Monday, January 31, 2011

what are 4 puns from act 1 scene 4(Queen mab speech) of Romeo and Juliet? :)

Ais a
word or phrase that has multiple meanings and is often used to create ambiguity about which
meaning the writer intended. They are used for humor. The phrases "pun intended" or
"pun not intended" refer to this.

Here are some from Act I Scene
IV, the pun is in bold:

Give me a torch: I am not for
this ambling; 
 Being but heavy, I will bear the
light.

[Light is a pun. Romeo is
feeling "heavy" meaning sad/upset. So light here not only refers to the light of the
torch but also the lack of lightness in Romeo's mood.]


_____________________________________

Nay, gentle Romeo, we must
have you dance.

ROMEO Not I, believe me: you have dancing
shoes 
 With nimble soles: I have a
soul of lead 
 So stakes me to the ground I cannot
move.

[sole and soul are spelled differently but pronounced the
same, they are puns]


______________________________________

ROMEO I dream'd a dream
to-night.

MERCUTIO And so did I.

ROMEO Well, what was
yours?

MERCUTIO That dreamers often
lie.

ROMEO In bed asleep, while they do dream
things true.

[dreamers lie, as in, do not tell the
truth]


______________________________________

ROMEO Is
love a tender thing? it is too rough, 
 Too rude, too boisterous, and it
pricks like thorn.

MERCUTIO If love be rough
with you, be rough with love; 
 Prick love for
pricking, and you beat love down. 


[the other meaning of prick here is "urge," most probably in this
context, it refers to sexual urges. Mercutio may be suggesting that Romeo overcome his
heartbreak and pain by becoming intimate with another woman] 


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