ACT 3, SCENE 1

Benvolio urges Mercutio to come away with him and avoid the Capulets in the streets. Mercutio brushes him off. Tybalt and other Capulets arrive, whom Mercutio taunts. Benvolio tries to move the conflict somewhere private, but Romeo interrupts with his arrival. Tybalt challenges him to fight, citing prior grievances; Romeo refuses and attempts to de-escalate the situation. Mercutio goads Tybalt into a duel, which Romeo tries and fails to stop. Tybalt stabs Mercutio, who in his dying moments curses both the Montague and Capulet houses. Benvolio informs Romeo that Mercutio is dead; upon re-encountering Tybalt, Romeo fights and kills him. Benvolio convinces Romeo to flee before passersby arrive. The Prince and both families then arrive to the scene. Benvolio explains what happened, but Lady Capulet, observing Benvolio to be biased, urges the Prince to punish the Montague family by executing Romeo. The Prince chooses instead to banish Romeo from the city.

On a street somewhere in Verona:

Enter MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO

BENVOLIO

I pray thee, good Mercutio, let’s retire,

The day is hot, the Capulets are abroad,

And if we meet we shall not ‘scape a brawl,

For these hot days is the mad blood stirring.

MERCUTIO

5Thou art like one of these fellows who, when he enters the

confines of a tavern, claps down his sword upon the table and

says “God send me no need of thee,” but under the influence

of the second cup, draws it on the drawer°, when indeed there is no

need.

BENVOLIO

10Am I like such a fellow?

MERCUTIO

Come, come, thou art such a Jack in thy moods as any in Italy,

and as soon moved to be moody, and as soon moody to be

moved.

BENVOLIO

And what to?^[1]

MERCUTIO

15Nay, an there were two such, we should have none shortly, for

one would kill the other. Thou—why, thou wilt quarrel with a

man who hath a hair more or a hair less in his beard than thou

hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking nuts°, having no

other reason than that thou hast hazel eyes. What eye but such

20an eye would spy out such a quarrel? Thy head is as full of

quarrels as an egg is full of meat, and yet thy head has been

beaten as addled° as an egg from quarrelling. Thou once

quarreled with a man for coughing in the street because he hath

wakened thy dog that had lain asleep in the sun. Didst thou not

25fall out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet° before Easter?

With another for tying his new shoes with old ribbons? And

thou wilt tutor^[2] me from quarrelling?

BENVOLIO

An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any man should buy the

fee-simple° of my life for an hour and a quarter.

MERCUTIO

30The fee-simple? O, simple!

Enter TYBALT and his company

BENVOLIO

By my head, here come the Capulets.

MERCUTIO

By my heel, I care not.

TYBALT

[To his company] Follow me close, for I will speak to them.

Gentlemen, good den°. A word with one of you.

MERCUTIO

35Only one word with one of us? Couple it with something. Make it

a word and a blow.

TYBALT

You shall find me apt enough to that sir, if you will give me

occasion.

MERCUTIO

Could you not take some occasion if not given?

TYBALT

40Mercutio, thou consortest with Romeo.

MERCUTIO

Consort! What, dost thou make us minstrels?^[3] An thou make

minstrels of us, you will hear nothing but discords°. Here’s my

fiddlestick°; here’s that shall make you dance—zounds,^[4]

“Consort!”

BENVOLIO

45We talk here in the public haunt^[5] of men.

Either withdraw unto some private place,

Or reason coldly^[6] of your grievances,

Or else depart. Here all eyes gaze on us.

MERCUTIO

Men’s eyes were made to look, and let them gaze.

50I will not budge for no man’s pleasure, I.

Enter ROMEO

TYBALT

Well, peace be with you, sir. Here comes my man.^[7]

MERCUTIO

But I’ll be hanged, sir, if he wear your livery°. Marry, go before

into the field°, and he may be your follower; Your Worship in

that sense may call him “man.”

TYBALT

55Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford

No better term than this: thou art a villain.

ROMEO

Tybalt, a reason which I have to love thee

Doth much excuse the appertaining rage^[8]

To such a greeting. Villain am I none—

60Therefore farewell. I see thou knowest me not.

