A chorus who introduces the action and sometimes comments upon it throughout the play. Adaptations of Romeo and Juliet throughout the years have interpreted and portrayed the chorus’s commentary in a wide variety of ways, including reports delivered by newscasters, narration offered by Prince Escalus, or dialogue between gossiping common citizens of Verona.
The Chorus Quotes in Romeo and Juliet
The Romeo and Juliet quotes below are all either spoken by The Chorus or refer to The Chorus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Prologue
Quotes
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows,
Doth with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
Related Characters:
The Chorus (speaker), Romeo, Juliet
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Romeo and Juliet LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Chorus Character Timeline in Romeo and Juliet
The timeline below shows where the character The Chorus appears in Romeo and Juliet. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
A chorus enters and summarizes the action that is about to take place. They describe two families...
(full context)
Act 2, prologue
The chorus enters. They describe how Romeo’s “old desire” for Rosaline is now in its “deathbed.” Love...
(full context)
