Book Anatomy · Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet: Openings and endings
13 lenses on openings and endings for Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13
F1. First line and first paragraph: what each does. Both
The first full paragraph runs to 22 words and 7 sentences.
Scene I. (Ch 1, para 1)
The first line is the Prologue's opening, which names the two houses and their feud. The first paragraph lists three scenes in Mantua, Friar Lawrence's cell, and a churchyard, setting the tragic frame before the story begins.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life (Ch 1, para 10)
F2. What the first page sets up: voice, world, question. AI
The first page sets up a tragic voice via the Prologue. The world is Verona, split by ancient hatred. The question is how two lovers from feuding families can be together. The tone is formal and foreboding.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life (Ch 1, para 10)
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife (Ch 1, para 10)
The which, if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend (Ch 1, para 10)
F3. How many words before the lead appears? Count
First dialogue after 7,654 words. See the full lens on the book page.
F4. How many words before the first line of dialogue? Count
First dialogue after 7,654 words. See the full lens on the book page.
F5. The hook of chapter one. AI
The hook of chapter 1 is the Prologue's promise that the lovers' deaths will end the feud. This reverses expectation: love does not save them; death does. The audience is hooked by the paradox and the certainty of doom.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life (Ch 1, para 10)
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife (Ch 1, para 10)
F6. Prologue: its job and its length. Both
No prologue: the book starts in its first chapter.
The Prologue is 14 lines, a Shakespearean sonnet. Its job is to tell the audience the entire story in advance: two feuding houses, star-crossed lovers, their deaths, and the end of the feud. It frames the tragedy as inevitable.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life (Ch 1, para 10)
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife (Ch 1, para 10)
The which, if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend (Ch 1, para 10)
F7. How fast is the main story question posed? AI
The main story question is posed in chapter 1: can the lovers overcome the feud? It is answered in chapter 6 when they meet and fall in love, but the obstacle is revealed when Juliet learns Romeo is a Montague. The question becomes urgent in chapter 13 when Romeo is banished.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 6, Scene 13
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life (Ch 1, para 10)
My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late! (Ch 6, para 58)
F8. Final chapter: which beats resolve what. AI
Chapter 25 resolves all beats. Romeo and Juliet die in the tomb. Paris dies. The Friar confesses. The Prince declares the feud ended by the lovers' deaths. The families reconcile over the bodies. All threads close except the Friar's fate, which is left to the Prince's judgment.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 25
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! (Ch 25, para 100)
F9. Last line: what it leaves in the mind. Both
The last full paragraph runs to 50 words.
Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished, For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. (Ch 25, para 104)
The last line is stage direction: Exeunt. The final spoken line is the Prince's declaration that heaven has killed the lovers' joys with love, ending the feud. This leaves the mind on the paradox of love and death, and the cost of hatred.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 25
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! (Ch 25, para 100)
F10. Loose ends tied and left open. AI
Most ends are tied. The lovers die, the feud ends, the families reconcile. The Friar's punishment is left open; the Prince says he will hear him. Balthasar's role is resolved. The Nurse's fate is not mentioned. Paris is buried.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 25
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! (Ch 25, para 100)
F11. Epilogue: its job. Both
No chapter called an epilogue. The last chapter is 2,711 words.
There is no epilogue. The play ends with the Prince's final speech and the stage direction Exeunt. The resolution is complete within chapter 25.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 25
F12. Echoes between the opening and the ending. AI
The opening Prologue names the lovers as star-crossed and promises their deaths will end the feud. The ending shows both promises fulfilled: they die in the tomb, and the families reconcile. The circle is closed by fate.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 25
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life (Ch 1, para 10)
Whose misadventur’d piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents’ strife (Ch 1, para 10)
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate, That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love! (Ch 25, para 100)
F13. Length of the wind down after the climax. Count
The climax (our reading) falls in the last chapter, so there is almost no wind down.
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