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If you are struggling to make sense of the prologue to Romeo and Juliet, try this handy line-by-line analysis. We start first with the prologue in its entirety and a quick summary of the facts. Then we move on to a translation and explanation of each line individually. The Prologue to Romeo and Juliet.
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The Chorus introduces the play's setting, characters, and fate in a fourteen-line sonnet. Learn how the Prologue creates the sense of fate and foreshadows the tragic outcome of Romeo and Juliet.
- Summary of The Act I Prologue
- Structure of Romeo and Juliet Act I Prologue
- Literary Devices in Act I Prologue
- Analysis of Theact I Prologue
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The prologue alludes to the end of the play in which both Romeo and Juliet lost their lives. It is only due to that loss that their “parents’ rage” ends. The lines also specifically address the audienceasking them to list with “patient ears” and find out how the events are going to play out.
These fourteen lines of the ‘Act I Prologue’ take the form of a traditional Shakespearean sonnet. This form, which became known due to Shakespeare’s mastery of it and fondness for it, is made up of three quatrains, or sets of four lines, and one concluding couplet, or set of two rhyming lines. The poem follows a consistent rhyme scheme that conform...
Shakespeare makes use of several literary devices in ‘Act I Prologue’. These include but are not limited to allusion, alliteration, and enjambment. The first of these, allusion, is the most prominent. This entire fourteen-line sonnet is one extended example of allusion. The lines all suggest what’s going to happen next, tap into themes that are elu...
Lines 1-4
In the first lines of the prologue to the famous play Romeo and Juliet the speaker, who is the “Chorus” addresses the audience. This person is all-knowing and has a full understanding of what is about to happen on stage. In the first line, the chorus tells the audience that it is in “Verona” a beautiful of “fair” city that the play is taking place. There are two major households in the city that have a long grudge between them. It has been at a standstill for a period of time but something ne...
Lines 5-8
These families each have a child who is going to be involved in bloodshed and death. It is from the “fatal loins” of the families that a “pair of star-cross’d lovers” emerge. This line is a great example of syncope. Additionally, the reader should take note of the phrase “star-crossed lovers”. Shakespeare coined this term in the ‘Act I Prologue’ which is now used frequently in everyday speech, novels, and movies.
Lines 9-14
In the third quatrain of the ‘Act I Prologue’, the speaker adds that these two children become lovers and commit suicide. It is their deaths that bring an end to the strife. It was only that which could possibly bring these families around and force them to realize what their feuding could result in. In the next lines, the chorus tells the audience to watch for the next “two hours” on the stage as the story of their lives, loves, and deaths play out. The audience should listen patiently and t...
Learn about the structure, literary devices, and summary of the narrator sonnet that introduces Shakespeare's famous play. The prologue alludes to the tragic fate of the star-crossed lovers and their families in Verona.
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- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
Learn about the chorus's introduction of the play's themes, characters, and plot. Find out how the chorus foreshadows the star-crossed lovers' fate and the feud between their families.
Jul 31, 2015 · Act 1, scene 1. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud. In this death-filled setting, the…
The prologue introduces the play's theme of fate and the conflict between two noble families in Verona. The Chorus explains that Romeo and Juliet's love is doomed by their family feud, but also necessary for the peace of Verona.
Learn about the themes, characters, and language of Shakespeare's famous tragedy with No Fear translations and audio. The prologue introduces the feud between two families, the star-crossed lovers, and the tragic outcome of their story.
