Both Uses of
proportion
in
Romeo and Juliet
- He fights as you sing prick-song—keeps time, distance, and proportion;
Scene 2.4 *proportion = things in balance
- it makes me mad: Day, night, hour, time, tide, work, play, Alone, in company, still my care hath been To have her match'd, and having now provided A gentleman of noble parentage, Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd, Stuff'd, as they say, with honourable parts, Proportion'd as one's heart would wish a man,—— And then to have a wretched puling fool, A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender, To answer, 'I'll not wed,——I cannot love, I am too young,——I pray you pardon me:'—— But, an you will not wed, I'll pardon you: Graze where you will, you shall not house with me: Look to't, think on't, I do not use to jest.†
Scene 3.5 *
Definitions:
-
(proportion as in: respond in proportion) appropriate in size, amount, or degree
-
(proportion as in: the proportion of females) relative amount, quantity, or collectionThe exact meaning of this sense of proportion is subject to its context. For example:
- "The female proportion is 50%." -- percentage or share
- "The proportion of oil to vinegar." -- ratio (quantity of something relative to the quantity of something else)
- "In the survey, the female proportion said..." -- group