Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, Scene 3

Romeo and Juliet
Act IV, Scene 3

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Juliet's chamber.
Enter JULIET and Nurse
JULIET
Ay, those attires are best;

Upstairs, Juliet and the Nurse are picking out her bridal accessories.

But, gentle nurse,
I pray thee, leave me to myself to-night, When Lady Capulet arrives, Juliet cleverly dismisses the Nurse, so she can sleep alone.

For I have need of many orisons
To move the heavens to smile upon my state,
Which, well thou know'st, is cross, and full of sin.

Enter LADY CAPULET

Juliet claims that she has to say some "orisons." Orisons are prayers. It is because she has been such a bad, bad girl.

LADY CAPULET
What, are you busy, ho? need you my help?
"What, are you busy, ho?" asks Lady Capulet.

JULIET
No, madam; we have cull'd such necessaries
As are behoveful for our state to-morrow:
So please you, let me now be left alone,
And let the nurse this night sit up with you;
For, I am sure, you have your hands full all,
In this so sudden business.

LADY CAPULET
Good night:
Get thee to bed, and rest; for thou hast need.
Juliet ignores the "Ho" part, and tells her mother that she has already "culled" the proper clothes for a wedding. She has been "culling" long enough.

Exeunt LADY CAPULET and Nurse
JULIET
Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again.
I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins,
That almost freezes up the heat of life:
I'll call them back again to comfort me:
Nurse! What should she do here?

Finally, Lady Capulet and the Nurse both leave, and Juliet is alone.

My dismal scene I needs must act alone.
"My dismal scene I needs must act alone," she says. The audience realizes she is correct, in her math and also in her critical appraisal.

Come, vial.
What if this mixture do not work at all?
Shall I be married then to-morrow morning?
No, no;
Picking up her dagger
This shall forbid it:

Then, Juliet picks up the vial containing the potion, and wonders if it will work. She picks up a knife, and considers suicide.

Laying down her dagger
Lie thou there.

Something stops her, though. Juliet lays the dagger down. Perhaps she does not have the courage for suicide. Perhaps she remembers that her religion forbids it. Perhaps she has looked at the script, and realized she has some more lines.

What if it be a poison, which the friar
Subtly hath minister'd to have me dead,
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour'd,
Because he married me before to Romeo?
I fear it is: and yet, methinks, it should not,
For he hath still been tried a holy man.
Next, she gets the sudden urge to speak in soliloquy. Juliet worries that this “potion” might be a poison. She also becomes a bit concerned about being buried alive.

How if, when I am laid into the tomb,
I wake before the time that Romeo
Come to redeem me? there's a fearful point!
Shall I not, then, be stifled in the vault,
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in,
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?
Juliet worries about waking up tooo early, and being suffocated (or "stifled") in the tomb.

Or, if I live, is it not very like,
The horrible conceit of death and night,
Together with the terror of the place,--
As in a vault, an ancient receptacle,
Where, for these many hundred years, the bones
Of all my buried ancestors are packed:
Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth,
Lies festering in his shroud; where, as they say,
At some hours in the night spirits resort;--
Alack, alack, is it not like that I,
So early waking, what with loathsome smells,
And shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth,
That living mortals, hearing them, run mad:--
O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught,
Environed with all these hideous fears?
The girl realizes that this tomb is going to be rather creepy.
She knows that she will see the bones of former relatives. She knows that she will see the corpse of Tybalt. She imagines the flesh, the decay, and the smells. This tomb will not be among the most pleasant of places.

And madly play with my forefather's joints?
And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud?
And, in this rage, with some great kinsman's bone,
As with a club, dash out my desperate brains?
Juliet even wonders if she might go mad in the tomb, and “play with my forefather’s joints” (line 52). Scholars may be interested in Hiram Femur's excellent treatise on this subject: "Dem Bones, Dem Bones: Shakespeare and the Minstrel Show.")

O, look! methinks I see my cousin's ghost
Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body
Upon a rapier's point: stay, Tybalt, stay!
Then, she sees the corpse of her dead cousin, Tybalt. It seems to be looking for Romeo, to revenge his death. It growls. It paws at her. "Down boy!" she exclaims. "Stay, Tybalt, Stay."

Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee.

