Let that be a lesson

I finished Romeo and Juliet over xmas. Really loved the ending, set in the Capulet tomb. I wasn't expecting Paris to die; his was quite an unnecessary death which emphasises the sense of wastage.

Romeo has developed a long way by the time we see him trying to break into the tomb with a crowbar. I'm struck by the contrast with Paris, who by the final scene is starting to fill his boots as a Romantic lover, much in the same mould as the early Romeo. He intends to spread 'sweet water' over the grave and repeat this measure every night. Yet Romeo has become, bleak, desperate and practical in his desolation:

PARIS
What cursèd foot wonders this way tonight
To cross my obsequies and love’s true right?
…

Enter Romeo etc

ROMEO
Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.

I can imagine Romeo, now totally resigned to fate's direction, storming onto the scene completely focused on the job in hand (his imminent suicide). The actor can emphasise the stressed syllables, turning the iambic line into an irrefutable command.

Paris' earlier appeal to 'love's true rite', sounds, well, more than a little lightweight in comparison. He is however, not far short of the mark (unintentionally) with 'cursèd' though....

Two Gentlemen of Verona is up next..!