“_Tyb._ It fits when such a villain is a guest;
I’ll not endure him.
_Cap._ He shall be endur’d.
What, goodman boy!—I say, he shall:—Go to;—
Am I the master here, or you?—Go to.
You’ll not endure him!—God shall mend my soul—
You’ll make a mutiny among my guests!
You will set cock-a-hoop! you’ll be the man!
_Tyb._ Why, uncle, ’tis a shame.
_Cap._ Go to, go to,
You are a saucy boy!” &c.
How admirable is the old man’s impetuosity at once contrasting, yet
harmonised, with young Tybalt’s quarrelsome violence! But it would be
endless to repeat observations of this sort. Every leaf is different on an
oak tree; but still we can only say—our tongues defrauding our eyes— “This
is another oak-leaf!”
Act ii. sc. 2. The garden scene.
Take notice in this enchanting scene of the contrast of Romeo’s love with
his former fancy; and weigh the skill shown in justifying him from his
inconstancy by making us feel the difference of his passion. Yet this,
too, is a love in, although not merely of, the imagination.
_Ib._—
“_Jul._ Well, do not swear; although I joy in thee,
I have no joy in this contract to-night:
It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden,” &c.
With love, pure love, there is always an anxiety for the safety of the
object, a disinterestedness, by which it is distinguished from the
counterfeits of its name. Compare this scene with Act iii. sc. 1 of the
_Tempest_. I do not know a more wonderful instance of Shakespeare’s
mastery in playing a distinctly rememberable variety on the same
remembered air, than in the transporting love confessions of Romeo and
Juliet and Ferdinand and Miranda. There seems more passion in the one, and
more dignity in the other; yet you feel that the sweet girlish lingering
and busy movement of Juliet, and the calmer and more maidenly fondness of
Miranda, might easily pass into each other.
_Ib._ sc. 3. The Friar’s speech.
The reverend character of the Friar, like all Shakespeare’s
representations of the great professions, is very delightful and
tranquillising, yet it is no digression, but immediately necessary to the
carrying on of the plot.
_Ib._ sc. 4.—
“_Rom._ Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I give you?”
&c.
Compare again Romeo’s half-exerted, and half real, ease of mind with his
first manner when in love with Rosaline! His will had come to the
clenching point.
_Ib._ sc. 6.—
“_Rom._ Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring death do what he dare,
It is enough I may but call her mine.”
The precipitancy, which is the character of the play, is well marked in
this short scene of waiting for Juliet’s arrival.