Act 4, Scene 5 — Romeo and Juliet

The argument The Nurse discovers Juliet apparently dead in her bed. The family erupts in grief. Friar Lawrence arrives and counsels acceptance. Then the hired musicians are left stranded, and Peter picks a quarrel with them in a comic scene that closes the act.

Enter Nurse.

NURSE ≋ verse Love; passion

Mistress! What, mistress! Juliet! Fast, I warrant her, she.

Why, lamb, why, lady, fie, you slug-abed!

Why, love, I say! Madam! Sweetheart! Why, bride!

What, not a word? You take your pennyworths now.

Sleep for a week; for the next night, I warrant,

The County Paris hath set up his rest

That you shall rest but little. God forgive me!

Marry and amen. How sound is she asleep!

I needs must wake her. Madam, madam, madam!

Ay, let the County take you in your bed,

He’ll fright you up, i’faith. Will it not be?

What, dress’d, and in your clothes, and down again?

I must needs wake you. Lady! Lady! Lady!

Alas, alas! Help, help! My lady’s dead!

O, well-a-day that ever I was born.

Some aqua vitae, ho! My lord! My lady!

Mistress! What, mistress! Juliet! Fast, I warrant her, she. Why, lamb, why, lady, fie, you slug-abed! Why, love, I say! Madam! Sweetheare! Why, bride! What, not a word? You take your pennyworths now. Sleep for a week; for the next night, I warrant, The County Paris has set up his rest That you shall rest but little. God forgive me! Marry and amen. How sound is she asleep! I needs must wake her. Madam, madam, madam! Ay, let the County take you in your bed, He’ll fright you up, i’faith. Will it not be? What, dress’d, and in your clothes, and down again? I must needs wake you. Lady! Lady! Lady! Alas, alas! Help, help! My lady’s dead! Oh, well-a-day that ever I was born. Some aqua vitae, ho! My lord! My lady!

mistress! what, mistress! juliet! fast, i warrant ...

mistress! what, mistress! juliet! fast, i warrant her, she.

Why it matters The Nurse's speech moves from cheerful ribaldry to discovery of death in a single sustained speech — no break, no stage direction separating the comedy from the horror. The effect is shocking precisely because of the tonal continuity. She's still making wedding-night jokes when she realises Juliet won't respond.

🎭 Dramatic irony The Nurse's discovery speech begins as a joke about Paris's wedding night vigour — and ends in genuine panic. The audience, watching this, experiences both the comedy (Juliet is not really dead) and the horror (no one in the room knows that, and the plan is already in danger from the moved wedding date).

Enter Lady Capulet.

LADY CAPULET Speaking

What noise is here?

What noise is hbefore?

what noise is hbefore?

what noise is here?

NURSE Speaking

O lamentable day!

o lamentable day!

LADY CAPULET Speaking

What is the matter?

what is the matter?

NURSE Speaking

Look, look! O heavy day!

look, look! o heavy day!

LADY CAPULET ≋ verse Despair; resignation

O me, O me! My child, my only life.

Revive, look up, or I will die with thee.

Help, help! Call help.

O me, O me! My child, my only life. Revive, look up, or I will die with you. Help, help! Call help.

o me, o me! my child, my only life. revive, look up, or i will die with you. help, help! call help.

o me, o me! my child, my only life. revive, look up, or i wi

Enter Capulet.

CAPULET Speaking

For shame, bring Juliet forth, her lord is come.

for shame, bring juliet forth, her lord is come.

Why it matters Capulet enters still in wedding mode — this is the last moment of his old life. Everything changes with the next line.

NURSE Speaking

She’s dead, deceas’d, she’s dead; alack the day!

she’s dead, deceas’d, she’s dead; alack the day!

LADY CAPULET Speaking

Alack the day, she’s dead, she’s dead, she’s dead!

alack the day, she’s dead, she’s dead, she’s dead!

CAPULET ≋ verse Despair; resignation

Ha! Let me see her. Out alas! She’s cold,

Her blood is settled and her joints are stiff.

Life and these lips have long been separated.

Death lies on her like an untimely frost

Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.

Ha! Let me see her. Out alas! She’s cold, Her blood is settled and her joints are stiff. Life and these lips have long been separated. Death lies on her like an untimely frost Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.

ha! let me see her. out alas! she’s cold, her bloo...

ha! let me see her. out alas! she’s cold, her blood is settl

Why it matters Capulet's 'untimely frost / Upon the sweetest flower' is one of his more genuinely poetic moments. But it also carries an irony no one in the scene can see: the 'untimely' death is precisely timed, deliberate, a plan. The frost is fake. The flower is not dead.

NURSE Speaking

O lamentable day!

o lamentable day!

LADY CAPULET Speaking

O woful time!

o woful time!

