Romeo and Juliet: Act 4, Scene 4 Summary & Analysis

Love and Violence Theme Icon

LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Romeo and Juliet, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.

Love and Violence Theme Icon

Love and Violence

Fate Theme Icon

Individuals vs. Society Theme Icon

Individuals vs. Society

Language and Wordplay Theme Icon

Language and Wordplay

<a href=Family and Duty Theme Icon" />

Family and Duty

Very early the next morning, the Capulet manor is bustling as Capulet , Lady Capulet , Juliet ’s nurse , and several servingmen rush about the house preparing food, lighting fires, and getting ready for the party. Capulet hasn’t slept all night, and the nurse warns him he’ll be sick on the day of his daughter’s wedding. He assures the nurse he’s spent nights awake for much less worthy reasons. As some music plays outside, Capulet realizes that Paris is approaching with his coterie. He urges the nurse to go wake Juliet up and get her ready for church—her groom has arrived.

Now that he believes Juliet has returned to being obedient to him, Capulet himself returns to putting on a more generous and kindly demeanor. But his generosity now is always tinged with the understanding that it is founded on his expectation of complete obedience from those beneath him in his family. Meanwhile, the entire scene drips with dramatic irony, as the audience knows that Capulet's excited preparations are not going to turn out the way he expects.

Active Themes

Fate Theme Icon

<a href=Family and Duty Theme Icon" />

Act 4, Scene 3 Act 4, Scene 3 Act 4, Scene 5 Act 4, Scene 5 Cite This Page Download this Chart (PDF)

The printed PDF version of the LitChart on Romeo and Juliet

“Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”

Get the Teacher Edition

The Teacher Edition of the LitChart on Romeo and Juliet

“This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”

Romeo and Juliet in Plain English

The LitCharts Shakespeare translation of Romeo and Juliet

“Every teacher of literature should use these translations. They completely demystify Shakespeare. Students love them!”

Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved Save time. Stress less.

AI Tools for on-demand study help and teaching prep.

  • Quote explanations, with page numbers, for over 44,324 quotes.
  • PDF downloads of all 2,003 LitCharts guides.
  • Expert analysis to take your reading to the next level.
  • Advanced search to help you find exactly what you're looking for.