Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene 3

Romeo and Juliet Act I, Scene 3

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A room in Capulet's house.
(Enter LADY CAPULET and NURSE.)

LADY CAPULET
Nurse, where's my daughter? call her forth to me.

NURSE
Now, by my maidenhead, at twelve year old,
I bade her come. What, lamb! what, ladybird!
God forbid! Where's this girl? What, Juliet!

(Enter JULIET.)

JULIET
How now! who calls?

NURSE
Your mother.

JULIET
Madam, I am here.

What is your will?

Meanwhile, back at the Capulet’s house: Lady Capulet wants to have a mother-daughter talk with Juliet. She instructs the Nurse to call the young girl. This “Nurse” raised Juliet, and was her "Nurse" in the most traditional sense of the word. In other words, she "nursed" her. It was her job to "breast feed" the girl, as an infant.

LADY CAPULET
This is the matter: -- Nurse, give leave awhile,
We must talk in secret: --

Juliet arrives, so Lady Capulet sends the Nurse away.

LADY CAPULET
--Nurse, come back again;
I have remember'd me, thou's hear our counsel.
Thou know'st my daughter's of a pretty age.

NURSE
Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.

Then, Lady Capulet changes her mind, and calls the Nurse back in. This is a big mistake. The Nurse likes to talk, and meddle, and confuse things, as we shall see.

Lady Capulet points out that Juliet is now of a "pretty age." In other words, the young girl is growing up. The Nurse insists that she can tell Juliet's age "unto an hour."

LADY CAPULET
She's not fourteen.

NURSE
I'll lay fourteen of my teeth,--
And yet, to my teen be it spoken, I have but four--
She is not fourteen. How long is it now
To Lammastide?

LADY CAPULET
A fortnight and odd days.

Lady Capulet seems unsure. Is the girl fourteen? Apparently, not quite. Juliet is only thirteen, but she will have her birthday soon, on the eve of a holiday called "Lammastide."

NURSE
Even or odd, of all days in the year,
Come Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen.
Susan and she--God rest all Christian souls!--
Were of an age: well, Susan is with God;
She was too good for me: but, as I said,
On Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen;
That shall she, marry; I remember it well.
'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years;
And she was wean'd,--I never shall forget it,--
Of all the days of the year, upon that day:
For I had then laid wormwood to my dug,
Sitting in the sun under the dove-house wall;
My lord and you were then at Mantua:--
Nay, I do bear a brain:--but, as I said,
When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple
Of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool,
To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug!
Shake quoth the dove-house: 'twas no need, I trow,
To bid me trudge:
And since that time it is eleven years;
For then she could stand alone; nay, by the rood,
She could have run and waddled all about;
For even the day before, she broke her brow:
And then my husband--God be with his soul!
A' was a merry man--took up the child:
'Yea,' quoth he, 'dost thou fall upon thy face?
Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit;
Wilt thou not, Jule?' and, by my holidame,
The pretty wretch left crying and said 'Ay.'
To see, now, how a jest shall come about!
I warrant, an I should live a thousand years,
I never should forget it: 'Wilt thou not, Jule?' quoth he;
And, pretty fool, it stinted and said 'Ay.'

LADY CAPULET
Enough of this; I pray thee, hold thy peace.

NURSE
Yes, madam: yet I cannot choose but laugh,
To think it should leave crying and say 'Aye.'
And yet, I warrant, it had upon its brow
A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone;
A parlous knock; and it cried bitterly:
'Yea,' quoth my husband,'fall'st upon thy face?
Thou wilt fall backward when thou comest to age;

The Nurse proceeds to tell a long, involved story about an incident which happened eleven years ago, when Juliet was just a baby. For further details, see "the b**b incident."
"Susan" was apparently a child who was born around the same time as Juliet. Susan was the Nurse's own daughter. The nurse remembers the year by an earthquake. Also, she knows it was 11 years ago that the babies were "weaned." Hmmmm... still nursing at age two?
Vocabulary help... the word "wormwood" refers to a very bitter tasting juice, which she used to "wean" the child from breast-feeding. The word "dug" is slang for "breast."