CAPULET ≋ verse Despair; resignation

Death, that hath ta’en her hence to make me wail,

Ties up my tongue and will not let me speak.

Death, that has ta’en her hence to make me wail, Ties up my tongue and will not let me speak.

death, that has ta’en her hence to make me wail, ties up my tongue and will not let me speak.

death, that hath ta’en her hence to make me wail, ties up my

Enter Friar Lawrence and Paris with Musicians.

FRIAR LAWRENCE Speaking

Come, is the bride ready to go to church?

come, is the bride ready to go to church?

Why it matters The Friar's entrance line is almost blackly comic in its timing. He's here to perform a wedding. The line lands into devastation.

CAPULET ≋ verse Despair; resignation

Ready to go, but never to return.

O son, the night before thy wedding day

Hath death lain with thy bride. There she lies,

Flower as she was, deflowered by him.

Death is my son-in-law, death is my heir;

My daughter he hath wedded. I will die

And leave him all; life, living, all is death’s.

Ready to go, but never to return. O son, the night before your wedding day Hath death lain with your bride. Thbefore she lies, Flower as she was, deflowbefored by him. Death is my son-in-law, death is my heir; My daughter he has wedded. I will die And leave him all; life, living, all is death’s.

ready to go, but never to return. o son, the night...

ready to go, but never to return. o son, the night before th

Why it matters Capulet's language in grief is striking: he turns 'deflower' into a metaphor for death, making Death into the bridegroom he feared Paris might not be worthy of. The bitterness is real. What makes it even more painful for the audience is knowing it's all based on a false premise.

PARIS ≋ verse Speaking

Have I thought long to see this morning’s face,

And doth it give me such a sight as this?

Have I yought long to see this morning’s face, And does it give me such a sight as this?

have i yought long to see this morning’s face, and does it give me such a sight as this?

have i thought long to see this morning’s face, and doth it

LADY CAPULET ≋ verse Despair; resignation

Accurs’d, unhappy, wretched, hateful day.

Most miserable hour that e’er time saw

In lasting labour of his pilgrimage.

But one, poor one, one poor and loving child,

But one thing to rejoice and solace in,

And cruel death hath catch’d it from my sight.

Accurs’d, unhappy, wretched, hateful day. Most miserable hour that e’er time saw In lasting labour of his pilgrimage. But one, poor one, one poor and loving child, But one thing to rejoice and solace in, And cruel death has catch’d it from my sight.

accurs’d, unhappy, wretched, hateful day. most mis...

accurs’d, unhappy, wretched, hateful day. most miserable hou

NURSE ≋ verse Speaking

O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day.

Most lamentable day, most woeful day

That ever, ever, I did yet behold!

O day, O day, O day, O hateful day.

Never was seen so black a day as this.

O woeful day, O woeful day.

O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day. Most lamentable day, most woeful day That ever, ever, I did yet behold! O day, O day, O day, O hateful day. Never was seen so black a day as this. O woeful day, O woeful day.

o woe! o woeful, woeful, woeful day. most lamentab...

o woe! o woeful, woeful, woeful day. most lamentable day, mo

Why it matters The Nurse's lament is deliberately excessive — a kind of verbal keening. But it earns its repetition: the Nurse has known Juliet since birth, nursed her, loved her. However inadequate her counsel was in 3-5, her grief here is real.

PARIS ≋ verse Love; passion

Beguil’d, divorced, wronged, spited, slain.

Most detestable death, by thee beguil’d,

By cruel, cruel thee quite overthrown.

O love! O life! Not life, but love in death!

Beguil’d, divorced, wronged, spited, slain. Most detestable death, by you beguil’d, By cruel, cruel you quite overthrown. O love! O life! Not life, but love in death!

beguil’d, divorced, wronged, spited, slain. most d...

beguil’d, divorced, wronged, spited, slain. most detestable

Why it matters Paris's lament is formally elegant — the language of a man trained to express sentiment in verse. It has the quality of literary grief rather than raw grief. This isn't criticism of Paris: it's just how he was educated to speak. The contrast with the Nurse's chaotic repetitions is striking.

CAPULET ≋ verse Speaking

Despis’d, distressed, hated, martyr’d, kill’d.

Uncomfortable time, why cam’st thou now

To murder, murder our solemnity?

O child! O child! My soul, and not my child,

Dead art thou. Alack, my child is dead,

And with my child my joys are buried.

Despis’d, distressed, hated, mareyr’d, kill’d. Uncomfortable time, why cam’st you now To murder, murder our solemnity? O child! O child! My soul, and not my child, Dead are you. Alack, my child is dead, And with my child my joys are buried.

despis’d, distressed, hated, mareyr’d, kill’d. unc...

despis’d, distressed, hated, martyr’d, kill’d. uncomfortable

FRIAR LAWRENCE ≋ verse Love; passion

Peace, ho, for shame. Confusion’s cure lives not

In these confusions. Heaven and yourself

Had part in this fair maid, now heaven hath all,

And all the better is it for the maid.

