo, good night. I am getting into bed. It is too cold to sleep out here. Let us go.
love is blind romeo's daydreaming i'm cold let's go to bed
Go then; for ’tis in vain
To seek him here that means not to be found.
Go on then, because it is useless to search for someone who does not want to be found.
Let us go. There is no point looking for someone who does not want to be found.
let's go no point looking if he doesn't want found
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.