Wilt thou not, Jule?' it stinted and said 'Aye.'

Vocabulary help: the word "aye" means "yes."

JULIET
And stint thou too, I pray thee, nurse, say I.

NURSE
Peace, I have done. God mark thee to his grace!
Thou wast the prettiest babe that e'er I nursed:
An I might live to see thee married once,
I have my wish.

The word "stint" means to "stop." Now, even Juliet has tired of the Nurse, and she trying to shut the woman up.

LADY CAPULET
Marry, that 'marry' is the very theme
I came to talk of. Tell me, daughter Juliet,
How stands your disposition to be married?

Finally, the Nurse shuts up, and Lady Capulet explains why she called Juliet, in the first place.

JULIET
It is an honour that I dream not of.

NURSE
An honour! were not I thine only nurse,
I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat.

Juliet’s response is almost a riddle. She says, “It is an honor that I dream not of.” Is this a positive response? A negative response? Is the girl just confused? This is the first of many examples of Juliet’s "double talk."

LADY CAPULET
Well, think of marriage now; younger than you,
Here in Verona, ladies of esteem,
Are made already mothers: by my count,
Lady Capulet reminds Juliet that many young ladies younger than Juliet are already "happily mothers made." She also tells Juliet that a guy named Paris is interested in marrying her.

I was your mother much upon these years
That you are now a maid. Thus then in brief:
The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.

Lady Capulet says, "The valiant Paris seeks you for his love." If Paris is willing to marry Juliet, then he must be valiant.

NURSE
A man, young lady! lady, such a man
As all the world--why, he's a man of wax.

LADY CAPULET
Verona's summer hath not such a flower.

NURSE
Nay, he's a flower; in faith, a very flower.

One has to wonder what Paris would think if he knew that they were describing him as a "man of wax." This is certainly better than their next description -- as a "flower."

LADY CAPULET
What say you? can you love the gentleman?
This night you shall behold him at our feast;
Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face,
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen;
Examine every married lineament,
And see how one another lends content
And what obscured in this fair volume lies
Find written in the margent of his eyes.
This precious book of love, this unbound lover,
To beautify him, only lacks a cover:
The fish lives in the sea, and 'tis much pride
For fair without the fair within to hide:
That book in many's eyes doth share the glory,
That in gold clasps locks in the golden story;
So shall you share all that he doth possess,
By having him, making yourself no less.

Juliet’s mother urges young Juliet to check Paris out at the big party tonight, and see what she thinks. She compares him to a book, and tells Juliet to “read over the volume of young Paris’ face,” (line 85). One wonders what she might find if she removes the cover...

NURSE
No less! nay, bigger; women grow by men.

LADY CAPULET
Speak briefly, can you like of Paris' love?

JULIET
I'll look to like, if looking liking move:
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.

The Nurse's reference to women "growing" by men is a description of pregnancy. Again, Juliet speaks in riddles. "I'll look to like, if looking liking move..." Say, what? This bit of gobbledy-speak is about as clear as mud.

(Enter a Servant.)

SERVANT
Madam, the guests are come, supper served up, you
called, my young lady asked for, the nurse cursed in
the pantry, and every thing in extremity. I must
hence to wait; I beseech you, follow straight.

LADY CAPULET
We follow thee.

(Exit Servant.)
LADY CAPULET
Juliet, the county stays.

A servant arrives, which (mercifully) forces an end to the scene. The party downstairs is about to start. Everything is in an uproar. They are even "cursing" the Nurse in the pantry, which echoes the audience's actions perfectly.

NURSE
Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days.

(Exeunt.)
The Nurse's remark to Juliet, "Seek happy nights to happy days," confirms her obsessions. Lady Capulet seems concerned with marriage. The Nurse is thinking only of the wedding night. Disgusting, isn't she. Don't you just love her?

