hey, well for my english coursework i have to write an essay about “how important is act 3 scene 1 in the play romeo and juliet” but iv became stuck on what one of the quotes that mecrutio says
Thou art like one of those fellows that when he
enters the confines of a tavern claps me his sword
upon the table and says ‘God send me no need of
thee!’ and by the operation of the second cup draws
it on the drawer, when indeed there is no need.
does anybody have a idea of its meaning?
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to say:
You are the sort of person who enters a tarvern, makes a show of banging your sword on the table and saying that you hope not to need to use it, then after two drinks use it without need.
i.e. a drunken hypocrite, who swears off violence, but when lubricated with alcohol is eager to use it.
The only bit that gets me is the “draws it on the drawer”, I’m not sure who the drawer is meant to be, someone who draws first?
Basically it is a slur on someone’s character, an insult.
My 2c
Alex
P.S. Your signiture, as well as being offensive, is grammatically wrong, as BNP includes the word party.
Yes, exactly. And the insult goes further. When he “draws it on the drawer” he’s insulting himself by using it.
Shakespeare never says the guy’s an idiot, or that someone’s sweet on someone else, etc. He builds the symbology that leads to that conclusion. A lot of times you have to think about what things represent, or how they work, and then infer the meaning by applying it to the situation.
Of course, it also doesn’t help that his English is archaic by our standards. A lot of things don’t mean what we immediately think they do.
I think “draws it on the drawer” is suppoed to mean that he draws his sword before his attackee does the same - a preemptive strike, if you will 