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"moon"
Cultural Reference
Act 2,
Scene 2
Lines 109-110

An explanation of the beliefs at the time of Shakespeare about the orbit of the moon in myShakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2.

Juliet

O, swear not by the moon, th'inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,                      

As the appearance of the moon constantly changes during its monthly course around the earth, it’s hardly the object by which a lover would want to swear his or her constancy.

Just as the stars were believed to be fixed in a gigantic sphere which rotated around the earth (see line 17), the moon was thought to be fixed in a different sphere that also rotated around the earth, but at a slightly different speed than that of the stars.