You are here

All Site ContentRomeo and JulietAct 1Scene 3
Back to the Play
"unbound"
Metaphor
Act 1,
Scene 3
Lines 81-90

An explanation of the double meaning of “unbound” in Act 1, Scene 3 of myShakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Lady Capulet

What say you? Can you love the gentleman?
This night you shall behold him at our feast.
Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face,
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen.
Examine every married lineament,
And see how one another lends content.
And, what obscured in this fair volume lies,
Find written in the margent of his eyes.
This precious book of love, this unbound lover,
To beautify him, only lacks a cover.
  • To be "unbound" is to be not legally obligated, as Paris is not legally bound in matrimony — yet.
  • But, continuing the extended metaphor, the word can also refer to book binding.