Romeo & Juliet Study Guide
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Act II, Scene 6
Friar Lawrence's cell

Scene Summary

Romeo waits at the Friar's cell. The Friar warns that "violent delights have violent ends." Juliet arrives, and the two exchange brief but intense vows of love. The Friar leads them off to be married.

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✨ Character Voice Translations PREMIUM
Original Text
FRIAR LAWRENCE. So smile the heavens upon this holy act That after-hours with sorrow chide us not! ROMEO. Amen, amen. But come what sorrow can, It cannot countervail the exchange of joy That one short minute gives me in her sight. 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. FRIAR LAWRENCE. These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which, as they kiss, consume. The sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness And in the taste confounds the appetite. Therefore love moderately. Long love doth so. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. [Enter JULIET.] Here comes the lady. O, so light a foot Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint. A lover may bestride the gossamers That idles in the wanton summer air, And yet not fall. So light is vanity. JULIET. Good even to my ghostly confessor. FRIAR LAWRENCE. Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both. JULIET. As much to him, else is his thanks too much. ROMEO. Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy Be heaped like mine, and that thy skill be more To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath This neighbor air, and let rich music's tongue Unfold the imagined happiness that both Receive in either by this dear encounter. JULIET. Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, Brags of his substance, not of ornament. They are but beggars that can count their worth. But my true love is grown to such excess I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth. FRIAR LAWRENCE. Come, come with me, and we will make short work, For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone Till Holy Church incorporate two in one. [Exeunt.]
Modern English

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"These violent delights have violent ends" is arguably the play's single most important line. The Friar articulates exactly what will happen — and he's powerless to prevent it. The simile "like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume" perfectly captures the paradox of destructive love: the very moment of union is the moment of destruction.Romeo's reckless confidence — "come what sorrow can... love-devouring death do what he dare" — is dramatic irony at its most devastating. He literally invites death. He tells death to "dare." Death will accept.Juliet's response to Romeo is revealing. Where Romeo asks her to "sweeten with thy breath... rich music's tongue," she replies that real love doesn't need verbal ornamentation: "Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, / Brags of his substance, not of ornament." She is the more mature lover — her love is felt, not performed."They are but beggars that can count their worth" — this line captures Juliet's philosophy: love that can be measured or articulated is insufficient. True love is beyond quantification.The scene is strikingly short — barely 37 lines. Shakespeare deliberately keeps the actual marriage offstage and rushes through the pre-wedding moment. This speed reinforces the Friar's warning: everything...

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Themes
Love Death Haste Fate Marriage Moderation
Literary Devices
Foreshadowing Dramatic Irony Simile Oxymoron Structural Metaphor Couplet
Characters
Friar Lawrence Romeo Juliet
Motifs
Fire and Powder Haste Violent Delights Honey/Sweetness
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