PRINCE           Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word,                         By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,                         Have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets,                         And made Verona’s ancient citizens                         Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments                         To wield old partisans, in hands as old,                         Cankered with peace, to part your cankered […]

Enter PRINCE ESCALUS with his train. PRINCE       Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,                         Profaners of this neighbor-stainèd steel—                         Will they not hear? – What ho, you men, you beasts!                         That quench the fire of your pernicious rage                         With purple fountains issuing from your veins:                         On pain of torture, […]

Enter old CAPULET in his gown, and his wife [LADY CAPULET]. CAPULET        What noise is this? Give me my long sword, ho! LADY CAPULET         A crutch, a crutch! why call you for a sword? CAPULET        My sword, I say! Old Montague is come, And flourishes his blade in spite of me. Enter old MONTAGUE and […]

Enter [several of both houses, who join the fray, and] three or four Citizens [as OFFICERS of the Watch,] with clubs or partisans. OFFICERS       Clubs, bills, and partisans! Strike! Beat them down! Down with the Capulets! Down with the Montagues! (1.1.64-5) A rare observation (in this context) on performance: the stage is filling up, and […]

Enter TYBALT TYBALT          What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death. BENVOLIO      I do but keep the peace. Put up thy sword, Or manage it to part these men with me. TYBALT          What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, […]

BENVOLIO      Part, fools! Put up your swords, you know not what you do. [Beats down their swords.] (1.1.55-6SD) With Benvolio’s intervention, the increasingly rhythmic prose of the servingmen’s exchange – perhaps via the clash of swords – solidifies into blank verse, the first in the play. The pulse of the iamb, the beat of weapons: […]

GREGORY       Do you quarrel, sir? ABRAM           Quarrel, sir? No, sir. SAMPSON       But if you do, sir, I am for you. I serve as good a man as you. ABRAM           No better. SAMPSON       Well, sir.                                                 Enter BENVOLIO GREGORY       [Aside to Sampson] Say ‘better’, here comes one of my master’s kinsmen. SAMPSON       Yes, better, sir. ABRAM           […]

ABRAM           Do you bite your thumb at us, sir? SAMPSON       I do bite my thumb, sir. ABRAM           Do you bite your thumb at us, sir? SAMPSON       [Aside to Gregory] Is it the law of our side if I say ay? GREGORY       [Aside to Sampson] No. SAMPSON       No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at […]

SAMPSON       My naked weapon is out. Quarrel, I will back thee. GREGORY       How, turn thy back and run? SAMPSON       Fear me not. GREGORY       No, marry, I fear thee! SAMPSON       Let us take the law of our sides, let them begin. GREGORY       I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it as they […]

GREGORY       The quarrel is between our masters, and us their men. SAMPSON       ’Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be civil with the maids; I will cut off their heads. GREGORY       The heads of the maids? SAMPSON       Ay, the heads of the maids, or […]