She falls upon her bed, within the curtains

Finally, to everyone’s relief, she drinks the stuff, and falls upon her bed.

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Shakespeare for Scholars:	Shakespeare for Everyone Else:
Juliet's chamber. Enter JULIET and Nurse JULIET Ay, those attires are best;	Upstairs, Juliet and the Nurse are picking out her bridal accessories.
But, gentle nurse, I pray thee, leave me to myself to-night,	When Lady Capulet arrives, Juliet cleverly dismisses the Nurse, so she can sleep alone.
For I have need of many orisons To move the heavens to smile upon my state, Which, well thou know'st, is cross, and full of sin. Enter LADY CAPULET	Juliet claims that she has to say some "orisons." Orisons are prayers. It is because she has been such a bad, bad girl.
LADY CAPULET What, are you busy, ho? need you my help?	"What, are you busy, ho?" asks Lady Capulet.
JULIET No, madam; we have cull'd such necessaries As are behoveful for our state to-morrow: So please you, let me now be left alone, And let the nurse this night sit up with you; For, I am sure, you have your hands full all, In this so sudden business. LADY CAPULET Good night: Get thee to bed, and rest; for thou hast need.	Juliet ignores the "Ho" part, and tells her mother that she has already "culled" the proper clothes for a wedding. She has been "culling" long enough.
Exeunt LADY CAPULET and Nurse JULIET Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again. I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins, That almost freezes up the heat of life: I'll call them back again to comfort me: Nurse! What should she do here?	Finally, Lady Capulet and the Nurse both leave, and Juliet is alone.
My dismal scene I needs must act alone.	"My dismal scene I needs must act alone," she says. The audience realizes she is correct, in her math and also in her critical appraisal.
Come, vial. What if this mixture do not work at all? Shall I be married then to-morrow morning? No, no; Picking up her dagger This shall forbid it:	Then, Juliet picks up the vial containing the potion, and wonders if it will work. She picks up a knife, and considers suicide.
Laying down her dagger Lie thou there.	Something stops her, though. Juliet lays the dagger down. Perhaps she does not have the courage for suicide. Perhaps she remembers that her religion forbids it. Perhaps she has looked at the script, and realized she has some more lines.
What if it be a poison, which the friar Subtly hath minister'd to have me dead, Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour'd, Because he married me before to Romeo? I fear it is: and yet, methinks, it should not, For he hath still been tried a holy man.	Next, she gets the sudden urge to speak in soliloquy. Juliet worries that this “potion” might be a poison. She also becomes a bit concerned about being buried alive.
How if, when I am laid into the tomb, I wake before the time that Romeo Come to redeem me? there's a fearful point! Shall I not, then, be stifled in the vault, To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in, And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?	Juliet worries about waking up tooo early, and being suffocated (or "stifled") in the tomb.
Or, if I live, is it not very like, The horrible conceit of death and night, Together with the terror of the place,-- As in a vault, an ancient receptacle, Where, for these many hundred years, the bones Of all my buried ancestors are packed: Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth, Lies festering in his shroud; where, as they say, At some hours in the night spirits resort;-- Alack, alack, is it not like that I, So early waking, what with loathsome smells, And shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth, That living mortals, hearing them, run mad:-- O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught, Environed with all these hideous fears?	The girl realizes that this tomb is going to be rather creepy. She knows that she will see the bones of former relatives. She knows that she will see the corpse of Tybalt. She imagines the flesh, the decay, and the smells. This tomb will not be among the most pleasant of places.
And madly play with my forefather's joints? And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud? And, in this rage, with some great kinsman's bone, As with a club, dash out my desperate brains?	Juliet even wonders if she might go mad in the tomb, and “play with my forefather’s joints” (line 52). Scholars may be interested in Hiram Femur's excellent treatise on this subject: "Dem Bones, Dem Bones: Shakespeare and the Minstrel Show.")
O, look! methinks I see my cousin's ghost Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body Upon a rapier's point: stay, Tybalt, stay!	Then, she sees the corpse of her dead cousin, Tybalt. It seems to be looking for Romeo, to revenge his death. It growls. It paws at her. "Down boy!" she exclaims. "Stay, Tybalt, Stay."
Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee. She falls upon her bed, within the curtains	Finally, to everyone’s relief, she drinks the stuff, and falls upon her bed.