a (re)creation of an excerpt from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: Act III, scene 5, edited from Shakespeare’s Quarto 1 of 1597, Quarto 2 of 1599, and Folio 1 of 1623, by Catharina Bates
At the beginning of this editorial project, I set out to find a confrontational scene which would expose the total hegemony, in depth and saturation, of the patriarchal culture of the late 1500s. Though it can accommodate variations to some extent,1 if pushed too far, patriarchy will react with deadly force to accomplish its ends. Act III, scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet exemplifies the silencing and violence caused by provoking patriarchal power. Any woman existing in this culture, whether young like Juliet, grown like Lady Capulet, or working class, like the nurse, will be forced at some point to either reconcile their beliefs, attitudes, and conduct or face the wrathful consequences.
This intentional feminist interpretation became my bias as an editor, and informed every choice I made. I developed a director’s take on the scene and highly prioritized giving Juliet agency, while accentuating Capulet’s descent into madness and tyranny. Though it was important for me to highlight, accentuate, and amplify agency and intention within the lines, I wanted to remain faithful to what was already there. Shakespeare’s language is everything.
In Quarto 2 and Folio 1, these lines appear in Juliet’s dialogue with her mother: “It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate / Rather than Paris, these are news indeed.” The motivation for me to retain the Quarto 1 version, “It shall be Romeo whom you know I hate, / Than Countie Paris that I cannot love” was for poetic structure. The meter is more balanced, I like distancing Paris by adding Countie, and I love the antithesis between love and hate, amplifying Juliet’s emotions. It was a hard choice, admittedly, and I almost used the Q2/F1 version because it shows her state of mind starting to break down, as the meter follows suit. In that line from the Q2/F1, “Rather than Paris, these are news indeed,” the caesura after speaking his name out loud – Paris – gives her space to immediately begin processing the information. This is also very, very effective, and another editor would have done well to leave it. In the end, I stand by my choice of using Quarto 1, because it is an elegant proclamation by Juliet, beautifully structured, and warranted by her noble behavior throughout the scene.
My edition is not without regrets, however. I changed the order (so much for faithfulness) of Capulet’s line “A Bark, A Sea, A Wind” to “A Sea, a Bark, a Wind” to match the order they are spoken of in the lines following, because the poetry structure became more important to me at that point than character. A wiser editor might have left it to show how Capulet isn’t being careful in his speech, how he’s rather muddled and disorganized, which, of course, would be perfectly in line with his character. Making Capulet look good is something I am quite averse to, so I regret this edit. Entirely. I also find it rather ironic that my own sense of order and control took over while I was trying to show the evils of patriarchal order and control.
Cherishing a particular penchant for chiasmus – the balance, the mirroring, the finesse – I intentionally chose Quarto 2’s “Proud and I thank you, and I thank you not, / And yet not proud, mistress minion you,” over Folio 1’s “Proud, and I thank you, and I thank you not.” Again, perhaps I have added balance to Capulet, because I was blinded by my own love of balance. By choosing Folio 1, another editor would have allowed, “And I thank you not,” to have the memorable position of being last, which is important because she actually never says those words. He, in his anger, is misquoting her. I am still inclined to use the Quarto 2 for my edit, however, I could easily be persuaded otherwise.
In spite of my tidying, Capulet descends into tyranny, his vitriol running the scene. If “Hang thee young baggage” and other insults and slurs were not enough, both Quarto 2 and Folio 1 have the murderous line of “My fingers itch, wife.” Truly chilling. Quarto 1 doesn’t have this line at all, but in my opinion, this is the line that sets the tone for the entire scene. The violence of patriarchy with its need to subjugate and suppress and dominate or destroy is at the center of this diatribe.
As to the publishing portion of this edition, my reaction has surprised me. For as much as I struggled against the limited format of the theme on WordPress, I must admit, I appreciate it now. Because I was forced to think about the elements I had the ability to control and change, I sought to make my post as multifaceted as possible within those parameters. My page gained visual interest and content by inserting a photo with a quote, using the block “preformatted” with its older style font, adding a blue-grey background color for a heavy, dreary feel, and adding a link to YouTube to the song “The Hunt is Up” assigned to Act III, scene 5 in Shakespeare’s Songbook. My page was built on limited resources, necessity, and ingenuity. There’s something inherently satisfying in that. All in all, this has been a fascinating project which has taught me as much about myself, as it has about the text itself.
1 Raymond Williams. The Norton Anthology (1428)
Bibliography
Cain, William E., Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John McGowan, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, and Jeffrey J. Williams, eds. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York, NY: WW Norton, 2010. (1428)
Duffin, Ross W. “The Hunt is Up” in Shakespeare’s Songbook. New York, NY: WW Norton, 2004. https://youtu.be/vVSC4YDu7bI?t=1423
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, G4v-H1r, London, Printed by Iohn Danter and Edward Allde?], 1597. STC 22322 http://ezproxy.trincoll.edu
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. “The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet” in Mr. VVilliam Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies Published According to the True Originall Copies, 69-70 (image 345-346), London, Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed. Blount at the charges of W. Iaggard, Ed. Blount, I. Smithweeke, and W. Aspley], 1623. STC 22273 http://ezproxy.trincoll.edu
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. The most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedie, of Romeo and Iuliet. Newly Corrected, Augmented, and Amended: As it Hath Bene Sundry Times Publiquely Acted, by the Right Honourable the Lord Chamberlaine His Seruants, H4v-I1r, London, Printed by Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, and are to be sold at his shop neare the Exchange, 1599. STC 22323 http://ezproxy.trincoll.edu
Trincoll.edu. “Romeo and Juliet: The Abandonment.” Accessed April 11, 2022. https://aamacconochie.domains.trincoll.edu/renmedlit/uncategorized/romeo-and-juliet-the-abandonment/.