The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
As you read Romeo and Juliet, you’ll be reading
both prose and poetry.
• The common people—and
sometimes Mercutio, when
he is joking—speak in
prose.
• Most of the other
characters speak in poetry.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
As in most of Shakespeare’s plays, the poetry in
Romeo and Juliet is largely written in unrhymed
iambic pentameter, or blank verse.
• In iambic meter each unstressed syllable is
followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word
˘ ′
prefer.
• In iambic pentameter, there are five of these
iambic units in each line.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
Listen to this line spoken by Romeo. It is a
perfect example of iambic pentameter.
′
′
′
′
′
˘ soft! What
˘ light through
˘
˘ window
˘ breaks?
But
yonder
′ = stressed syllable ˘ = unstressed syllable
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
Blank verse does not rhyme, but Shakespeare
includes rhyme by using couplets—two
consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.
• The couplets often punctuate a character’s exit
or signal the end of a scene.
Listen.
Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow.
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
Lines of poetry are either end-stopped or run-on.
• An end-stopped line has punctuation at
the end. The punctuation signals the actor to
pause at the end of the line.
Listen.
O, Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
• A run-on line has no punctuation at the end.
The meaning is completed in the following line
or lines.
Listen to these run-on lines. Where does Romeo
pause?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
Archaic words
Shakespeare wrote this play about four hundred
years ago. Many of the words have become
archaic—they (or their particular meanings) have
disappeared from common use.
• Your textbook provides sidenotes to help you
with archaic words and with other words that
might be unfamiliar to you.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
Here are some of the archaic words used in
the play:
an’ or and: if.
anon: soon, right away;
coming.
but: if; except; only.
hap or happy: luck; lucky.
maid: unmarried girl.
nice: trivial; foolish.
owes: owns.
soft: quiet; hush; slow up.
stay: wait.
still: always.
wot: know.
For more archaic words and their definitions, see your
textbook.
The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet,
The Prologue and Act I
How to Read Shakespeare
Visualizing the play
As you read Romeo and Juliet, try to visualize the
play being performed. The Staging the Play
sidenotes will help you. They describe
• the way the stage would be set
• how the actors would interact and move around
onstage
• how the lines would be spoken
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