Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews December 16, 2023 December 9, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life (Prologue)
The play’s opening lines tell us that Romeo and Juliet will die, and that their tragic end is fated. “Star-crossed” means “opposed by the stars.” In Shakespeare’s day as in ours, some people believed that the course of your life was determined by the motion and position of the stars. “Take their life” is a pun: it means that the lovers were born from the “fatal loins” of their parents, and it also means that the lovers will kill themselves. Their births and deaths are described in the same short phrase, which again suggests that their deaths were fated from the moment they were born.
I fear too early, for my mind misgives;
Some consequence, yet hanging in the stars,
Shall bitterly begin (1.4)
Before he goes to the masque where he will meet Juliet, Romeo has a feeling that the consequences of his decision to go will be “bitter.” He suspects that this is his fate—“hanging in the stars”—and his use of the word “stars” reminds the audience that he is “star-crossed” (I.i.). Romeo’s fear that he will arrive at the masque “too early” points to an important theme of the play. Almost every event in the play happens too early. Tybalt finds Romeo too early, before the news of Romeo’s marriage has been announced. Juliet’s marriage to Paris is decided too early, before Romeo can return from exile. The lovers die too young.
Please wait while we process your payment