Romeo and Juliet Insults

The phrase, “Part, fools” most closely resembles which of the following:

• Stop fighting, stupid people who lack judgment!

• Cut the idiot into pieces!

• Take my side in the fight!

• Divide out the stupid people!

When Lady Capulet chides her husband, “A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?” She is

insulting her husband by:

• Calling him a coward.

• Calling him old.

• Saying that a crutch would be more useful in this fight.

• Wondering why he might need a sword.

Consider the following passage:

Mercutio: Farewell, ancient lady. Farewell [singing] "Lady, lady, lady."

Nurse: I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant was this that was so full of his ropery?

Romeo: A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk and will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month.

Nurse: And 'a speak anything against me. I'll take him down, and 'a were lustier than he is, and twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those I shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirt-gills; I am none of his skainsmates. And thou must stand by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure!

Peter: I saw no man use you at his pleasure. If I had, my weapon should have quickly been out, I warrant you. I dare draw as soon as another man. If I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the law on my side.

Who does the nurse call, "A knave [who uses] me at his pleasure?"

• Romeo

• Mercutio

• Peter

• A skainsmate

Consider the following passage:

Mercutio: Farewell, ancient lady. Farewell [singing] "Lady, lady, lady."

Nurse: I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant was this that was so full of his ropery?

Romeo: A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk and will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month.

Nurse: And 'a speak anything against me. I'll take him down, and 'a were lustier than he is, and twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those I shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirt-gills; I am none of his skainsmates. And thou must stand by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure!

Peter: I saw no man use you at his pleasure. If I had, my weapon should have quickly been out, I warrant you. I dare draw as soon as another man. If I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the law on my side.

When the nurse says she is, "None of his flirt-gills," she means that:

• She doesn't flirt with many men

• She does not have gills, nor does she look like a fish.

• She is not the kind of common girl that Mercutio normally makes fun of.

• Why didn't Romeo stop Mercutio from talking.

What is the best way to figure out the meaning of a Shakespearean insult?

• Break it down into its smallest words and use an online dictionary to look up the meanings.

• Use the context of the passage to find clues as to why one character may be insulting another.

• Always assume that the characters will fight.

In the phrase, "What art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?", The word "heartless" could mean:

• Cowardly

• Dead; without heartbeat

• Cruel

• Angry

Consider the following passage:

Mercutio: Farewell, ancient lady. Farewell [singing] "Lady, lady, lady."

Nurse: I pray you, sir, what saucy merchant was this that was so full of his ropery?

Romeo: A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk and will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in a month.

Nurse: And 'a speak anything against me. I'll take him down, and 'a were lustier than he is, and twenty such Jacks; and if I cannot, I'll find those I shall. Scurvy knave! I am none of his flirt-gills; I am none of his skainsmates. And thou must stand by too, and suffer every knave to use me at his pleasure!

Peter: I saw no man use you at his pleasure. If I had, my weapon should have quickly been out, I warrant you. I dare draw as soon as another man. If I see occasion in a good quarrel, and the law on my side.

Which of the following could be considered an insult?

• "I saw no man use you at his pleasure."

• "I pray you, sir."

• "Scurvy Knave"

• "A gentleman."

Consider the following passage:

Mercutio: Where the devil should this Romeo be? Came he not home tonight?

Benvolio: Not to his father's. I spoke with his man.

Mercutio: Why, that same pale, hardhearted wench, that Rosaline,

Torments him so that he will sure run mad.

Benvolio: Tybalt, the Kinsman to old Capulet,

Hath sent a letter to his father's house.

Mercutio: A challenge, on my life.

Which of the following would most likely be considered an insult?

• "Tybalt, the Kinsman to old Capulet"

• "Where the devil should this Romeo be?"

• "that same pale, hardhearted wench that Rosaline..."

• "A challenge, on my life."

Consider the two revisions from Romeo’s line:

(Rev. 1) Romeo: Give me a torch, I am not for this ambling. Being but heavy, I will bear the TORCH.

(Rev. 2) Romeo: Give me a torch, I am not for this ambling. Being but heavy, I will bear the HAPPY

PEOPLE.

What word would best replace the bold words in the text?

• Measure

• Light

• Sole

• Bound