payment page
Prince Escalus is the Prince of Verona. As the prince, it’s his duty to maintain peace in Verona. He is not in most of the play and only emerges in 1.1, 3.1, and 5.3 after there has been a conflict between the Capulet and Montague families. Like the Chorus, Prince Escalus has an almost prophetic power over the characters in the play. In 1.1, he tells Capulet and Montague that he is tired of the feud and the violence that it perpetuates. He tells them, “If ever you disturb our streets again, / Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace” (1.1.91-92). On the surface, Prince Escalus is simply saying that future brawls will be punishable by death. However, his decree anticipates the unfolding tragedy of Romeo and Juliet in which two innocent children pay the ultimate price for their families’ senseless hate. The Prince’s assertion that both the Capulets and Montagues will lose their lives if they do not stop fighting is ultimately true; their lives are forever tarnished with the knowledge that they brought this tragedy on themselves. It is no surprise, then, that Prince Escalus delivers the play’s famous closing speeches in which he both admonishes the absurdity of the feud and pays tribute to the star-crossed lovers who were caught in its crossfire.