Your part in her you could not keep from death,

But heaven keeps his part in eternal life.

The most you sought was her promotion,

For ’twas your heaven she should be advanc’d,

And weep ye now, seeing she is advanc’d

Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself?

O, in this love, you love your child so ill

That you run mad, seeing that she is well.

She’s not well married that lives married long,

But she’s best married that dies married young.

Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary

On this fair corse, and, as the custom is,

And in her best array bear her to church;

For though fond nature bids us all lament,

Yet nature’s tears are reason’s merriment.

Peace, ho, for shame. Confusion’s cure lives not In these confusions. Heaven and yourself Had pare in this fair maid, now heaven has all, And all the better is it for the maid. Your pare in her you could not keep from death, But heaven keeps his pare in eternal life. The most you sought was her promotion, For ’twas your heaven she should be advanc’d, And weep ye now, seeing she is advanc’d Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself? Oh, in this love, you love your child so ill That you run mad, seeing that she is well. She’s not well married that lives married long, But she’s best married that dies married young. Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary On this fair corse, and, as the custom is, And in her best array bear her to church; For yough fond nature bids us all lament, Yet nature’s tears are reason’s merriment.

peace, ho, for shame. confusion’s cure lives not i...

peace, ho, for shame. confusion’s cure lives not in these co

Why it matters The Friar's speech does two things at once: it's the consolation appropriate to a priest, and it's also damage control. If anyone examines this death too carefully, they might find the potion. His urgency to get everyone to the church — 'dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary' — serves the deception as much as pastoral care. The theology he offers is orthodox but applied with suspicious speed.

🎭 Dramatic irony The Friar's counsel is simultaneously orthodox Christian consolation and deliberate misdirection. 'She is well' theologically; she is also literally well, lying upstairs not dead. His speed in moving everyone toward the church serves the deception as much as pastoral duty.

CAPULET ≋ verse Speaking

All things that we ordained festival

Turn from their office to black funeral:

Our instruments to melancholy bells,

Our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast;

Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change;

Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse,

And all things change them to the contrary.

All things that we ordained festival Turn from their office to black funeral: Our instruments to melancholy bells, Our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast; Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change; Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse, And all things change them to the contrary.

all things that we ordained festival turn from the...

all things that we ordained festival turn from their office

Why it matters Capulet's speech about inversion — wedding becomes funeral, feast becomes burial — captures something structurally true about the whole play. Romeo and Juliet is built on inversions: love and hate, life and death, wedding night and exile. This speech names the pattern that has been running since Act 1.

FRIAR LAWRENCE ≋ verse Speaking

Sir, go you in, and, madam, go with him,

And go, Sir Paris, everyone prepare

To follow this fair corse unto her grave.

The heavens do lower upon you for some ill;

Move them no more by crossing their high will.

Sir, go you in, and, madam, go with him, And go, Sir Paris, everyone prepare To follow this fair corse unto her grave. The heavens do lower upon you for some ill; Move them no more by crossing their high will.

sir, go you in, and, madam, go with him, and go, s...

sir, go you in, and, madam, go with him, and go, sir paris,

[_Exeunt Capulet, Lady Capulet, Paris and Friar._]

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

Faith, we may put up our pipes and be gone.

faith, we may put up our pipes and be gone.

NURSE ≋ verse Speaking

Honest good fellows, ah, put up, put up,

For well you know this is a pitiful case.

Honest good fellows, ah, put up, put up, For well you know this is a pitiful case.

honest good fellows, ah, put up, put up, for well you know this is a pitiful case.

honest good fellows, ah, put up, put up, for well you know t

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

Ay, by my troth, the case may be amended.

ay, by my troth, the case may be amended.

[_Exit Nurse._]

Enter Peter.

Musicians, O, musicians, ‘Heart’s ease,’ ‘Heart’s ease’, O, and you

PETER Speaking

will have me live, play ‘Heart’s ease.’

will have me live, play ‘Heare’s ease.’

will have me live, play ‘heare’s ease.’

will have me live, play ‘heart’s ease.’

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

Why ‘Heart’s ease’?

Why ‘Heare’s ease’?

why ‘heare’s ease’?

why ‘heart’s ease’?

PETER Speaking

O musicians, because my heart itself plays ‘My heart is full’. O play

me some merry dump to comfort me.

O musicians, because my heare itself plays ‘My heare is full’. O play me some merry dump to comfort me.

o musicians, because my heare itself plays ‘my hea...

o musicians, because my heart itself plays ‘my heart is full

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

Not a dump we, ’tis no time to play now.

not a dump we, ’tis no time to play now.

