Juliet’s meditations concerning the slowness of the day are interrupted by her Nurse. The Nurse, who is always cryptic and painfully slow at delivering news, confuses Juliet when she declares that “he’s dead” (37). Of course, the Nurse is referring to Tybalt. But Juliet has only one man in her thoughts, and she mistakenly believes that the Nurse is telling her that Romeo is dead.
When the Nurse finally makes Juliet understand that Tybalt is the one who has been killed, Juliet is so entrenched with emotion and so saddened by the news that she speaks rashly and scorns or condemns Romeo (beginning at line 73). Juliet uses a number of oxymora (words described by their opposites) to describe Romeo: fair dragon, beautiful tyrant, angelical fiend, and damned saint, among others. Juliet is naturally shocked that someone who is extremely courteous and virtuous and beautiful as Romeo is could perform such an outrageous and evil and ugly deed. The use of oxymora is also symbolic: the odd descriptive language suggests Juliet’s own mixture of emotions, especially love and hate, that she is experiencing at that moment.
Only when the Nurse scolds Romeo as well, does Juliet start to think rationally once again. She realizes that she has been rash and emotional and quickly realizes that Romeo killed the man who would have killed him. Then Juliet remembers that the Nurse had also told her that Romeo has been banished from Verona. The young bride then fears that she will never see her Romeo again.
Staring at the rope ladder that Romeo had given to her so that he can climb up to her balcony at night, Juliet tells it that both she and it are “beguiled” or cheated (at line 132). They both are cheated from being used that night as Romeo had planned. Juliet, speaking directly to the ladder, explains the beguilement:
He made you for a highway to my bed,
But I, a maid, die maiden-widowed. (134-35)
Juliet firmly believes she will die a maiden, a virgin, even though she has just been married.
The Nurse finally realizes Juliet’s own sorrow, and she then tells her that she will make sure that Romeo comes to her that night. The Nurse knows where Romeo is hiding (at Friar Laurence’s quarters), and she promises Juliet that she will make sure that he understands that Juliet still wants him to come to her.
Back at Friar Laurence’s quarters Romeo is overcome with emotion. When the Friar tells him that the Prince has banished him from Verona, Romeo feels that this is a fate worse than death. He believes that his banishment means that he will never see Juliet again, and he would rather be dead than to be without his love. Friar Laurence tries to reason with Romeo, but the young man’s emotions are so intense that he is irrational. He even envies the flies of Verona because they can safely land on Juliet’s hand, but he is forever denied to touch her. Friar Laurence tells Romeo that he is “fond” (which means foolish: line 52), but Romeo stubbornly refuses to listen to reason; and he ignores both reason and the Friar.
Romeo continues in his wild emotional state even after Juliet’s Nurse arrives, and the impetuous youth even threatens himself with a dagger or knife.
Romeo cannot think straight.
Finally, Friar Laurence shouts at Romeo and scolds him so that he will see reason (beginning at line 107). In a lengthy speech, the Friar forcibly makes Romeo think logically:
Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art. Thy tears are womanish, thy wild acts denote The unreasonable fury of a beast.
Unseemly woman in a seeming man,
Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!
Thou hast amazed me. (108-13)
Friar Laurence scolds Romeo for acting like a foolish and overly emotional woman even though he has the appearance (the form) of a man. Men, according to the Friar and other Catholic authorities, should always act rationally and never allow their emotions to control them. During the Renaissance women were considered to be weaker than men, and only weak people allowed their emotions to control themselves. The Friar also compares Romeo to an animal (a beast). Animals are wild and act irrationally. The Friar is reminding Romeo that reason is a gift from God given to mankind to control their emotions. Friar Laurence continues to scold Romeo by telling him that he is behaving shamefully despite the three great and wonderful gifts that he possesses:
Fie, fie, thou sham’st thy shape, thy love, thy wit,
Which like a usurer abound’st in all,
And usest 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 the valor of a man;
Thy dear love sworn but hollow perjury,
Killing 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 skilless soldier’s flask
Is set afire by thine own ignorance,
And thou dismembered with thine own defence.
(121-33)
Romeo’s three great gifts are his shape (his body or human form), his love of and for Juliet, and his wit (his intelligence and reason). According to the Friar, though, Romeo abuses these gifts. Friar Laurence compares him to a usurer (a money lender who loans out money at extremely high interest rates). Usurers were frequently depicted as (and criticized for being) extremely greedy, selfish, and cruel individuals. Shakespeare even wrote about one such usurer in his play The Merchant of Venice. The stereotypical usurer loves money for itself and not for the many marvelous ways money can be used. Thus, a usurer abuses money. Similarly, Romeo abuses his three gifts because he is not putting them to good use. The Friar explains that Romeo abuses his form or shape because he is like a wax statue: Romeo is just standing still and not taking any useful action.
Romeo is also abusing his love because he is just moaning about himself rather than thinking about Juliet and doing anything to help her. And, third, Romeo is abusing his wit or intelligence because he is not thinking clearly and thoughtfully and using his wit to lead him to purposeful action. In a simile, the Friar compares Romeo’s wit to gunpowder, which soldiers kept in a flask (a container) to pour into their muskets (a kind of rifle) each time they needed to fire their weapon. An inexperienced soldier could accidentally set his gunpowder on fire and hurt himself. Likewise, Romeo is hurting himself: his wit is set afire and causing him pain rather than being useful and expedient to himself. Rather than moaning and crying about his life, Romeo should be happy about the blessings he has received:
What, rouse thee, man! Thy Juliet is alive,
For whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead: There art thou happy. Tybalt would kill thee,
But thou slewest Tybalt: there are thou happy. The law that threatened death becomes thy friend, And turns it to exile: there art thou happy.
A pack of blessings lights up upon thy back,
Happiness courts thee in her best array, But, like a mishavèd and sullen wench, Thou pout’st upon thy fortune and thy love.
Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable.
(134-44)
Romeo has three great blessings: (1) Juliet is alive and Romeo, who almost killed himself with his dagger (“wast but lately dead”), is also alive. Romeo can still be with Juliet once again. (2) Tybalt, who wanted to kill Romeo, is dead. And (3) the Prince reversed his promise to execute anyone involved in civil fighting and instead punished Romeo with banishment. The Friar, quite simply, is advising Romeo to look at the positive side of life: he is telling Romeo to be an optimist rather than a pessimist. Pessimists die miserably, but optimists take advantage of their opportunities and overcome any obstacles or disadvantages that beset them.
Friar Laurence’s speech produces the intended effect, and Romeo is now ready to act in a positive manner.
The Nurse gives Romeo a ring that Juliet had sent to him so that he knows that she still loves him despite Tybalt’s death.
The scene ends with Friar Laurence warning Romeo to leave Verona before the sun rises if he does not want to be caught by the guards. Romeo will then travel to the city of Mantua, and the Friar promises that he will give Romeo’s servant messages to take to Romeo informing him of any change of events that occur in Verona.