Romeo and Juliet Sampson 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."

True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. When Sampson says this to fellow Capulet servant Gregory, it illustrates the themes of violence, sex and gender roles found throughout the play. Men view women as the "weaker" sex, while the word "thrust" has both a violent and sexual meaning. Sampson boasts about attacking the Montague men and assaulting their women, including sexually. He demonstrates a sexist and misogynistic mentality.

SAMPSON: I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids, and cut off their heads.
GREGORY: The heads of the maids?
SAMPSON: Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; take it in what sense thou wilt.

– William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. Capulet servant Sampson boasts of how he will murder the Montague maids and forcefully take their virginity. When he says "cut off their heads" and "their maidenheads," that is a pun for taking their virginity. Sampson is equating fighting the Montague men to raping their women, believing this to be the manly thing to do. Sampson’s disturbing joke about what he will do with the Montague women shows a worrying level of misogyny in his attitude towards the female gender.

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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