Scenes 2-3

English Lit: AQA GCSE Romeo & Juliet, topic 2.5.2

Summary of Act 4, Scenes 2-3

Here's a summary of what happens in Act 4, Scenes 2 and 3:

In Scene 2, Juliet returns home and agrees to marry Paris.
Lord and Lady Capulet are surprised but pleased with Juliet’s change of attitude – Lord Capulet is so happy that he decides to move the marriage to Wednesday instead.

In Scene 3, Juliet tells Lady Capulet that she wants to spend the night alone instead of having the Nurse sleep in the same room.
After Lady Capulet and the Nurse leave, Juliet holds the sleeping potion.
She worries about what will happen to her when she drinks it.
She wonders if Friar Laurence is genuinely trying to help her or if he is trying to kill her and hide the role he played in her and Romeo’s marriage.
She also worries that Romeo might be late to collect her at the tomb. She is scared of being locked inside for too long.

Juliet then speaks to Tybalt’s spirit. She asks him to stop haunting Romeo and to let them be together.
Finally, Juliet drinks the sleeping potion.

Here are key quotes from Juliet in Act 4, Scenes 2 and 3:

'I have learn’d me to repent the sin of disobedient opposition.'
When Juliet returns to her parents, she pretends that she is happy to marry Paris.
In this quote, she admits that disobeying her father was a 'sin'. She implies that she went to Friar Laurence to seek forgiveness for being 'disobedient'.

'Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again.'
After Lady Capulet and the Nurse leave Juliet’s bedchamber, she says goodbye to them both.
In this quote, she says that only 'God knows' when she will see them again – she knows that she will not see them again during her own lifetime. She knows that she will only be with them in the afterlife.

'What if it be poison, which the friar subtly hath minister’d to have me dead.'
Juliet worries about her fate. She is about to take a mysterious potion and cannot be completely certain about what will happen once she does.
She wonders if Friar Laurence has actually given her 'poison' so that she will die and he will avoid getting into trouble for marrying her and Romeo.
She is very anxious until she finally decides to trust him and take the potion.