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Shakespeare for Scholars:	Shakespeare for Everyone Else:
A room in Capulet's house. (Enter LADY CAPULET and NURSE.) LADY CAPULET Nurse, where's my daughter? call her forth to me. NURSE Now, by my maidenhead, at twelve year old, I bade her come. What, lamb! what, ladybird! God forbid! Where's this girl? What, Juliet! (Enter JULIET.) JULIET How now! who calls? NURSE Your mother. JULIET Madam, I am here. What is your will?	Meanwhile, back at the Capulet’s house: Lady Capulet wants to have a mother-daughter talk with Juliet. She instructs the Nurse to call the young girl. This “Nurse” raised Juliet, and was her "Nurse" in the most traditional sense of the word. In other words, she "nursed" her. It was her job to "breast feed" the girl, as an infant.
LADY CAPULET This is the matter: -- Nurse, give leave awhile, We must talk in secret: --	Juliet arrives, so Lady Capulet sends the Nurse away.
LADY CAPULET --Nurse, come back again; I have remember'd me, thou's hear our counsel. Thou know'st my daughter's of a pretty age. NURSE Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour.	Then, Lady Capulet changes her mind, and calls the Nurse back in. This is a big mistake. The Nurse likes to talk, and meddle, and confuse things, as we shall see. Lady Capulet points out that Juliet is now of a "pretty age." In other words, the young girl is growing up. The Nurse insists that she can tell Juliet's age "unto an hour."
LADY CAPULET She's not fourteen. NURSE I'll lay fourteen of my teeth,-- And yet, to my teen be it spoken, I have but four-- She is not fourteen. How long is it now To Lammastide? LADY CAPULET A fortnight and odd days.	Lady Capulet seems unsure. Is the girl fourteen? Apparently, not quite. Juliet is only thirteen, but she will have her birthday soon, on the eve of a holiday called "Lammastide."
NURSE Even or odd, of all days in the year, Come Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen. Susan and she--God rest all Christian souls!-- Were of an age: well, Susan is with God; She was too good for me: but, as I said, On Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen; That shall she, marry; I remember it well. 'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years; And she was wean'd,--I never shall forget it,-- Of all the days of the year, upon that day: For I had then laid wormwood to my dug, Sitting in the sun under the dove-house wall; My lord and you were then at Mantua:-- Nay, I do bear a brain:--but, as I said, When it did taste the wormwood on the nipple Of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool, To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug! Shake quoth the dove-house: 'twas no need, I trow, To bid me trudge: And since that time it is eleven years; For then she could stand alone; nay, by the rood, She could have run and waddled all about; For even the day before, she broke her brow: And then my husband--God be with his soul! A' was a merry man--took up the child: 'Yea,' quoth he, 'dost thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit; Wilt thou not, Jule?' and, by my holidame, The pretty wretch left crying and said 'Ay.' To see, now, how a jest shall come about! I warrant, an I should live a thousand years, I never should forget it: 'Wilt thou not, Jule?' quoth he; And, pretty fool, it stinted and said 'Ay.' LADY CAPULET Enough of this; I pray thee, hold thy peace. NURSE Yes, madam: yet I cannot choose but laugh, To think it should leave crying and say 'Aye.' And yet, I warrant, it had upon its brow A bump as big as a young cockerel's stone; A parlous knock; and it cried bitterly: 'Yea,' quoth my husband,'fall'st upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou comest to age;	The Nurse proceeds to tell a long, involved story about an incident which happened eleven years ago, when Juliet was just a baby. For further details, see "the b**b incident." "Susan" was apparently a child who was born around the same time as Juliet. Susan was the Nurse's own daughter. The nurse remembers the year by an earthquake. Also, she knows it was 11 years ago that the babies were "weaned." Hmmmm... still nursing at age two? Vocabulary help... the word "wormwood" refers to a very bitter tasting juice, which she used to "wean" the child from breast-feeding. The word "dug" is slang for "breast."
