Why do Shakespeare's characters speak how they speak?

Shakespeare used prose (non-rhyming speech) and verse (poetic, structured language) with intention in Romeo & Juliet. Much of the play’s verse is written in iambic pentameter - a rhythmic structure that combines unstressed syllables and stressed syllables arranged in five beats per line. Characters speak in prose or verse to signify their social standing, education level, as well as their emotional state.

For example, the educated and wealthy Romeo and Juliet both speak in verse, while the less-educated nurse speaks in prose. Shakespearean audiences would have immediately been able to recognize these distinctions, giving them context about these characters’ backgrounds and status simply through patterns of speech.

How a character speaks gives the audience clues about who they are and how they see the world.

Romeo (speaking in iambic pentameter) (Act II, Scene 2):

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.
Nurse (speaking in prose) (Act 1, Scene 1):
Lord, how my head aches! What a head have I!
It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.

Shakespeare also used prose and verse to show a character’s emotional state. When their emotions run high, characters will often switch from prose into verse to reflect intensity or excitement. In Mercutio’s famous “Queen Mab” speech in Act I, Scene 4, he talks to Romeo about dreams in general prose, but as he animatedly moves to talking Queen Mab, the spirit who visits you in your dreams. He becomes more animated, the language changes from casual conversational prose into poetic verse.

MERCUTIO: Why, may one ask?
ROMEO: I dreamt a dream tonight.
MERCUTIO: And so did I.
ROMEO: Well, what was yours?
MERCUTIO: And so did I. That dreamers often lie.
ROMEO: In bed asleep, while they do dream things true.

Mercutio: (Speaking in verse):
O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman…

This switch from prose to verse allowed Shakespeare to quickly change the mood and tone of a scene, or to show when a character goes from being casual to serious. Much like in a musical, when a character’s emotions are just too big for words and can only be expressed in song, the shift from prose to verse can signify a moment when only poetry will do.

Here are some examples of contemporary literature written in verse:

• Home Is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• Starfish by Lisa Fipps
• Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
• Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
• The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
• The Magical Imperfect by Chris Baron