Hello and welcome to "Read it and (Don't) Weep," the podcast that will help you breeze through your high school literature classes. Are you tired of struggling to understand the themes and characters in classic works of literature? Well, I’ve got you covered! I am your host, Jackey Taggart, and I taught high school English for almost 20 years. 

Join me each episode as I dive into the world of high school literature and break down the essential elements of each work. From Shakespeare to Steinbeck, I'll cover it all. My goal is to give you valuable insights and analysis on some of the most popular high school literary texts, as well as tips and tricks for acing your tests and essays.  Let’s start reading!

Welcome back!  Act 2, Scene 2 in Romeo and Juliet is notably the most famous of all Shakespeare’s works.  It is the balcony scene where Romeo and Juliet profess their love to one another. If you have not yet read up to this point in the play, it would be a good idea to get caught up with your reading and listen to my other episodes before continuing.

Act 2, Scene 2

After Romeo ditches Mercutio and Benvolio, He creeps further into Capulet’s orchard to see if he can spy on Juliet.  A little creepy and stalker-ish, but it is all for love, so we will excuse him for now. 

The scene opens with Romeo’s first soliloquy.  A soliloquy is a long speech delivered by a character on stage alone, or at least they think they are alone.  These are necessary because in a novel or short story, the writer can tell the reader what the character is thinking, but in a play, if the character doesn’t tell the audience what they are thinking, then the audience has no clue what is going on.  So, a soliloquy is the character speaking their innermost thoughts and feelings aloud for the benefit of the audience. A soliloquy is different from a monologue, which is a long speech delivered by one character, but other characters are on stage and here the speech.  Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech is a monologue.  

Back to Romeo’s soliloquy.  Let’ look at lines 2-9:

“But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? / It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. / Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, / Who is already sick and pale with grief, / That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. / Be not her maid since she is envious. / Her vestal livery is but sick and green, /And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.”

What is he says?  Well, he sees a light shining from Juliet’s window. The window is in the East, and Juliet is the sun shining through the window.  Rise up beautiful sun (Juliet) and shine brighter than the moon, who is already green with envy. The moon is also sad because Juliet is so much more beautiful. Romeo says that Juliet should ignore that jealous moon because green is an ugly color, and she is too beautiful to wear such an ugly color.   Cast it off! Quick note - He is not telling her to take anything off! It is a figure of speech to brush off the moon’s jealousy.  

Romeo’s got it bad for Juliet!  Luckily, Romeo has picked the right window because Juliet appears at the window. 

He sees her and he says, “Just look at her! She is so beautiful!  She is talking but I can’t hear what she is saying. Her eyes are as bright as the brightest stars.  Look how she is resting her face on her hand. I wish I could be a glove on that hand so I could touch her face.”

I know this is supposed to be very romantic, but I find this to be a little creepy that he has only just met her and is watching her from the orchard like a stalker. Feel free to disagree with me. In fact, take a few minutes to joy down your thoughts in your reading journal.  Is Romeo’s soliloquy in the orchard below Juliet’s window romantic or creepy?  Why do you feel this way? Jot down your ideas before continuing so you can come back to them later. 

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Back to action.  Juliet, not knowing anyone is listening, delivers her first soliloquy speaking her thoughts out loud. In her most famous lines, 

“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.”

Now, she is not asking where Romeo is but why does he have to be a Montague. She is even willing to give up her family so she can be with Romeo if only he would declare his love for her.  Wow!  They have only just met and shared two brief kisses, and Juliet wants to turn her back on her family to be with Romeo.  Romantic? Maybe. Crazy? Foolish? Definitely!

She continues, “It is only your name that is the enemy, and names are just labels, and they shouldn't matter. A rose by a different name would still smell sweet.  If we could just change our last names, we could be together forever.”

At this point, Romeo cannot keep quiet and bursts out, “Done!  Just tell me you love me, and I will no longer be Romeo!”  Now, if this were me, I would be screaming.  Here I am, talking into the night, thinking I am alone, when all of a sudden, someone responds.  It would scare me to death! (No, pun intended). 

Juliet is surprised, but not as shocked as I would be.  As they talk, Juliet tells Romeo that she is worried he will get caught and tries to convince him to leave before he is discovered. Romeo, the lovesick fool, says he is not afraid.  He would risk everything just to be with her. They continue to talk and declare their love for each other.

But Juliet is concerned, as she should be, that Romeo may be playing her, and she wants Romeo to prove his love for her is pure, and not just lust. He heard her saying her honest feelings aloud when she thought she was alone, so she is worried that Romeo is just taking advantage of her.  

So, Romeo promises his love by swearing by the moon, and Juliet stops him, “Nope, not good enough!  The moon is constantly changing, so you are saying your love will also continue to change?”  So, Romeo asks, “Then what should I swear by?”  Juliet replies, “Nothing, if you are serious, marry me.”  Well, that escalated quickly!

At this point, The Nurse calls for Juliet from inside.  Juliet goes in and out of the window a few times as they declare their love again. Romeo will make plans for their marriage and send word to Juliet by 9 tomorrow. Juliet reminds Romeo to be careful to stay out of danger, and says, “Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night til it be morrow.” Notice the oxymoron Juliet uses, “sweet sorrow.”  An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms.  In this case, “sweet sorrow.” Sweet usually refers to something positive or enjoyable.  Sorrow refers to sadness.  Juliet is sad to leave her Romeo, but so happy in love and the prospect of marrying Romeo soon.  

So, in less than 6 hours, Romeo has gotten over his grief for Rosaline, fell in love with Juliet, who returns his feelings, and they have decided to get married.  Let’s not forget that their families hate each other.  What could possibly go wrong? What are your thoughts?  Do you believe that Romeo and Juliet’s decision to marry is out of genuine love? Or is it teenage impulsiveness?  Or is it a combination of both? Jot your ideas down in your reading journal, making sure to add details from the text to support your ideas.  You will revisit these ideas later in the play. 

In the next episode, we will discuss Act 2, scenes 3 and 4.  See you then!

Thanks for listening to this episode of Read it and (Don’t) Weep. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you will be notified when new episodes are released. If you liked today’s show, please leave a review so others can discover my show.  If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, drop me an email at readitanddontweep@gmail.com, or reach out to me on social media. I would love to hear from you. The links are in the show notes.  

Thank you for listening.  I am Jackey Taggart and remember to Read It and Don’t Weep. 

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