Wilt thou not, Jule?' it stinted and said 'Aye.'	Vocabulary help: the word "aye" means "yes."
JULIET And stint thou too, I pray thee, nurse, say I. NURSE Peace, I have done. God mark thee to his grace! Thou wast the prettiest babe that e'er I nursed: An I might live to see thee married once, I have my wish.	The word "stint" means to "stop." Now, even Juliet has tired of the Nurse, and she trying to shut the woman up.
LADY CAPULET Marry, that 'marry' is the very theme I came to talk of. Tell me, daughter Juliet, How stands your disposition to be married?	Finally, the Nurse shuts up, and Lady Capulet explains why she called Juliet, in the first place.
JULIET It is an honour that I dream not of. NURSE An honour! were not I thine only nurse, I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat.	Juliet’s response is almost a riddle. She says, “It is an honor that I dream not of.” Is this a positive response? A negative response? Is the girl just confused? This is the first of many examples of Juliet’s "double talk."
LADY CAPULET Well, think of marriage now; younger than you, Here in Verona, ladies of esteem, Are made already mothers: by my count,	Lady Capulet reminds Juliet that many young ladies younger than Juliet are already "happily mothers made." She also tells Juliet that a guy named Paris is interested in marrying her.
I was your mother much upon these years That you are now a maid. Thus then in brief: The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.	Lady Capulet says, "The valiant Paris seeks you for his love." If Paris is willing to marry Juliet, then he must be valiant.
NURSE A man, young lady! lady, such a man As all the world--why, he's a man of wax. LADY CAPULET Verona's summer hath not such a flower. NURSE Nay, he's a flower; in faith, a very flower.	One has to wonder what Paris would think if he knew that they were describing him as a "man of wax." This is certainly better than their next description -- as a "flower."
LADY CAPULET What say you? can you love the gentleman? This night you shall behold him at our feast; Read o'er the volume of young Paris' face, And find delight writ there with beauty's pen; Examine every married lineament, And see how one another lends content And what obscured in this fair volume lies Find written in the margent of his eyes. This precious book of love, this unbound lover, To beautify him, only lacks a cover: The fish lives in the sea, and 'tis much pride For fair without the fair within to hide: That book in many's eyes doth share the glory, That in gold clasps locks in the golden story; So shall you share all that he doth possess, By having him, making yourself no less.	Juliet’s mother urges young Juliet to check Paris out at the big party tonight, and see what she thinks. She compares him to a book, and tells Juliet to “read over the volume of young Paris’ face,” (line 85). One wonders what she might find if she removes the cover...
NURSE No less! nay, bigger; women grow by men. LADY CAPULET Speak briefly, can you like of Paris' love? JULIET I'll look to like, if looking liking move: But no more deep will I endart mine eye Than your consent gives strength to make it fly.	The Nurse's reference to women "growing" by men is a description of pregnancy. Again, Juliet speaks in riddles. "I'll look to like, if looking liking move..." Say, what? This bit of gobbledy-speak is about as clear as mud.
(Enter a Servant.) SERVANT Madam, the guests are come, supper served up, you called, my young lady asked for, the nurse cursed in the pantry, and every thing in extremity. I must hence to wait; I beseech you, follow straight. LADY CAPULET We follow thee. (Exit Servant.) LADY CAPULET Juliet, the county stays.	A servant arrives, which (mercifully) forces an end to the scene. The party downstairs is about to start. Everything is in an uproar. They are even "cursing" the Nurse in the pantry, which echoes the audience's actions perfectly.
NURSE Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days. (Exeunt.)	The Nurse's remark to Juliet, "Seek happy nights to happy days," confirms her obsessions. Lady Capulet seems concerned with marriage. The Nurse is thinking only of the wedding night. Disgusting, isn't she. Don't you just love her?