The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.0919  Tuesday, 17 May 2005

From:           Mari Bonomi <
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Date:           Friday, 6 May 2005 14:16:24 -0400
Subject: 16.0896 Good my Lord?
Comment:        RE: SHK 16.0896 Good my Lord?

Juliet says to her mother in 3.5 "Sweet my mother, cast me not
away/Delay this marriage... "

In this case the adjective "sweet" before the "my <word>" structure is
imploring... And reminding of the role of "mother" to daughter, I'd say.

Given the not-unusual nature of this adjective location in Shakespeare,
I think it may be more than simply a metrical device.

I'm not volunteering, but it might be interesting to see the context of
"good my lord" and its companion phrases.  Is it simply politeness? The
respectful tone/phrase of underling to "master"? Is it imploring? Merely
requesting?  Or does it vary enough depending on context and
speaker/spoken-to that there is no pattern?

Mari Bonomi

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