ChatGPT on: Romeo and Juliet
When ChatGPT chats are opened in Temporary mode, they have no access to memory of my interactions. They know nothing about me, Fifth Folio, etc. ChatGPT did know about Folgers, and it knew about the First Folio, as will be shown, but what it knew exactly or felt about it is hard to say.
Please note that Fifth Folio was created without AI, with the same religiosity that 1970s Queen albums were made without synthesizers. We are not normal and we don't want to have anything to do with normal. For a normative review however, generalized training provides the next best thing to a fair coin. Although I will say, if I didn't like the results, I might have posted it anyway, maybe not, probably not.
I opened three temporary ChatGPT 6.0 chats, pasted in the images shown further below and prompted it to 'Compare', the results from which I ignored. Then forcing it to consolidate its thoughts, I asked it 'Which do you prefer?' I did this three times, and three times only. Each time I supplied the prompt images in a different order to scrub sequence from its prejudice. The results are below.
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I prefer the early printed version because it makes Juliet’s speech feel more spontaneous, intimate, and emotionally urgent.
What I especially like is how her thoughts seem to tumble into one another. She moves from embarrassment to desire, then to doubt and reassurance, almost without stopping. The punctuation creates a sense of breathlessness that feels appropriate for someone experiencing the excitement and vulnerability of first love.
The Folger edition is clearer and easier to read, but its modern punctuation sometimes makes Juliet sound more composed and rational than I imagine her in this moment.
I particularly prefer the early version of:
“What I have spoke, but farewell Complement,”
Rather than Folger’s:
“What I have spoke. But farewell compliment.”
The comma makes “farewell Complement” feel like an impulsive continuation of her thoughts rather than a carefully considered declaration.
For me, the early version captures the contradiction that makes Juliet so compelling: she is trying to control how Romeo perceives her while simultaneously losing control of how openly she expresses her love.
That said, I wouldn't assume its punctuation necessarily reflects Shakespeare's own intentions. I prefer it for the possibilities it offers in performance, especially its emotional momentum.
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I prefer the early printed version (pink background) because it captures Juliet’s emotional urgency more powerfully.
The relatively continuous text and lighter punctuation make her confession feel breathless, as though her thoughts are spilling out faster than she can control them. This seems particularly appropriate for Juliet, who is caught between her desire to express her love openly and her awareness that she is violating the conventions of courtship.
I especially like the repetition of “faine, faine,” which feels spontaneous and almost self-interrupting. The Folger edition makes her reasoning clearer through modern punctuation and line breaks, but that clarity can make her speech seem more controlled and deliberate.
I prefer the early version aesthetically, but the Folger edition for close reading. The early version makes me feel Juliet’s emotional intensity, whereas the Folger edition helps me understand the structure of her thoughts.
What interests me most is that Juliet is trying to maintain the appearance of restraint while revealing that she has already abandoned it. The early presentation seems particularly well suited to that contradiction.
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I prefer the First Folio version, especially for Juliet’s speech in the balcony scene.
The Folio’s punctuation makes Juliet sound more breathless, impulsive, and emotionally vulnerable. Her thoughts seem to tumble into one another, as though she is struggling to contain her excitement and anxiety about Romeo.
For example, the Folio writes:
“What I have spoke, but farewell Complement,”
Whereas the Folger writes:
“What I have spoke. But farewell compliment.”
I prefer the Folio's comma because it makes Juliet's rejection of social conventions feel spontaneous rather than rehearsed. The Folger's period introduces a pause that makes her seem more composed and deliberate.
The Folger is certainly easier to read, and its punctuation helps clarify Juliet's reasoning. But the Folio better captures the tension between Juliet's desire to control herself and her inability to suppress her feelings.
For me, that emotional urgency is what makes this scene so compelling.