TYBALT

Boy, that shall not excuse the injuries

That thou hast done me—therefore, turn and draw.

ROMEO

I do protest I never injured thee,

But love thee better than thou canst devise

65Til thou shalt know the reason of my love.

And so, good Capulet—whose name I value

As dearly as mine own—be satisfied.

MERCUTIO

O, calm, dishonorable, vile submission!

Alla stoccatta carries it away.^[9]

He draws.

70Tybalt, you Ratcatcher, will you walk?^[10]

TYBALT

What wouldst thou have with me?

MERCUTIO

Good King of Cats, nothing but one of your nine lives that I

mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me hereafter,

dry-beat^[11] the rest of the eight. Therefore, come, draw your rapier

75out of your scabbard, lest mine be about your ears ere you be

aware.

TYBALT

I am for you.

ROMEO

Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up—

MERCUTIO

Come, sir, your passado!

TYBALT and MERCUTIO fight

ROMEO

80Draw, Benvolio! Beat down their weapons!

Gentlemen, for shame! Forbear this outrage.

Tybalt, Mercutio, the Prince expressly hath

Forbid this bandying in Verona streets.

ROMEO steps in between them

Hold, Tybalt! Good Mercutio!

TYLBALT under ROMEO’s arm stabs MERCUTIO, and leaves with his company

MERCUTIO

85I am hurt.

A plague o’ both houses! I am sped°.

Is he gone and hath nothing°?

BENVOLIO

What, art thou hurt?

MERCUTIO

Aye, aye, a scratch. Marry, ‘tis enough.

90Where is my page?—

Go, villain, fetch a surgeon.

Exit PAGE

ROMEO

Courage, man; the hurt cannot be much.

MERCUTIO

No—’tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door, but

‘tis enough, ‘twill serve. Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find

95me a grave man.^[12] I am peppered°, I warrant, for this world. A

plague o’ both your houses! Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat to

scratch a man to death! A braggart, a rogue, a villain that fights by

the book of arithmetic!^[13] Why the devil came you between us? I

was hurt under your arm.

ROMEO

100I thought all for the best.

MERCUTIO

Help me into some house, Benvolio,

Or I shall faint. A plague o’ both your houses!

They have made worm’s meat of me.

I have it, and soundly too. Your houses!

Exit MERCUTIO and BENVOLIO

ROMEO

105This gentleman, the Prince’s near ally°,

My very friend, hath got this mortal hurt

In my behalf. My reputation stained

With Tybalt’s slander; Tybalt, that an hour

Hath been my cousin! O sweet Juliet,

110Thy beauty hath made me effeminate°,

And in my temper softened valor’s steel.

Enter BENVOLIO

BENVOLIO

O Romeo, Romeo! Brave Mercutio is dead!

That gallant spirit hath aspired° the clouds,

Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.

ROMEO

115This day’s black fate on more days doth depend.^[14]

This but begins the woe others must end.

Enter TYBALT

BENVOLIO

Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.

ROMEO

Alive in triumph, and Mercutio slain!

Away to Heaven, respective leniency,

120And fire and fury be my conduct now.

Now, Tybalt, take the “villain” back again

That late thou gavest me, for Mercutio’s soul

Is but a little way above our heads,

Staying for thine to keep him company.

125Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.

TYBALT

Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here

Shalt with him hence.

ROMEO

This shall determine that.

They fight; TYBALT falls and dies

BENVOLIO

Romeo, away, begone!

130The Citizens are up,^[15] and Tybalt slain.

Stand not amazed. The Prince will doom thee dead

If thou art taken. Hence, begone! Away!

ROMEO

O, I am fortune’s fool!

BENVOLIO

Why dost thou stay?

Exit ROMEO

Enter CITIZENS

CITIZEN

135Which way ran he that killed Mercutio?

Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he?

BENVOLIO

There lies that Tybalt.

CITIZEN

[To TYBALT] Up, sir, go with me.

I charge thee, in the Prince’s name, obey.

Enter PRINCE ESKALES, MONTAGUE, LADY MONTAGUE, CAPULET, and LADY CAPULET

PRINCE

140Where are the vile beginners of this fray?

