Yonder Window Breaks?
At this point in the scene Romeo sees Juliet step out onto her balcony. Romeo is so overcome by her beauty that he cannot at first speak. In an aside (words spoken but meant to reflect the character’s thoughts; thus, Juliet does not hear these words) Romeo marvels at Juliet’s beauty.
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. (44-51)
…
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head? – The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night.
(57-64)
When Juliet first appears on the balcony, Romeo describes her as a light. In love poetry the typical convention was for the poet to praise the beauty of his lady by using similes and metaphors that compare her beauty to the beauty of nature. Bright, shining eyes were conventionally compared to stars. In Romeo’s estimation, Juliet is the brightest of stars; and so he uses the metaphor of the sun. She is the sun magically appearing at night.
The time is actually night, though; and Romeo stares up and gazes at the moon. The moon’s pale color causes Romeo to comment that the moon is pale with envy over the beauty of Juliet. Romeo is alluding to the Roman goddess Diana, who is both the goddess of the moon and the goddess of chastity. Thus, all chaste young ladies are often called the servants or handmaidens to Diana. Another convention of love poetry is to praise the virtue of the lady that the poet adores. Virtue and chastity were nearly synonymous during the Renaissance. Thus, Romeo is praising Juliet’s virtue.
Romeo thinks that because Juliet is more beautiful (“more fair” at line 48) than the beautiful goddess Diana, the moon goddess is then envious. So, Romeo declares that Juliet should no longer be Diana’s servant: she should no longer swear to the rules of chastity or virginity that Diana demands. Simply, Romeo is asking Juliet to give up her single life and become his wife and lover. The greenish color of the pale moon indicates not only the idea of being green with envy. It also suggests green sickness, a term for anemia that was attributed to unfulfilled sexual desire. Romeo thus suggests that even Diana longs for sexual desire; and he adds that only fools subscribe to the practice of virginity. Romeo, of course, does not want Juliet to be a nun.
He wants her to be his lover and his wife.
Romeo also uses the traditional metaphor of comparing Juliet’s eyes to stars, but Shakespeare adds a new variant to the common comparison. Romeo suggests that Juliet’s two eyes could trade places with two brilliant and beautiful stars. However, if the two stars replaced Juliet’s eyes, those stars would still be outshined by Juliet’s cheeks. Romeo thus praises the beauty of Juliet’s skin as well as of her eyes. To the metaphor, Romeo adds a simile to daylight. Just as daylight is brighter and more beautiful than lamplight, Juliet’s cheeks are brighter and more beautiful than those two stars.
And as for Juliet’s own eyes that are now up in the heavens (since they have traded places with the two beautiful stars), Romeo comments that they would shine so brightly in the night sky that the birds on earth would be fooled and think that the nighttime is actually the daytime. Thus, Juliet’s eyes are brighter and more beautiful than any star up in heaven.
Act II, Scene 1: Wherefore Art Thou Romeo?
Juliet, not knowing that Romeo is down below amongst the trees, expresses wonderment that she should fall in love with a Montague.
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. (75-78)
…
’Tis but thy name that is my enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet. (80-86)
Juliet’s speech on the balcony questions the power of words and language. She is asking why (the word wherefore means why) does the man she has fallen in love with have to be named Romeo Montague. A word is just a word; and if one changes the name of an object, that word change will not alter the essence of that object in any way. The object remains the same. A rose, whatever name it happened to be called, would still look beautiful and still produce a sweet smell.
Ironically, this speech is written by a gifted playwright and poet, a master of words and language. Juliet, of course, is expressing her frustration. Words can be meaningful and powerful, and most people attach great significance to words, often without realizing just how much they do so. Juliet’s condemnation of language is actually symbolic of her condemnation of fortune or fate. She is bewildered that this mysterious force called fate or destiny could have played such a mean and cruel trick on her and on Romeo.