The Riverside Shakespeare Summary

“To be, or not to be: that is the question.”

— Hamlet's soliloquy contemplating life and death.

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”

— Mark Antony's funeral oration for Julius Caesar.

“Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?”

— Juliet lamenting Romeo's name from her balcony.

“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

— Jaques' monologue on the seven ages of man in 'As You Like It'.

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”

— The Witches' incantation in 'Macbeth'.

“A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!”

— Richard III's desperate cry during the Battle of Bosworth Field.

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

— Lysander's observation to Hermia in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

“Though she be but little, she is fierce!”

— Helena describing Hermia in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

“Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!”

— Julius Caesar's dying words upon seeing Brutus among his assassins.

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”

— Prospero's philosophical reflection on the ephemeral nature of life in 'The Tempest'.

“If music be the food of love, play on.”

— Duke Orsino's opening line in 'Twelfth Night'.

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

— Cassius attempting to incite Brutus against Caesar.

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.”

— Juliet questioning the significance of Romeo's family name.

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”

— Julius Caesar's assertion of bravery.