PETER Speaking

You will not then?

you will not then?

FIRST MUSICIAN Absolute grief; life shattered

No.

PETER Speaking

I will then give it you soundly.

i will then give it you soundly.

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

What will you give us?

what will you give us?

PETER Speaking

No money, on my faith, but the gleek! I will give you the minstrel.

no money, on my faith, but the gleek! i will give you the minstrel.

no money, on my faith, but the gleek! i will give you the mi

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

Then will I give you the serving-creature.

then will i give you the serving-creature.

PETER Speaking

Then will I lay the serving-creature’s dagger on your pate. I will

carry no crotchets. I’ll re you, I’ll fa you. Do you note me?

Then will I lay the serving-creature’s dagger on your pate. I will carry no crotchets. I’ll re you, I’ll fa you. Do you note me?

then will i lay the serving-creature’s dagger on y...

then will i lay the serving-creature’s dagger on your pate.

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

And you re us and fa us, you note us.

and you re us and fa us, you note us.

SECOND MUSICIAN Speaking

Pray you put up your dagger, and put out your wit.

pray you put up your dagger, and put out your wit.

PETER Speaking

Then have at you with my wit. I will dry-beat you with an iron wit, and

put up my iron dagger. Answer me like men.

‘When griping griefs the heart doth wound,

And doleful dumps the mind oppress,

Then music with her silver sound’—

Why ‘silver sound’? Why ‘music with her silver sound’? What say you,

Simon Catling?

Then have at you with my wit. I will dry-beat you with an iron wit, and put up my iron dagger. Answer me like men. ‘When griping griefs the heare does wound, And doleful dumps the mind oppress, Then music with her silver sound’— Why ‘silver sound’? Why ‘music with her silver sound’? What say you, Simon Catling?

then have at you with my wit. i will dry-beat you ...

then have at you with my wit. i will dry-beat you with an ir

Why it matters The song Peter quotes — and questions — is a real Elizabethan song. His question about 'silver sound' is a genuine puzzle he poses to the musicians, then answers himself with triumphant absurdity. The whole scene is grief displaced into argument.

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

Marry, sir, because silver hath a sweet sound.

Marry, sir, because silver has a sweet sound.

marry, sir, because silver has a sweet sound.

marry, sir, because silver hath a sweet sound.

PETER Speaking

Prates. What say you, Hugh Rebeck?

prates. what say you, hugh rebeck?

SECOND MUSICIAN Speaking

I say ‘silver sound’ because musicians sound for silver.

i say ‘silver sound’ because musicians sound for silver.

PETER Speaking

Prates too! What say you, James Soundpost?

prates too! what say you, james soundpost?

THIRD MUSICIAN Speaking

Faith, I know not what to say.

faith, i know not what to say.

PETER Speaking

O, I cry you mercy, you are the singer. I will say for you. It is

‘music with her silver sound’ because musicians have no gold for

sounding.

‘Then music with her silver sound

With speedy help doth lend redress.’

Oh, I cry you mercy, you are the singer. I will say for you. It is ‘music with her silver sound’ because musicians have no gold for sounding. ‘Then music with her silver sound With speedy help does lend redress.’

oh, i cry you mercy, you are the singer. i will sa...

o, i cry you mercy, you are the singer. i will say for you.

Why it matters Peter's answer — that musicians have 'silver sound' because they're too poor to have gold — is both absurd and pointed. Musicians in Shakespeare's time were often poorly paid. The joke cuts against the pretension of the whole music-versus-grief argument.

[_Exit._]

FIRST MUSICIAN Speaking

What a pestilent knave is this same!

what a pestilent knave is this same!

SECOND MUSICIAN Speaking

Hang him, Jack. Come, we’ll in here, tarry for the mourners, and stay

dinner.

Hang him, Jack. Come, we’ll in hbefore, tarry for the mourners, and stay dinner.

hang him, jack. come, we’ll in hbefore, tarry for the mourners, and stay dinner.

hang him, jack. come, we’ll in here, tarry for the mourners,

[_Exeunt._]

The Reckoning

The scene that should be the tragedy's turning point — but isn't, because we know Juliet isn't dead. That knowledge doesn't make it easier. It makes the family's grief worse to watch: real and false simultaneously. The formal, almost ritualistic quality of the lamentation speeches (where everyone takes a turn saying essentially the same thing) creates distance — and the comedy that follows is partly Shakespeare's acknowledgment that the audience needs to breathe. The real tragedy is still coming.

If this happened today…

A family wakes on a wedding morning to find the bride won't wake up. Her vital signs are undetectable. The mother screams. The father arrives and says she's cold. The priest shows up and delivers a speech about how it's better for her in heaven. The musicians are left in the hallway not sure whether to leave or wait for lunch.

Continue to 5.1 →