Romeo and Juliet Gregory Quotes

SAMPSON: Gregory, o’ my word, we’ll not carry coals.
GREGORY: No, for then we should be colliers.
SAMPSON: I mean, an we be in choler, we’ll draw.
GREGORY: Ay, while you live, draw your neck out o’ the collar.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. Two servants of the house of Capulet, Sampson and Gregory, go out looking for trouble. Sampson talks tough, warning that they won’t be humiliated by anyone, or "carry coals." He specifically means that he won’t take disrespect from a Montague and warns that they will draw swords if they are made angry – "in choler." Gregory cautions that this could lead to the hangman’s collar for them. This exchange speaks to the violent feud between the Capulets and Montagues. It foreshadows the brawl that takes place in the scene between the two households and their servants. There is also a deal of punning in this passage, with the use of similar sounding words "colliers," "choler" and "collar."

GREGORY: Draw thy tool…
SAMPSON: My naked weapon is out: quarrel, I will back thee.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. As two from the house of the Montagues approach, Sampson draws his sword and asks Gregory to start a quarrel and provoke a fight. The pair exchange bawdy puns, with Gregory inviting the other to: "Draw thy tool." Sampson continues with the phallus imagery and also personification to describe unsheathing his sword – "my naked weapon is out." Comparing the sword to a penis is an example of the misogynistic mentality in a play where men like to exercise dominance over women. In this scene Sampson tends to talk big but is something of a boastful coward, wanting Gregory to pick the fight.
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