As Juliet awaits Romeo, she muses on love and lovers, wishing for night to fall so that Romeo can safely ascend to her bedroom and they can spend the night together. As Juliet eagerly anticipates Romeo's arrival, she considers what it will be like to lose her virginity to her husband, thinking of how handsome he is. She says, in part, "Oh, I have bought the mansion of a love, / But not possessed it, and though I am sold, / Not yet enjoyed" (3.2.28-30). What she means is that she begun the process of marriage, but she has not completed it. Though she belongs to Romeo now, he hasn't made her his yet. In other words, Juliet is married, but she and Romeo have not consummated their marriage yet. Via metaphor, she compares love to a mansion, a luxurious and beautiful home, but she has not moved into it yet. Although Juliet no longer belongs to her father, having been "sold" to her husband, the metaphorical transaction is not complete until Romeo has "enjoyed" her. Once Juliet has lost her virginity to Romeo, she will consider herself as having "possessed" the mansion of love.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
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