BENVOLIO

O noble Prince, I can reveal all

The unlucky manage of this fateful brawl.

There lies the man, slain by young Romeo,

That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.

LADY CAPULET

145Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother’s child!

O Prince! O cousin! Husband! O, the blood is spilled

Of my dear kinsman! Prince, as thou art true,

For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague.

O cousin, cousin –

PRINCE

150Benvolio, who began this bloody fray?

BENVOLIO

Tybalt here slain, whom Romeo’s hand did slay.

Romeo that spoke him fair°, bade him bethink

How nice° the quarrel was, and urged withal

Your high displeasure. All this—uttered

155With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bowed—

Could not make truce with the unruly spleen°

Of Tybalt, deaf to peace, who straightway tilts

With piercing steel at bold Mercutio’s breast,

Who, just as hot, turned deadly point to point,

160And, with a martial° scorn, with one hand beat

Cold death aside, and with the other sends

It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity

Retorts it. Romeo, he cried aloud:

“Hold friends! Friends, part!” and, swifter than his tongue,

165His agile arm beats down their fatal points,

And ‘twixt them rushes; underneath whose arm

An envious° thrust from Tybalt hit the life

Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled.

But, by and by, came back to Romeo,

170Who had but newly entertained revenge,

And to’t they went like lightning, for ere I

Could draw to part them was stout Tybalt slain.

And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and flee.

This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.

LADY CAPULET

175He is a kinsman of the Montagues.

Affection makes him false; he speaks not true—

Some twenty of them fought in this black strife,

And all those twenty could but kill one life.

I beg for justice which thou, Prince, must give:

180Romeo slew Tybalt; Romeo must not live.

PRINCE

Romeo slew him; he slew Mercutio.

Who now the price of his dear blood^[16] doth owe?

MONTAGUE

Not Romeo, Prince. He was Mercutio’s friend.

His fault concludes that which the law should end:

185The life of Tybalt.

PRINCE

And for that offense

Immediately we do exile him hence.

I have an interest in your hearts’ proceeding—-

My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding.

190But I’ll amerce° you with so strong a fine

That you shall all repent the loss of mine.

I will be deaf to pleading and excuses.

No tears, no prayers, shall bribe away abuses.

Therefore use none. Let Romeo hence in haste;

195Else, when he is found, that hour is his last.

Bear hence this body and obey our will.

Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.

Exit all

ACT 3, SCENE 2

Juliet impatiently waits to be with Romeo again. The Nurse returns and is evasive about what happened before finally explaining that Romeo killed Tybalt and was subsequently banished. In shock, Juliet defends Romeo to the nurse and tries to feel relief that her husband survived rather than the other way around. She despairs at Romeo’s banishment. The Nurse offers to bring Romeo to her for one final night before he leaves; Juliet agrees and sends the Nurse with the token of a ring.

Somewhere within the Capulet estate:

Enter JULIET alone

JULIET

Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,

Towards Phoebus’ lodging.^[17] Such a wagoner

As Phaeton^[18] would whip you to the west

And bring in cloudy night immediately.

5Spread thy close° curtain, love-performing night,

That runaway’s eyes may wink°, and Romeo

Leap to these arms, untalked of and unseen.

Lovers can see to do their amorous rights

By their own beauties, or, if love be blind,

10It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,

Thou sober-footed matron all in black,^[19]

And learn me how to lose a winning match

Played for a pair of stainless maidenhoods°.

Hood my unmanned blood bating in my cheeks^[20]

15With thy black mantle°, till strange° love grow bold,

Think true love acted simple modesty—^[21]

Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night,

For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night

Whiter than new snow upon a raven’s back.

20Come, gentle night; come, loving black-browed night,

Give me my Romeo. And when I shall die,

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night

25And pay no worship to the garish sun.

O, I have bought the mansion of a love

But not possessed it; and though I am sold,

Not yet enjoyed. So tedious is this day,

As is the night before some festival

30To an impatient child that hath new robes

And may not wear them. O, here comes my Nurse.

