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Question
conceited tragedie of romeo and iuliet. line by line the prologue make it modern in the space after each line of shakespeares prologue, write a modern description of the line. see the first line as an example. what is shakespeare saying with the prologue? two households, both alike in dignity two families, both of the same social standing. doth with their death bury their parents strife. in fair verona, where we lay our scene, the fearful passage of their death - markd love from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, and the continuance of their parents rage, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. which, but their childrens end, naught could remove, from forth the fatal loins of these two foes is now the two hours traffic of our stage; a pair of star - crossd lovers take their life, the which, if you with patient ears attend, whose misadventurd piteous overthrows what here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
To solve this, we'll modernize each line of the Prologue from Romeo and Juliet by interpreting the archaic language into contemporary English, matching the example's style.
Line 1: In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
Breakdown: "fair" = beautiful; "lay our scene" = set our story.
Modern: In beautiful Verona, where our story is set,
Line 2: From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Breakdown: "ancient grudge" = old feud; "break to new mutiny" = erupts into new conflict.
Modern: From an old feud, new violence erupts,
Line 3: Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
Breakdown: "civil blood" = bloodshed between citizens; "unclean" = stained (with guilt/blood).
Modern: Where citizens’ bloodshed stains their hands with guilt.
Line 4: From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
Breakdown: "fatal loins" = doomed offspring; "two foes" = the feuding families.
Modern: From the doomed offspring of these two enemies
Line 5: A pair of star - cross’d lovers take their life,
Breakdown: "star - cross’d" = ill - fated; "take their life" = die by suicide.
Modern: A pair of ill - fated lovers die by suicide,
Line 6: Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows
Breakdown: "misadventur’d" = ill - fated; "piteous overthrows" = tragic downfalls.
Modern: Whose ill - fated, tragic downfalls
Line 7: Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.
Breakdown: "doth" = does; "bury their parents’ strife" = end their parents’ feud.
Modern: End their parents’ feud with their deaths.
Line 8: The fearful passage of their death - mark’d love
Breakdown: "fearful passage" = dangerous journey; "death - mark’d" = destined to die.
Modern: The dangerous journey of their love, destined to end in death
Line 9: And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Breakdown: "continuance" = persistence; "rage" = anger/feud.
Modern: And the persistence of their parents’ anger,
Line 10: Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove,
Breakdown: "naught" = nothing; "remove" = end.
Modern: Which nothing could end except their children’s deaths,
Line 11: Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
Breakdown: "traffic" = action; "stage" = play.
Modern: Is now the action of our two - hour play;
Line 12: The which, if you with patient ears attend,
Breakdown: "the which" = this story; "patient ears attend" = listen patiently.
Modern: If you listen to this story with patience,
Line 13: What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Breakdown: "miss" = omit; "toil" = effort; "mend" = fix.
Modern: What we omit here, we will strive to fix with our effort.
Overall Meaning of the Prologue:
Shakespeare introduces the play: Two feuding Verona families have children (Romeo and Juliet) who fall in love, are doomed ( “star - cross’d” ), and die. Their deaths end the family feud. The play will retell this tragic story in ~2 hours, and the actors will try to make up for any shortcomings in the telling.
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To solve this, we'll modernize each line of the Prologue from Romeo and Juliet by interpreting the archaic language into contemporary English, matching the example's style.
Line 1: In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
Breakdown: "fair" = beautiful; "lay our scene" = set our story.
Modern: In beautiful Verona, where our story is set,
Line 2: From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Breakdown: "ancient grudge" = old feud; "break to new mutiny" = erupts into new conflict.
Modern: From an old feud, new violence erupts,
Line 3: Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
Breakdown: "civil blood" = bloodshed between citizens; "unclean" = stained (with guilt/blood).
Modern: Where citizens’ bloodshed stains their hands with guilt.
Line 4: From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
Breakdown: "fatal loins" = doomed offspring; "two foes" = the feuding families.
Modern: From the doomed offspring of these two enemies
Line 5: A pair of star - cross’d lovers take their life,
Breakdown: "star - cross’d" = ill - fated; "take their life" = die by suicide.
Modern: A pair of ill - fated lovers die by suicide,
Line 6: Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows
Breakdown: "misadventur’d" = ill - fated; "piteous overthrows" = tragic downfalls.
Modern: Whose ill - fated, tragic downfalls
Line 7: Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife.
Breakdown: "doth" = does; "bury their parents’ strife" = end their parents’ feud.
Modern: End their parents’ feud with their deaths.
Line 8: The fearful passage of their death - mark’d love
Breakdown: "fearful passage" = dangerous journey; "death - mark’d" = destined to die.
Modern: The dangerous journey of their love, destined to end in death
Line 9: And the continuance of their parents’ rage,
Breakdown: "continuance" = persistence; "rage" = anger/feud.
Modern: And the persistence of their parents’ anger,
Line 10: Which, but their children’s end, naught could remove,
Breakdown: "naught" = nothing; "remove" = end.
Modern: Which nothing could end except their children’s deaths,
Line 11: Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage;
Breakdown: "traffic" = action; "stage" = play.
Modern: Is now the action of our two - hour play;
Line 12: The which, if you with patient ears attend,
Breakdown: "the which" = this story; "patient ears attend" = listen patiently.
Modern: If you listen to this story with patience,
Line 13: What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Breakdown: "miss" = omit; "toil" = effort; "mend" = fix.
Modern: What we omit here, we will strive to fix with our effort.
Overall Meaning of the Prologue:
Shakespeare introduces the play: Two feuding Verona families have children (Romeo and Juliet) who fall in love, are doomed ( “star - cross’d” ), and die. Their deaths end the family feud. The play will retell this tragic story in ~2 hours, and the actors will try to make up for any shortcomings in the telling.