Romeo and Juliet

This edition of Romeo and Juliet , first published in 1879, is now thoroughly revised on the same general plan as its predecessors in the new series. While I have omitted most of the notes on textual variations, I have retained a sufficient number to illustrate the curious and significant differences between the first and second quartos. Among the many new notes are some calling attention to portions of the early draft of the play—some of them very bad—which Shakespeare left unchanged when he revised it. The references to Dowden in the notes are to his recent and valuable edition of the play, which I did not see until this of mine was on the point of going to the printer. The quotation on page 288 of the Appendix is from his Shakspere: His Mind and Art , which, by the way, was reprinted in this country at my suggestion. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction to Romeo and Juliet 9 The History of the Play 9 The Sources of the Plot 14 General Comments on the Play 17 Romeo and Juliet 27 Notes 157 Appendix Concerning Arthur Brooke 275 Comments on Some of the Characters 278 The Time-Analysis of the Play 290 List of Characters in the Play 291 Index of Words and Phrases Explained 293 Funeral of Juliet Verona INTRODUCTION TO ROMEO AND JULIET The History of the Play The earliest edition of Romeo and Juliet , so far as we know, was a quarto printed in 1597, the title-page of which asserts that "it hath been often (with great applause) plaid publiquely." A second quarto appeared in 1599, declared to be "newly corrected, augmented, and amended." Two other quartos appeared before the folio of 1623, one in 1609 and the other undated; and it is doubtful which was the earlier. The undated quarto is the first that bears the name of the author ("Written by W. Shake-speare "), but this does not occur in some copies of the edition. A fifth quarto was published in 1637. The first quarto is much shorter than the second, the former having only 2232 lines, including the prologue, while the latter has 3007 lines (Daniel). Some editors believe that the first quarto gives the author's first draft of the play, and the second the form it took after he had revised and enlarged it; but the majority of the best critics agree substantially in…