Enter NURSE with cords of rope

And she brings news, and every tongue that speaks

But Romeo’s name speaks heavenly eloquence—

Now, Nurse, what news? What hast thou there,

35The cords that Romeo bid thee fetch?

NURSE

Aye, aye. The cords.

Throws down the rope ladder

JULIET

Aye me, what news?

Why dost thou wring thy hands?

NURSE

Ah, welladay°! He’s dead, he’s dead, he’s dead!

40We are undone, lady, we are undone.

Alack° the day—he’s gone, he’s killed, he’s dead.

JULIET

Can heaven be so envious?

NURSE

Romeo can,

Though heaven cannot. O Romeo, Romeo!

45Whoever would have thought it? Romeo!

JULIET

What devil art thou that dost torment me thus?

This torture should be roared° in dismal hell.

Hath Romeo slain himself? Say thou but “Aye,”

And that bare vowel “I” shall poison more

50than the death-darting eye of cockatrice.^[22]

I am not I, if there be such an “I,”

Or those eyes^[23] shut that makes thee answer “Aye.”

If he be slain, say “Aye,” or if not, “No.”

Brief sounds determine of my weal° and woe.

NURSE

55I saw the wound; I saw it with mine eyes—

God save the mark!^[24]—here on his manly breast.

A piteous corpse, a bloodied piteous corpse,

Pale, pale as ashes, all bedaubed° in blood,

All in gore° blood. I swooned at the sight.

JULIET

60O, break my heart! Poor bankrupt, break at once!

To prison, eyes; ne’er look at liberty.

Vile earth,^[25] to earth resign°, end motion here:

And thou and Romeo press one heavy bier.^[26]

NURSE

O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had!

65O courteous Tybalt, honest gentleman,

That ever I should live to see thee dead!

JULIET

What storm is this that blows so contrary?

Is Romeo slaughtered? And is Tybalt dead?

My dearest cousin and my dearer lord?

70Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom,^[27]

For who is living if those two are gone?

NURSE

Tybalt is gone and Romeo banished.

Romeo that killed him: he is banished.

JULIET

O God, did Romeo’s hand shed Tybalt’s blood?

NURSE

75It did, it did. Alas the day, it did.

JULIET

O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face.

Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave?

Beautiful tyrant, fiend angelical!

Ravenous dove-feathered raven,

80Wolfish-ravening lamb!

Despisèd substance of divinest show°!

Just opposite to what thou justly seem’st,

A damned Saint, an honorable villain.

O Nature! What had’st thou to do in hell

85When thou didst bower° the spirit of a fiend

In mortal paradise of such sweet flesh?

Was ever book containing such vile matter

So fairly bound? O, that deceit should dwell

In such a gorgeous palace!

NURSE

90There’s no trust, no faith, no honesty in men.

All perjured, all forsworne, all naught°, all dissemblers°.

Ah, where’s my man?—Give me some aqua-vitae°.—

These griefs, these woes, these sorrows make me old.

Shame come to Romeo!

JULIET

95Blistered be thy tongue

for such a wish! He was not born to shame.

Upon his brow shame is ashamed to sit

For ‘tis a throne where honor may be crowned

Sole monarch of the universal earth.

100O, what a beast was I to chide him!

NURSE

Will you speak well of him that killed your cousin?

JULIET

Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?

Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name,

When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?

105But wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin?

That villain cousin would have killed my husband—

Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring;

Your tributary drops belong to woe,

Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy—

110My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain,

And Tybalt’s dead, that would have slain my husband.

All this comfort, wherefore weep I then?

Some word there was, worser than Tybalt’s death,

That murdered me. I would forget it fain°,

115But, O, it presses to my memory

Like damned guilty deeds to sinners’ minds:

“Tybalt is dead and Romeo—banished.”

That “banished,” that one word “banished”

Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalt’s death

120Was woe enough if it had ended there;

Or, if sour woe delights in fellowship

And needly° will be ranked with other griefs,

Why followed not when she said, ‘Tybalt’s dead,”

“Thy father” or “thy mother,” nay, or both

125Which modern° lamentation might have moved°.

But with a rearward following Tybalt’s death,

“Romeo is banished.” To speak that word

Is father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet,

All slain, all dead. “Romeo is banished.”

