Read the following excerpt from Romeo and Juliet. In a response of four to six sentences, identify the cultural practices and la
nguage that illustrate the play’s historical context. How does the historical context depicted in this excerpt compare with our world today? Use proper spelling and grammar. LADY CAPULET
The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.
NURSE
A man, young lady! lady, such a man
As all the world—why, he's a man of wax.
LADY CAPULET
Verona's summer hath not such a flower.
NURSE
Nay, he's a flower; in faith, a very flower.
LADY CAPULET
What say you? can you love the gentleman?
This night you shall behold him at our feast;
Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face,
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen;
Examine every married lineament,
And see how one another lends content
And what obscured in this fair volume lies
Find written in the margent of his eyes.
This precious book of love, this unbound lover,
To beautify him, only lacks a cover:
The fish lives in the sea, and 'tis much pride
For fair without the fair within to hide:
That book in many's eyes doth share the glory,
That in gold clasps locks in the golden story;
So shall you share all that he doth possess,
By having him, making yourself no less.
First, the characters titles/names indicate the time period (historical context). 'Lady' and 'Nurse' tell readers when the story is taking place. While this would fall under language evidence for the historical context, this could also fall under cultural practices because it was a cultural practice in that time period to address people with titles such as these.
Second, little things such as wording point out the historical context. "Nay," "hath," "doth," and many others make it clear that this story is definitely in a different era, a historical one.
<span>The historical context depicted in this excerpt is quite different from our world today. Instead of, 'Lady,' we use the term 'Mrs/Ms/Miss.' We do not typically have Nurses/Governesses, rather we call them teachers and they play similar yet different roles in our society. We do not usually use words such as, "Nay," "hath," "doth." Rather, "no, have/has, or do/does." </span>
Top-left: Wealth worship. The landlord is so impressed and intimidated by the bank note that he barely dares to take it.
Middle-left: Impending doom. You can tell that the narrator is experiencing a sense of upcoming catastrophe through phrases like "I judged that there as going to be a crash." The situation the narrator is in also involves danger: "I must swim across or drown."
Top-right: Rags to riches. Taken literally, this expression means going from the poorest to the wealthiest one possibly can be. But in this context, it is more about 'social riches:' the character goes from being insignificant in the eyes of others, to widely influential.
Middle-right: Wealth worship. The landlord is willing to accept any of the narrator's whims simply because he is wealthy, but at the same time, he fears him and his power: "he hoped he wasn't afraid to trust as rich a gentleman as I was."
Bottom: Impending doom. The threatening danger here is expressed by the fact that a "thin crust" is all that keeps the narrator from falling into the crater.
