From Romeo and Juliet. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan.
*Line numbers have been adjusted.
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2. move, try to persuade.
6. promise, assure.
10. know, ascertain, discover; cp. v. 3. 198.
11. she is mew'd ... heaviness, she is a prisoner to her grief, is
alone with her grief. "Mew is the place, whether it be abroad
or in the house, in which the Hawk is put during the time she
casts, or doth change her Feathers" (R. Holme's Academy of
Armory and Blazon, quoted by Dyce, Gloss.). From the substantive mew, from which comes the verb, we get our word mews
= stables, originally a place for falcons.
12, 3. I will make ... love, I will hazard the offer of my
daughter's love without waiting to learn finally what her inclinations on the subject are. Paris being "kinsman to the
Prince," Capulet is anxious to secure the alliance.
16. my son, i.e. son in law. So in M. A. iv. 1. 27, Claudio,
betrothed to Hero, calls Leonato "Father" before the marriage,
and Leonato answers him as "my son"; in T. S. ii. 1. 318,
Petruchio addresses his future father-in-law, "Provide the feast,
father," and five lines lower down says, "Father and wife, and
gentlemen, adieu," it being then customary for those betrothed to
term one another 'husband' and 'wife' even before the marriage
ceremony, and consequently their future parents-in-law 'father'
and 'mother.'
18. soft, gently! let me pause to consider.
21. earl, nobleman; the title of course is an English, not an
Italian, one.
23. We'll ... ado, we'll not make much fuss about the matter,
not celebrate the marriage with any great feasting: ado, trouble,
"properly v. inf. = at do, which was the fuller form ... (1) pres.
inf. to do; ... (2) In doing, being done; at work, astir ... hence
through such phrases as much ado, etc., by taking the adverbs
as adjectives qualifying ado, the latter was viewed as a substantive" ... (Murray, Eng. Dict.).
25. held him carelessly, held him cheap, did not sorrow for
him as much as we should have done.
26. Being our kinsman, considering that he was a relation.
28. And there an end, and that is sufficient.
30. get you gone. "An idiom; that is to say, a peculiar form
of expression, the principle of which cannot be carried out
beyond the particular instance. Thus we cannot say either
Make thee gone or He got him (or himself) gone. Phraseologies,
on the contrary, which are not idiomatic are paradigmatic, or
may serve as models or moulds for others to any extent. All
expression is divided into these two kinds" ... (Craik on J. C. ii.
4. 2).
32. against, in anticipation of, so that she may be ready
when the day comes; cp. M. N. D. iii. 2. 99, "I'll charm his
eyes against she do appear." The use is now colloquial only.
34. Afore me, a form of petty oath, by my soul; softened
from 'afore God.'
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How to cite the explanatory notes:
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan, 1916. Shakespeare Online. 20 Feb. 2010. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/romeo_3_4.html >.
