Editor: Nicholas Roll
Act II, Scene 1 – Romeo waits by Juliet’s window, while Benvolio and Mercutio search and observe for their love-struck friend.
*Glossary terms noted in footnotes.
Enter Romeo alone
Rom. Can I goe forward when my heart[1] is here?
Turn back dull earth, and finde thy Center out.
Enter Benvolio with Mercutio.
Clouds form above, and it begins to rain, pouring down stronger as each minute passes.
Ben. Romeo, my Coufin Romeo, Romeo.
Mer. He is mesmerized by his wife, and on my life hath stolen him home to bed.
Ben. He ran this way, and leapt[2] above this Orchard wall:
Call good Mercutio.
Mer. Nay I’ll conjure too.
Romeo, humors[3], madam, passion, lover,
Appeare thou in the likeness of a sigh,
Speake but one rhyme and I am satisfied?
Cry but ay me! Pronounce but love and dye[4],
Speake to my Gossip Venus one faire word,
One nickname to her purblind[5] son and heir
Young Abraham Cupid, he that shot so true,
When King Cophesua loved the Begger-maid.
He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not,
The Ape is dead, and I must conjure him:
I conjure thee by Rosalines bright eyes,
By her high forehead and her skarlet lip,
By her fine foot, straight legs, and quivering thighs,
And the demeans[6] that there adjacent lye,
That in thy likeness thou appeare to us.
Ben. And if he heare thee then anger will consume him.
Mer. This cannot anger him, it would anger him
To raise a spirit in his Mistress’ circle,
Of some strange nature, letting it there stand
Till she had laid[7] it, and conjured it downe,
That were some spite.
My invocation is honest and fair, and in his Mistress’ name,
I conjure only but to raise up him[8].
Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among those trees,
To be comforted with the humorous night:
Blind[9] is his love, and best befits the darkness[10].
Mer. If love be blind, love cannot hit the marked target
Now will he sit under a Medlar tree,
And wish his mistress were that kinde of fruit,
As maids call Medlars when they laugh alone,
O Romeo that she were, O that she were
An open and catera, and thou a Poperin peare.
Romeo good night, I will go to my trundle-bed,
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep at ease:
Come, shall we goe?
Ben. Goe then, for ‘tis in vain to seek him here,
That means not to be found.
[1] heart, to give heart or courage to (a person); to inspire with confidence
[2] leapt, to break out in an illegal or disorderly way
[3] humors, a particular disposition, inclination, or liking (with) no apparent ground or reason
[4] dye, to impregnate (any tissue or the like) with a color
[5] purblind, lacking in or incapable of understanding
[6] demeans, to or to do (what is beneath one)
[7] laid, to deliver (a mother); to bury
[8] raise up him, to put or take into a higher position; to hoist
[9] Blind, to plunge without regard to the risks involved
[10] darkness, secrecy; ignorance
Editorial Rationale
I approached Act II, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet with the intent to modernize the language while carrying over Shakespeare’s line structure. I believe Shakespeare’s spacing and elongation of certain words is a unique and powerful coupling, inviting moments of pause and inference to take place – challenging the weight of the word or punctuation. I decided to play with the punctuation in this scene, adding questions where statements used to stand and removing periods to see how the continued thought would read. I have noted a few of these changes in the glossary section of the edition, along with the included line-by-line changes listed below.
The characters within the opening scene of Act II, Scene 1 remain identical to the characters in the first printing, though I aimed to highlight certain “true intentions,” specifically with Romeo and Mercutio. I was not sure how much “change” I could make setting-wise, but I decided to introduce the element of weather into this scene. Urgency accompanies Mercutio, who now has more of a desire to get out of the rain than he does to spy on Romeo. Aside from introducing rain, the setting from the first printing carried over to my edition – The Capulet orchard and the wall that enclosed. I believe the senses of helplessness and desire join Romeo in the rain as he waits for Juliet to reveal herself from her window. Wet, alone, and in need of finding love, Romeo joins Mercutio in this sense of urgency.
I was more so inspired by the Seventeenth Century edition I referenced in the first component of this project, printed by R. Young for John Smethwicke. This edition modernized the language enough to alter certain moments, and my goal was to expand on these shifts. Dialogue between Benvolio and Mercutio follows a similar beat or pace in the middle of the scene, and I believe Benvolio’s honesty about Romeo’s blind love sounds more genuine than Mercutio’s mistress fables.
I ran into difficulty selecting the glossary terms, as it was hard to narrow down the options while also accounting for the editorial changes. I decided to focus primarily on a few words and phrases, highlighting the altered meanings I found in comparison to the previous editions’ glossaries. I thought it was ironic how honesty is discussed in a scene filled with such secrecy of feelings. I introduced questions both to extend the legitimacy of the demands given by Mercutio and to see how honest he could sound. Accompanied by the secrecy is companionship, with Mercutio’s list of qualities – “humours” being one of them. I have defined “humours” as, “to comply with,” and I believe this is fitting for the scene in the various parts that are working together – Mercutio and Benvolio sharing observations and inferences, and Romeo complying with the time that continues to tick.
The editorial policies I relied on were based on expansion, mainly trying to shift certain lines into a new understanding. For example, in the opening lines, I introduced, “mesmerized by his” which defines Romeo’s love as a distraction or beauty that can’t go overlooked. The addition of “by his” carries possession – an interesting term to consider in regards to the love shared between Romeo and Juliet. The addition of “mesmerized” also further enforced the power Juliet’s love weighs on Romeo and illudes to the unlikely moment of Benvolio and Mercutio gaining his attention. Changing the context of the lines allowed me to point the conversation’s trajectory in a different direction while also trying to figure out what defined the conversation at the same time.
References
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.An Excellent Conceited Tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet as it Hath been often (with Great Applause) Plaid Publiquely, by the Right Honourable the L. of Hunsdon His Seruants London, Printed by Iohn Danter and Edward Allde?], 1597. http://ezproxy.trincoll.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/books/excellent-conceited-tragedie-romeo-iuliet-as-hath/docview/2240913904/se-2?accountid=14405. (C4 and D1 – Digital Files as Page 12) (STC 22322).
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. A tragedy. By William Shakespeare. Edinburgh: printed by and for Martin & Wotherspoon, 1768. Eighteenth Century Collections Online (accessed March 14, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CW0114793594/ECCO?u=a21tc&sid=bookmark-ECCO&xid=2281dfee&pg=5. (Pages 28 and 29) (ESTC T119739).
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616.The most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet as it Hath been Sundry Times Publikely Acted by the Kings Majesties Servants at the Globe. Written by W. Shake-Speare London, Printed by R. Young for John Smethwicke, and are to be sold at his shop in St. Dunstans Church-yard in Fleetstreet, under the Dyall, 1637.
http://ezproxy.trincoll.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/books/most-excellent-lamentable-tragedie-romeo-juliet/docview/2240922513/se-2?accountid=14405. (Unnumbered pages + no printer’s signatures – Digital Files as Pages 12 and 13) (STC 22326).