Parallels between Shake-Speare and Bacon's Promus
Part 2 - Parallels between Bacon's Promus and Romeo and Juliet
(with special emphasis on Promus Folio 112)
(with special emphasis on Promus Folio 112)
Part 2b Now we'll begin a walk through the play to see where Promus entries seem to appear.
Romeo And Juliet Prologue 1-3
Two households both alike in dignity
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene)
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene)
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Bacon's Promus entry 547 (from Folio 93B):
"Anger of all passions beareth the age best" [from Ira omnium tardissime senescit in Erasmus's Adagia 231]
Comment: This of course was a major theme of the play.
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R&J Act. 1.1.85-9
(A public fight breaks out between servants of the Montague and Capulet households as a result of taunts. The Prince intervenes:)
(A public fight breaks out between servants of the Montague and Capulet households as a result of taunts. The Prince intervenes:)
"Throw your distempered weapons to the ground
And hear the sentence from your moved prince.
These civil brawls bred of an airy word
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague
Have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets"
And hear the sentence from your moved prince.
These civil brawls bred of an airy word
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague
Have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets"
Bacon's Promus entry 394 (from Folio 90B):
'Propugnat nugis armatus scilicet ut non sit mihi prima fides' [Literally:
"He fights with armour on for trifles, forsooth, that I should not have the first
claim to be believed". I think this means: "He picks a quarrel over some trifle
spoken by me and fights over it".]
"He fights with armour on for trifles, forsooth, that I should not have the first
claim to be believed". I think this means: "He picks a quarrel over some trifle
spoken by me and fights over it".]
Comment: There is another such fight in Act 3.1, where Mercutio and Tybalt are slain.
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R&J Act 1.1.116-8
"Madam, an hour before the worshipped sun
Peer'd forth the golden window of the East,
A troubl'd mind drive me [Benvolio] to walk abroad,"
Peer'd forth the golden window of the East,
A troubl'd mind drive me [Benvolio] to walk abroad,"
Bacon's Promus entry 1202 (from Folio 112):
"Yow will not rise afore yor. betters"
(ye. sonne."
(ye. sonne."
Comment: This perhaps means: "Your betters are those who rise earlier than you. Therefore by definition you cannot rise before them". Whatever its meaning, why did Bacon add underneath "ye sonne", meaning presumably "the sun" ("ye" being Elizabethan shorthand for "the", and "sonne" being one spelling of "sun")? Was he musing about making a character in the play rise before the sun - as Benvolio does?
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