Romeo & Juliet Study Guide
Color Theme
Easy Read
Research-backed spacing & contrast
Font Style
Sans Serif System Mono
Text Size
Act IV, Scene 4
Hall in Capulet's house

Scene Summary

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Capulet household bustles with wedding preparations. Capulet has stayed up all night directing servants, ordering food, and managing logistics. Lady Capulet and the Nurse tease him for his energy. As dawn breaks and Paris's musicians arrive, Capulet sends the Nurse to wake Juliet and get her dressed for the wedding.

Translation Style
🔒 Premium — Act I free
✨ Character Voice Translations PREMIUM
Original Text
[Enter LADY CAPULET and NURSE.] LADY CAPULET. Hold, take these keys, and fetch more spices, nurse. NURSE. They call for dates and quinces in the pastry. [Enter CAPULET.] CAPULET. Come, stir, stir, stir! the second cock hath crow'd, The curfew-bell hath rung, 'tis three o'clock: Look to the baked meats, good Angelica: Spare not for the cost. NURSE. Go, you cot-quean, go, Get you to bed; faith, you'll be sick to-morrow For this night's watching. CAPULET. No, not a whit: what! I have watch'd ere now All night for lesser cause, and ne'er been sick. LADY CAPULET. Ay, you have been a mouse-hunt in your time; But I will watch you from such watching now. [Exeunt LADY CAPULET and NURSE.] CAPULET. A jealous hood, a jealous hood! [Enter three or four Servingmen, with spits, logs, and baskets.] Now, fellow, What's there? FIRST SERVANT. Things for the cook, sir; but I know not what. CAPULET. Make haste, make haste. [Exit First Servant.] Sirrah, fetch drier logs: Call Peter, he will show thee where they are. SECOND SERVANT. I have a head, sir, that will find out logs, And never trouble Peter for the matter. [Exit.] CAPULET. Mass, and well said; a merry whoreson, ha! Thou shalt be logger-head. Good faith, 'tis day: The county will be here with music straight, For so he said he would: I hear him near. [Music within.] Nurse! Wife! What, ho! What, nurse, I say! [Re-enter NURSE.] Go waken Juliet, go and trim her up; I'll go and chat with Paris: hie, make haste, Make haste; the bridegroom he is come already: Make haste, I say. [Exeunt.]
Modern English

Translation Unlocks Here

You've seen the side-by-side translation for Act I. Unlock the full play — all 27 scenes in 7 translation styles — for just $1.99.

Unlock All Translations — $1.99

Act IV, Scene 4 is one of Shakespeare's most quietly devastating scenes — a brief slice of domestic normalcy that the audience knows is about to be obliterated. The scene's power lies entirely in dramatic irony: every cheerful line about spices, baked meats, and music is underscored by the audience's knowledge that Juliet lies upstairs in a deathlike sleep. Capulet is at his most human here — bustling, energetic, joking with servants, teasing his wife. His line "Come, stir, stir, stir!" carries an unconscious cruelty: he is stirring a household for a celebration that will become a funeral. The Nurse's affectionate scolding ("you'll be sick to-morrow / For this night's watching") and Lady Capulet's teasing hint about his youthful escapades ("a mouse-hunt in your time") create a portrait of an ordinary family at its warmest — which makes the next scene's horror all the more devastating. The theme of haste reaches its crescendo. Capulet's repeated "Make haste, make haste" echoes through the scene, and the arrival of Paris's music — "the bridegroom he is come already" — compresses time to its breaking point. Shakespeare uses the scene's brevity (barely thirty lines) to mirror this acceleration: there is literally no time for reflection,...

Full Analysis Available

Unlock the complete literary analysis for all 27 scenes — themes, devices, character arcs, and connections to the play's trajectory.

Unlock for $1.99
Already have a key?

"Come, stir, stir, stir! the second cock hath crow'd" — Capulet (his energetic dawn call, unknowingly directing preparations for a funeral)

"Make haste, make haste... Make haste, I say." — Capulet (the theme of haste compressed into a single urgent command)

"Go waken Juliet, go and trim her up" — Capulet (the line that sends the Nurse to discover what the audience already knows)

Loading tags...

Ask the Bard

Click any tag to explore where it appears across the play, then ask the Bard to explain how it works in this scene.

Exploring tag...
The Bard's Take
Ask the Bard to explain how this element appears in this scene
Click a tag to search.
Ask the Bard about this scene
Type at least 2 characters to search
Character Map
Loading characters...
Off-Screen Activities
Loading activities...
Scene Quiz
1 / 5

Loading questions...

Mr. Shifflett's Note
Mr. Shifflett
Mr. Shifflett
English Teacher · Seoul International School
Hey! I built this study guide and sprinkled my own teaching notes throughout — look for the gold highlights ✎ as you read.

These are the same insights I share with my students in class. I hope they help you see what makes Shakespeare's writing so brilliant. Enjoy!
SIS Teachers
Sign in with your @siskorea.org email for free full access to this guide and all GradeWise study guides — every scene, translation, and premium feature.
Sign In with SIS Email
How Easy Read Helps

These settings are based on peer-reviewed research on reading and dyslexia. They improve readability for everyone, not just students with dyslexia.

Extra letter & word spacing The single biggest research-backed improvement. Reduces "crowding" — where nearby letters interfere with recognition. Improves speed and accuracy.
Taller line height 1.5× or greater line spacing helps the eye track from line to line without losing place.
Sans-serif font Eye-tracking research shows sans-serif fonts improve reading performance over serif fonts. Letters appear less crowded.
Off-white backgrounds Pure white can appear too dazzling. Cream backgrounds produced the fastest reading times in research with dyslexic readers. Individual preference varies, so we offer choices.
Bold instead of italic Italic text makes letters run together, worsening crowding. Bold provides emphasis without reducing readability.
Shorter line length Lines of 60–70 characters are recommended. Longer lines make it harder to find the start of the next line.

Sources: British Dyslexia Association Style Guide (2023), Zorzi et al. (PNAS, 2012), Rello & Baeza-Yates (W3C, 2012), Sjoblom et al. (Annals of Dyslexia, 2016). Full research summary available on request.