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What does this Romeo and Juliet quote mean?

I was wondering what the quote "Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, Hath had no power yet upon thy beaut"


this is the full quote:


Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, / Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty: / Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet / Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, / And death's pale flag is not advanced there.
Reply 1
Original post by Appazap
I was wondering what the quote "Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, Hath had no power yet upon thy beaut"


this is the full quote:


Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, / Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty: / Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet / Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, / And death's pale flag is not advanced there.


The honey of the breath refers to the beauty of the soul. If it has not taken this the person remains beautiful and is not overpowered by death. This shows the significance of the soul. Expand in this maybe

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Reply 2
Original post by SHBK
The honey of the breath refers to the beauty of the soul. If it has not taken this the person remains beautiful and is not overpowered by death. This shows the significance of the soul. Expand in this maybe

Posted from TSR Mobile



like maybe to romeo juliet still looks as if she is alive?
Reply 3
It's dramatic irony. Romeo thinks that it's remarkable that Juliet still looks as if she's alive, without knowing (as the audience does) that it's because she IS alive.
"One literary device at use in this passage is a type of metaphor called personification. Romeo has found Juliet, supposedly dead, in the tomb. He wonders why she still looks so beautiful and speaks to death about it. In personification, a nonhuman entity is given human attributes. Shakespeare accomplishes this in the following lines:

1.

Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath.

2.

And death’s pale flag is not advanced.

3.

Shall I believe that unsubstantial death is amorous.

4.

And that the lean abhorred monster keeps thee here in dark to be his paramour?


Shakespeare employs personification here to dramatize the effect of Juliet’s supposed death on him. It gives death the power to make decisions and take action.
Since we know that Juliet is not actually dead, Shakespeare is also employing the literary device of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is created when the audience knows something that the characters don’t. In this case, we watch as Romeo suffers with the belief that Juliet is dead, knowing that he doesn’t realize that this is part of her plan to escape with him."

From e notes

This is simplistic but good too
http://quizlet.com/5380297/act-5-quotes-explained-flash-cards/
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 5
Original post by mazzletazzle
"One literary device at use in this passage is a type of metaphor called personification. Romeo has found Juliet, supposedly dead, in the tomb. He wonders why she still looks so beautiful and speaks to death about it. In personification, a nonhuman entity is given human attributes. Shakespeare accomplishes this in the following lines:

1.

Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath.

2.

And death’s pale flag is not advanced.

3.

Shall I believe that unsubstantial death is amorous.

4.

And that the lean abhorred monster keeps thee here in dark to be his paramour?


Shakespeare employs personification here to dramatize the effect of Juliet’s supposed death on him. It gives death the power to make decisions and take action.
Since we know that Juliet is not actually dead, Shakespeare is also employing the literary device of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is created when the audience knows something that the characters don’t. In this case, we watch as Romeo suffers with the belief that Juliet is dead, knowing that he doesn’t realize that this is part of her plan to escape with him."

From e notes


i looked on their but i didn't really see where the personification was in the quote, omg r&j confuses me
Reply 6
Original post by Blazar
It's dramatic irony. Romeo thinks that it's remarkable that Juliet still looks as if she's alive, without knowing (as the audience does) that it's because she IS alive.


Thank you so much, this helped a lot :smile:
Original post by Appazap
i looked on their but i didn't really see where the personification was in the quote, omg r&j confuses me



Death is able to 'suck' as if it were human - that's the personification bit... SH is turning an idea into a human form
Reply 8
Original post by mazzletazzle
Death is able to 'suck' as if it were human - that's the personification bit... SH is turning an idea into a human form



yeah that would make sense thank you for the help :smile:
Original post by Appazap
yeah that would make sense thank you for the help :smile:



no problem
Reply 10
Original post by Appazap
Thank you so much, this helped a lot :smile:


You're welcome :smile:
GENIUS LIT does the whole play...
http://genius.com/3301217/William-shakespeare-romeo-and-juliet-act-5-scene-3-final-scene/Death-that-hath-suckd-the-honey-of-thy-breath-hath-had-no-power-yet-upon-thy-beauty-thou-art-not-conquerd-beautys-ensign-yet-is-crimson-in-thy-lips-and-in-thy-cheeks

Some other bits...

Later in the text:
Romeo uses romantic figurative language, saying that in Death is his rival for Juliet's love. Death has won Juliet's hand
Romeo uses contradictory images of positive, romantic ideas (amorous and paramour) while using negative images ("dark" and "lean abhorred monster"). He is overwhelmed with conflicting feelings... He is overwhelmed by both love (understanding how Death itself could fall in love with Juliet) and overwhelmed by hatred (despising Death for killing off his love)?
Ah yes, that quote. Romeo's basically simply saying that Juliet looks too beautiful to be dead, which is dramatic irony because the audience knows that she is still alive. :smile:
Reply 13
Original post by Appazap
Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, / Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty: / Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet / Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, / And death's pale flag is not advanced there.



A rough translation to modern vernacular might be: 'Though death has claimed you (though you have been kissed by death?), it has done nothing to diminish your beauty. You are not defeated (i.e. beauty remains); your crimson lips and cheeks remain the standard by which beauty is measured, and/so death has not claimed them.'

Hope that's at all helpful.
As Romeo thinks she's dead, there's still color in her face so Romeo is explaining how beautiful she is and that death can't harm her.
Romeo is saying that even death cannot ruin Juliet's looks. She is still beautiful, with color in her cheeks and lips.

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