An emerald-and-gold miniature palace box stands open to reveal tangled grey thread on ivory cloth.

Original artwork, not a still

Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare

Was ever book containing such vile matter so fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell in such a gorgeous palace!

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker laments that something rotten can be wrapped in beauty, comparing a deceitful person to a handsomely bound book with vile content, and a lavish palace hiding dishonesty. The passage is about the painful gap between attractive outward form and ugly inner truth.

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