RJ Act IV Notes

Act IV, Scene 1 (Tuesday morning, day 3, before noon) * read it
highlight each line given, unless otherwise noted and add notes (in italics) where given

2: "My father Capulet"
9-12: reveals reasoning for Capulet pushing the wedding: Juliet puts too much emphasis on her sorrow and a marriage will stop her sorrow
16: An aside is where the character speaks to himself, like thoughts said aloud: 'I wish I didn't know as much as I do / I wish I wasn't as involved as I am.'
block 18-21: interesting conversation between J and P
25 and 26: J's response is ambiguous: does she mean FL or R?
37: J's heart is not her own; it is R's
38-39
40-41
44: "keep this holy kiss"
46: "Come weep with me"
51-52: J says to FL: 'Don't talk to me about it unless you have a solution.'
55: J brought a dagger to kill herself
67-68: "I long to die / if what thou speak'st speak not of remedy." J wants to die if FL cannot help her.
72-73, 75: "A thing like death", 77: FL says to J: 'if you would kill your self, you'd likely take this risk I'm about to offer you.'
90-93: J will go home and agree to marry P and will make Capulet happy, moving the wedding to tomorrow (Wed) instead of the day after (Thurs). So, J will actually have to take the potion TONIGHT, (Tues).
block 94-106: FL's prescription directions
106: potion actually won't last 42 hours -- maybe 24 instead
114-118: FL will send R a letter so he knows the plan
120: "womanish" FL also calls R's tears womanish in 3.3.116
122: J is fearless

Act IV, Scene 2 (Tuesday afternoon, day 3) * read it

* disregard lines 1-14
16-17: C demands to know where J's been
22-23: "Pardon, I beseech you! / Henceforward I am ever rul'd by you."
25: Cap wants to move the wedding to tomorrow morning (Wed)
32-33: irony: the whole city will, actually be bound to him because he married R & J which will eventually stop the fighting in the city
38: Cap makes the decision to move the wedding
39-40: Lady Cap afraid they won't have enough time to prepare
48: Cap happy again

Act IV, Scene 3 (Tuesday evening, day 3) * read it

2: J asks N to let her sleep alone
5: J says she needs to spend time praying to repent
10-12: J tells her mom to let the nurse stay with her since she'll be so busy preparing for the wedding
15: irony: when they next meet, J's mother will think she's dead
20: J realizes she must act alone
24: J has a dagger to kill herself in case the potion doesn't work

Juliet has three fears in the following soliloquy:
FIRST FEAR:
25-26: What if FL used poison instead of a potion to kill J so he won't get in trouble for marrying R & J?
SECOND FEAR:
33, 37
block 33-37: What if J wakes before R arrives and suffocates under the dead air in the tomb?
THIRD FEAR:
51, 56
block 51-56: What if J wakes before R arrives and goes crazy and kills herself?

block 57-60: J has a vision of T killing R

Act IV, Scene 4 (Wednesday morning, around 3:00am, day 4) * read it

* In tragedies, Shakespeare added a humorous scene right after a very serious one to not let the audience get too depressed. This is one of those scenes. It really serves no other purpose.

29-31: stop @ "Make haste!" Cap tells Lady Cap and N to wake up J for the wedding.

Act IV, Scene 5 (Wednesday morning, day 4) * read it

block 1-14: N makes more obscene suggestions to J
15: N finds J dead
22-24: Lady Cap finds out next; contrary to her comments, she is one who DOES NOT die in the play
note 28: Cap doesn't believe J is dead
31-32: simile
36: FL asks a question he already knows the answer to
49-50: compare this comment with his in 3.5.169-171
68: "Peace...shame!" FL cannot relate b/c he knows J is not really dead
69-71: start @ "Heaven and yourself /" FL says that God and the Caps had J and now Heaven has all of her -- this is a good thing
80-81
82: "rosemary" N first mentioned the connection between rosemary and R in 2.5.192
87-88, 90: take all wedding preparations and turn them to funeral arrangements
block 94-98: FL says to go with J to the grave

* disregard 99-143
* This is another one of those moments following a really dramatic event (parents find out their child is dead). The musicians and Peter serve as "clowns" to cheer up the audience. It really serves no other purpose.