Romeo and Juliet Chorus Quotes

Civil blood makes civil hands unclean quote Romeo and Juliet

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.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Prologue. The opening lines of Shakespeare’s tragic love story introduces us to the ancient feud between two great houses in Verona, the Capulets and Montagues. There is irony in the repeated use of the word "civil" in the Chorus’s introductory words. While Verona’s citizens ought to be civil, we learn that their hands are metaphorically stained ("unclean") with the blood of the victims of their civil war. There is also irony in the description of the warring families being "alike in dignity," since we later learn that they are alike in their undignified behavior.

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Prologue. There is a great deal of foreshadowing in opening Prologue to history’s greatest love story. We learn from the Chorus that the young lovers are fated to bring their feuding families together by the tragic taking of their own lives. This passage speaks to the intensity of the teenage couple’s love. "Star-cross’d" is a metaphor for the higher power of fate that controls human destiny. Shakespeare creates dramatic irony here by telling the audience what will happen to the characters before they know it themselves.
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