Romeo and Juliet: Plot Summary, Act 4
Act 4, Scene 1 Act 4 opens with Friar Laurence and Paris discussing his upcoming marriage to Juliet. The Friar expresses his disapproval of the wedding plans, telling Paris that he does not know Juliet well enough to marry her. He is careful not to be any more specific in his criticism. Juliet arrives and is friendly but cool to her would-be husband. Paris leaves, assuming that Juliet is about to confess her sins to the Friar. Once alone, Juliet and the Friar discuss what can be done to save Juliet from the fate of becoming the wife of two men. Friar Laurence, a man skilled in the art of herb preparation, proposes a dangerous plan to Juliet. He has a potion that will make her appear dead when she drinks it, and it will keep her the lifeless state for forty-two hours. She will be interred in the Capulet family crypt, as custom dictates, and Friar Laurence will send word to Romeo. Romeo will then return to Verona and collect Juliet and they will live together in Mantua, free from Prince Escalus and their feuding families. Juliet excitedly approves of the plan and goes home to drink the potion.
Act 4, Scene 2 Capulet and his Lady are busy making wedding arrangements. They are indeed planning a huge event -- Capulet orders 'twenty cunning cooks'. Juliet comes into the main hall to speak with her father. He is cheerful and his spirits are further uplifted when Juliet apologizes and assures him that henceforward, until Paris becomes her master, she will be ruled only by her father. Capulet moves the wedding up a day to the next morning, and tells his wife "My heart is wonderous light/Since this same wayward girl is so reclaim'd" (4.2.45-7).
Act 4, Scene 3 Juliet, alone in her chamber, holds her vial of poison. The full gravity of the situation weighs heavy on her mind, and she expresses her fears in a moving soliloquy. What if the potion fails to work? What if the Friar has betrayed her and has given her real poison, so that no one finds out he disgracefully married her to Romeo in secret? Juliet quickly rules out these scenarios as impossible , but she still fears awaking in the stifling and gruesome vault next to the corpse of Tybalt, bloody and festering in his shroud. The horrors of her imagination overtake Juliet and she sees the ghost of Tybalt ready to seek out and kill Romeo. With a final cry to Romeo, Juliet drinks the potion and falls lifeless upon her bed.
Act 4, Scene 4 Downstairs the next morning, the wedding plans are moving ahead as scheduled. Capulet sends the Nurse to fetch Juliet while he visits with his future son-in-law.
Act 4, Scene 5 The Nurse rushes to Juliet's chamber and finds her dead. Her screams attract Lady Capulet, who, upon seeing her dead daughter, cries "O me, O me! My child, my only life/Revive, look up, or I will die with thee!" (4.5.14-5). Capulet comes in to find out what delays Juliet and he laments "Death, that hath ta'en her hence to make me wail/Ties up my tongue, and will not let me speak" (4.5.29-30). Paris and Friar Laurence enter and Paris grieves for the love he will never know. The musicians, gathered for the wedding festivities, now play a song in memory of Juliet for her sorrowful Nurse.
Mabillard, Amanda. Romeo and Juliet Plot Summary. Shakespeare Online. 18 Sept. 2008. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/romeoandjuliet/romeops2.html >.