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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 1Scene 1
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"mistemper'd"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 76-83

An explanation of the wordplay on “mistempered” in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Prince

Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbor-stainèd steel —
Will they not hear? What, ho! You men, you beasts
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage                
With purple fountains issuing from your veins —
On pain of torture, from those bloody hands
Throw your mistempered weapons to the ground.
And hear the sentence of your movèd prince.

“Mistempered” has three possible meanings:

  • During fabrication, a steel sword is tempered, or hardened, by quenching the hot metal in cold water. These swords were mis-tempered by being quenched in the blood of their owners’ neighbors.
  • To temper something can also mean to use it. These instruments of war have been misused in a lowly street brawl.
  • Finally, the swords could be seen as stand-ins for their owners who are enraged, in a bad temper.