130There is no end, no limit, measure, bound,

In that word’s death. No words can that woe sound.^[28]

Where is my father and my mother, Nurse?

NURSE

Weeping and wailing over Tybalt’s corpse.

Will you go to them? I will bring you thither.

JULIET

135Wash they his wounds with tears? Mine shall go on

When theirs are dry, for Romeo is banished.

Take up those cords. Poor ropes, you are beguiled°,

Both you and I, for Romeo is exiled.

He made you for a highway to my bed,

140But I, a maid, die maiden-widowèd.

Come, cords; come, Nurse; I’ll to my wedding bed;

And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!

NURSE

Hie to your chamber. I’ll find Romeo

To comfort you. I wot° well where he is.

145Hark° you, your Romeo will be here at night.

I’ll to him—he is hid at Lawrence’s cell.

JULIET hands NURSE a ring

JULIET

O, find him! Give this ring to my true knight

And bid him come, to take his last farewell.

Exit all

ACT 3, SCENE 3

Friar Lawrence returns to Romeo, who was hiding in his quarters. He tells Romeo he has been banished. Romeo says he’d prefer execution to exile. Lawrence tries to make Romeo understand the Prince’s mercy, but he refuses to be consoled. The Nurse arrives and tells Romeo of Juliet’s grief. In despair, Romeo draws his dagger to kill himself, but the Friar stops him and chastises him for being willing to abandon his wife in death. He urges Romeo to flee to Mantua until the issue can be settled, and he and Juliet can be reunited. The Nurse leaves to prepare for Romeo’s arrival that evening, leaving Juliet’s ring with him. The Friar warns Romeo to leave for Mantua by dawn to escape capture.

Friar Lawrence’s cell in Verona:

Enter FRIAR LAWRENCE

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Romeo, come forth; come forth, thou fearful man.

Affliction° is enamored of thy parts°;

And thou art wedded to calamity.

Enter ROMEO

ROMEO

Father, what news? What is the Prince’s doom?

5What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand

That I yet know not?

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Too familiar

Is my dear son with such sorry company.

I bring thee tidings of the Prince’s doom.

ROMEO

10What less than Doomsday is the Prince’s doom?

FRIAR LAWRENCE

A gentler judgment vanished from his lips.

Not body’s death, but body’s banishment.

ROMEO

Ha! Banishment? Be merciful, say “death,”

For exile hath more terror in his look,

15Much more than death. Do not say “banishment.”

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Here from Verona are thou banished;

Be patient, for the world is broad and wide.

ROMEO

There is no world without Verona walls,

But purgatory, torture, hell itself.

20Hence banishèd, is banished from the world.

And world’s exile is death. Then banishèd,

Is death, mistermed. Calling death “banished,”

Thou cut’st my head off with a golden axe,

And smiles upon the stroke that murders me.

FRIAR LAWRENCE

25O deadly sin! O rude unthankfulness!

Thy fault our law calls death,^[29] but the kind Prince,

Taking thy part, hath rushed aside the law,

And turned that black word “death” to “banishment.”

This is dear mercy, and thou seeth it not.

ROMEO

30Tis torture and not mercy. Heaven is here

Where Juliet lives, and every cat and dog,

And little mouse, every unworthy thing,

Live here in heaven and may look on her.

But Romeo may not. More validity°,

35More honorable state, more courtship lives

In carrion° flies than Romeo. They may seize

On the white wonder of dear Juliet’s hand,

And steal immortal blessing from her lips,

Who even in pure and vestal° modesty

40Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin.

This may flies do, when I from this must fly,

And says thou yet, that exile is not death?

But Romeo may not, he is banished.

Flies may do this, but I from this must fly;

45They are free men, but I am banished.

Hadst thou no poison mixed, no sharp-ground knife,

No sudden means of death—though ne’er so mean—

But “banishèd,” to kill me? “Banishèd?”

O Friar, the damned use that word in hell:

50Howling attends it. How hast thou the heart,

Being a divine, a ghostly confessor,

A sin absolver, and my friend professed,

To mangle me with that word “banishèd?”

