Romeo and Juliet Act 4 3/1

Today’s Goals Review Previous act Go through the Day by Day Act 4 scenes 1-5 1968 Act 4 Scenes 1-5 1996 Comparing text and video worksheet Close reading of Juliet’s Fears

Act 4 Scene 1 (slide 1 of 3) Paris has stopped by Friar Laurence's church to make plans for his upcoming marriage to Juliet. The Friar is quietly freaking out, since he's not a big fan of enabling bigamy (double marriage). But only the audience, Juliet, Nurse, Romeo, and Friar know. Juliet rushes in to see the friar talking with the last person on earth she wants to see: Paris. "Happily met, my lady and my wife," Paris says to Juliet as she enters. It's pretty much downhill from there. I mean, talk about bad timing. #notevenifyouwerethelastpersononearth Eventually, Paris takes the hint that Juliet needs to make confession to the Friar, and he leaves—but not before giving Juliet an unwanted and uninspiring kiss.

Act 4 Scene 1 (slide 2 of 3) Left alone, Juliet … whips out a dagger and tells the Friar she will kill herself if he can't think of a way for her to avoid marrying Paris. Confronted with his second suicidal teen in under 24 hours, Friar Laurence remains calm. Once again, he has a better plan that doesn't involve suicide. Good idea: Staying calm when bad news arrive. Bad idea: immediately considering suicide as a possible alternative to solving your problems. FL tells Juliet his idea. He knows of a weird potion that will make Juliet appear as if she is dead for "two and forty hours." That's Shakespeare for 42 hours. Again, pay attention to dates and times here….

Act 4 Scene 1 (slide 3 of 3) Conveniently, the Capulets don't actually bury their dead in the ground, which otherwise would kind of screw up the plan. Instead, they stick them in a big tomb. Basically like a museum for dead people. It’s underground, so free AC, keeps bodies from smelling too badly, but basically they just rot on pedestals. If everyone thinks Juliet is dead, the Friar explains, she won't have to marry Paris. Then he and Romeo can come to the tomb and wait for her to wake up, and then she and Romeo can go to Mantua together. The Friar promises to send a letter to Romeo so he knows what's going on. He gives it to another Friar (Friar John) Runaway! Wait… why didn’t they just do this earlier? Oh that’s right, Friar was going to fix everything so Romeo could come back and Friar could be the hero for helping the two families get along again. Guess that plan failed. Juliet thinks this is a great idea. She takes the potion, thanks the Friar, and heads home. Good idea: Following logic in serious situation. Bad idea: listening to the advice of friend who has already caused a good deal of damage in your life, continue to follow their advice which includes faking your death and running away.

Act 4 Scene 2 Juliet comes home, all fake-humble and repentant. She apologizes for being a bratty teenager and says she'll marry Paris. #sorrynotsorry Lord Capulet is overjoyed and decides the marriage will take place the next day, Wednesday even if he has to stay up all night making preparations. You see why timing and dates are everything?!? The original date was Thursday for the wedding, today is Tuesday Now the wedding is Wednesday… but the potion is for 42 hours… There are 24 hours in a day. So if Juliet takes the potion tonight, Tuesday, let’s say 6:00pm, in 24 hours it will 6:00 pm wed, and in 18 more hours, she’ll wake up Thursday at 12:00 noon. So that means the Friar carrying the letter has 42 hours to ride a horse to Mantua and get back with Romeo in time to see Juliet wake up.

Act 4 Scene 3 Juliet convinces the Nurse and Lady Capulet to leave her alone, then takes out the potion the Friar gave her. She worries for a brief moment that it might be real poison Then freaks herself out by imagining what it'll be like to awake surrounded by a bunch of dead bodies, including the fresh corpse of her cousin Tybalt. She drinks the potion, not caring if she lives or dies, making sure to fall on to the bed instead of dropping awkwardly onto the floor. #Ifellasleeplikethis

Act 4 Scene 4 It’s the next morning. Most of the servants and the Capulets have stayed up all night preparing the wedding #putaringonit Everyone is bustling around cheerfully. No one has realized yet that the bride has a serious case of cold feet. No, like literary. The drug has made her body cold like death. There is lots of joking going on by the staff This is Shakespeare giving the audience some comic relief. Some really sad stuff is going to happen, so he tries to provide a moment of calm before the storm. #weddingday#doomsday

Act 4 Scene 5 When the Nurse comes to wake Juliet up in the morning, she discovers the girl dead. Oh, bummer. Wonder if they'll can use some of this wedding decorations for the funeral? Then the Friar shows up and has to calm everyone down. He starts to feel really guilty for making so many people sad, but still believes he’s doing the right thing. He tells the family to begin the funeral, and bring Juliet to her grave quickly. Oh no, nothing could possible go wrong here. Nope. There’s no way. Everything is going to nice and smooth. Juliet’s fake death to get out of a marriage, Romeo in another town to prevent the prince from killing him, a letter being sent with vital information across towns on horseback, meeting in a place where they keep dead bodies to save the living ones? Yeah, sounds stellar.

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