Page:Romeo and Juliet (1917) Yale.djvu/136

124 Mercutio 'has begun his burlesque adjuration to Romeo in the character of a wizard conjuring up a spirit, in keeping with the midnight hour and Romeo's invisibility. Romeo's failure to answer suggests to him another situation to parody, that of the showman with the performing ape, which has been trained to "play dead" or to pretend disobedience.' (Strunk, MLN. 32. 215.)

medlars. The double meaning here and frequently elsewhere in Mercutio's speeches cannot decently be explained.

That there was no break here on Shakespeare's stage is shown by the fact that there is no direction for Romeo's entrance and that the first line of his speech rimes with the last of Benvolio's. Romeo's friends probably remained outside the trees placed on the stage (or whatever stage property—if any—represented 'this orchard wall'), while Romeo disappeared on the other side. After they leave he comes out, and Juliet appears at the window above. The indication of a new scene here is merely a convention of modern editions, and on the stage the two scenes are still given as one.

her maid. I.e., a servant and follower of the virgin goddess Diana, also goddess of the moon.

lazy-puffing. In old woodcuts clouds are often represented as having faces with distended cheeks from which they puff out wind; but possibly the correct reading is the 'lazy-pacing' of the first Quarto.

That you spoke memorized, conventional phrases without really knowing the elements of love.

prince of cats. In the old animal epic of Reynard the Fox the prince of cats is named Tybert, or Tybalt.

silk button. This is made clear by the following quotation: 'Thou that takest upon thee to