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Then, fond° mad man, hear me a little speak—

ROMEO

55O, thou wilt speak again of banishment!

FRIAR LAWRENCE

I’ll give thee armor to keep off that word.

Adversity’s sweet milk, philosophy,

To comfort thee though thou art banishèd.

ROMEO

Still “banishèd?” Hang up philosophy,

60Unless philosophy can make a Juliet,

Displant° a town, reverse a Prince’s doom,

It helps not, it prevails not.^[30] Talk no more.

FRIAR LAWRENCE

O, then I see that mad men have no ears.

ROMEO

How should they, when that wise men have no eyes?

FRIAR LAWRENCE

65Let me dispute with thee of thy estate.^[31]

ROMEO

Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel.

Were thou as young as I, Juliet they love,

An hour but married, Tybalt murderèd,

Doting° like me, and like me banishèd,

70Then mightest thou speak,

Then mightest thou tear thy hair

And fall upon the ground, as I do now,

Taking the measure of an unmade grave.^[32]

There is a knock from within

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Arise; one knocks. Good Romeo, hide thyself.

ROMEO

75Not I, unless the breath of heartsick groans,

Mist-like, conceal me from the search of eyes.

Continuous knocking

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Hark! How they knock.—Who’s there?—Romeo, arise!

Thou wilt be taken.—Stay awhile!—Stand up.

Knock

Run to my study.—By and by!^[33]—God’s will,

80What simpleness° is this?—I come, I come.

Knock

Who knocks so hard? Whence come you? What’s your will?

NURSE

[From within] Let me come in, and you shall know my errand: I come from Lady Juliet.

Enter NURSE

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Welcome then.

NURSE

85O holy Friar! O tell me, holy Friar, where’s my lady’s lord?

Where’s Romeo?

FRIAR LAWRENCE

There on the ground,

With his own tears made drunk.

NURSE

O, he is even in my mistress’ case,^[34]

90Just in her case. O woeful sympathy!

Piteous predicament! Even so lies she,

Blubbering and weeping, weeping and blubbering.—

Stand up, stand up. Stand and you be a man!

For Juliet’s sake, for her sake, rise and stand.

95Why should you fall into so deep an O?^[35]

ROMEO

Nurse.

NURSE

Ah sir, ah sir, death’s the end of all.

ROMEO

Spaketh thou of Juliet? How is it with her?

Doth not she think of me an old murderer,

100Now I have stained the childhood of our joy

With blood removed but little from her own?

Where is she? and how doth she? and what says

My concealed Lady to our canceled love?

NURSE

Oh she says nothing, sir, but weeps and weeps,

105And now falls on her bed, and then starts up,

And “Tybalt” calls, and then on “Romeo” cries,

And then down falls again.

ROMEO

As if that name, shot from the deadly level of a gun,

Did murder her; as that name’s cursed hand

110Murdered her kinsman.—O, tell me Friar, tell me,

In what vile part of this anatomy

Doth my name lodge? Tell me that I may sack°

The hateful mansion.

FRIAR

Hold thy desperate hand!

115Art though a man? Thy form cries out thou art.

Thy tears are womanly, thy wild acts denote

The unreasonable fury of a beast.

Unseemly woman in a seeming man,

And ill-beseeming° beast in seeming both!

120Thou hast amazed me. By my holy order,

I thought thy disposition better tempered.

Hast thou slain Tybalt? Wilt thou slay thy self?

And slay thy Lady, that in thy life lives,

By doing damned hate upon thyself?

125Why rails° thou on thy birth, the heaven, and earth?

Since birth and heaven and earth, all three do meet

In thee at once, which thou at once wouldst lose?

Fie, fie°, thou shames thy shape, thy love, thy wit,

Which, like a usurer^[36] abound’st in all

130And uses none in that true use indeed

Which should bedeck° thy shape, thy love, thy wit.

Thy noble shape is but a form of wax

Digressing from^[37] the valor of a man.

Thy dear love sworn but hollow perjury,

135Killing that love which thou hast vowed to cherish.

