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All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 1Scene 1
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"more and more" and "part and part"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 99-110

An explanation of “more and more...fought part and part” in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Montague

Who set this ancient quarrel new abroach?                  
Speak, nephew, were you by when it began?

Benvolio

Here were the servants of your adversary,
And yours, close fighting ere I did approach;
I drew to part them. In the instant came
The fiery Tybalt, with his sword prepared,
Which, as he breathed defiance to my ears,
He swung about his head and cut the winds,
Who, nothing hurt withal, hissed him in scorn.
While we were interchanging thrusts and blows,
Came more and more, and fought on part and part,   
Till the prince came, who parted either part.

The wordplay in these two lines involves parallel construction and repetition in the phrases “more and more” and “part and part.”  “Part” is used both as a noun to represent a side in the fighting, and as a verb meaning to separate.