Thy wit, that ornament to shape° and love,

Misshapen in the conduct of them both,

Like powder in a skill-less soldier’s flask,

Is set afire by thine own ignorance,

140And thou dismembered with thine own defense.^[38]

What, rouse thee, man! Thy Juliet is alive,

For whose dear sake thou was but lately dead.

There art thou happy°. Tybalt would kill thee,

But thou slewest Tybalt; there art thou happy.

145The law that threatened death becomes thy friend

And turns it to exile; there art thou happy.

A pack of blessings lights upon thy back;

Happiness courts thee in her best array;

But like a missbehaved and sullen wench,

150Thou pouts upon thy fortune and thy love.

Take heed, take heed; such men die miserable.

Go, get thee to thy love as was decreed,

Ascend her chamber, hence, and comfort her.

But look° thou stay not till the watch be set,^[39]

155For then thou canst not pass to Mantua,

Where thou shalt live till we can find a time

To blaze° your marriage, reconcile your friends,

Beg pardon of the Prince, and call thee back

With twenty hundred thousand times more joy

160Then when thou went forth in lamentation.—

Go before, Nurse; commend me to thy Lady,

And bid her hasten all the house to bed,

Which heavy sorry makes them apt to do.

Romeo is coming.

NURSE

165O Lord, I could have stayed here all the night,

To hear such good council. O, what learning is!—

My lord, I’ll tell my lady you will come.

ROMEO

Do so, and bid my sweet prepare to chide°.

NURSE

Here, sir, a ring she bid me give you, sir.

She hands ROMEO a ring

170Hie you! Make haste, for it grows very late.

Exit NURSE

ROMEO

How well my comfort is revived by this.

FRIAR LAWRENCE

Go hence, goodnight; and here stands all your state:^[40]

Either be gone before the watch be set,

Or at the break of day, disguised, go hence.

175Sojourn° in Mantua. I’ll seek out your man,

And he shall let you know from time to time

Every good hap° to you that happens here.

Give me thy hand. ‘Tis late; farewell, goodnight.

ROMEO

But that a joy past joy calls out to me,

180It were a grief so brief to part with thee.

Farewell.

Exit all

ACT 3, SCENE 4

Lord and Lady Capulet explain to Paris that Juliet will not see him tonight due to her grieving for Tybalt. They agree to marry Juliet to Paris in a respectfully humble ceremony on Thursday. Lord Capulet commands Lady Capulet to break the news to their daughter.

Somewhere within the Capulet estate:

Enter CAPULET, LADY CAPULET and PARIS

CAPULET

Things have fallen out, sir, so unluckily,

That we have had no time to move our daughter.^[41]

Look you, she loved her kinsman Tybalt dearly,

And so did I. Well, we were born to die.

5Tis very late. She’ll not come down tonight.

I promise you, but for your company,

I would have been a-bed an hour ago,

PARIS

These times of woe afford no times to woo.

Madam, goodnight. Commend me to your daughter.

LADY CAPULET

10I will, and know° her mind early tomorrow,

Tonight she’s mewed up to her heaviness.^[42]

CAPULET

Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender°

Of my child’s love. I think she will be ruled,

In all respects, by me. Surely; I doubt it not.—

15Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed.

Acquaint her here of my son Paris’s love,

And bid her—Mark you me?—on Wednesday next—

But soft°! What day is this?

PARIS

Monday, my lord.

CAPULET

20Monday, ha ha! Well, Wednesday is too soon.

A Thursday let it be. A Thursday, tell her

She shall be married to this noble Earl.—

Will you be ready? Do you like this haste?
We’ll keep no great ado, a friend or two.

25For hark you, Tybalt being slain so late,

It may be thought we held him carelessly°

Being our kinsman, if we revel much.

Therefore we’ll have some half a dozen friends,

And there an end.^[43] But what say you to Thursday?

PARIS

30My Lord, I would that Thursday were tomorrow.

CAPULET

Well, get you gone. A Thursday be it then!—

Go you to Juliet ere you go to bed.

Prepare her, wife, against this wedding day.—

Farewell, my lord.—Light to my chamber, ho!—

35Afore me,^[44] it is so very late that we may call it early by and by.—

Goodnight.

Exit all