Alone in her bedchamber the night before the wedding day, Juliet’s imagination runs wild. She is uncertain that the potion given to her by Friar Laurence will work, and she envisions the various possibilities that might happen to her:
Medieval Drawing of Mandrake Roots
Juliet’s fear and imagination become so intense that she then believes she sees Tybalt’s ghost coming to seek vengeance against Romeo. So that she no longer has to imagine such fearful scenes, Juliet quickly consumes the contents of the vial containing the Friar’s potion and falls into a deep sleep.
Thursday morning has finally arrived, and Capulet is still busy making preparations for the wedding. The Nurse, however, discovers Juliet lying as if dead; and she quickly informs Juliet’s parents. Capulet and his wife are then stricken with grief.
“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” is a popular expression in America. The expression appears in a 1970 song “Big Yellow Taxi” performed by Joni Mitchell and also became the title of a hit song in 1988 by the Glam metal band called Cinderella. The expression means that one never fully appreciates or understands the worth of someone until that person is no longer around. Human beings often fail to realize just how valuable and important others are to them. Although the expression is a fairly recent one, the concept has been around since ancient times. The expression remains popular because there is so much truth in it.
Capulet and his wife had been ready to disown Juliet when she protested against marrying Paris, but now they realize just how important she is to them. With Juliet gone, Capulet feels that his own life is now over:
Death is my son-in-law, death is my heir. My daughter he hath wedded. I will die, And leave him all. Life, living, all is death’s.
(65-67)
Similarly, Juliet’s mother also feels that the meaning of life has left her:
But one thing to rejoice and solace in,
And cruel death hath catched it from my sight!
(78-79)
And Capulet also adds …
And with my child my joys are buried. (91)
With Juliet gone, the Capulets feel that they have nothing else to live for or hope for. They are overcome by grief, and through that grief they come to understand just how valuable and important their daughter was to them.
Capulet and his wife as well as Paris and the Nurse are loudly and wildly lamenting the death of Juliet. So, Friar Laurence attempts to bring reason back to the mourners.
Peace, ho, for shame! Confusion’s cure lives not
In these confusions. (92-93)
The word confusion has a double meaning. The first time the Friar says it, the word means trouble or disaster. The second time he says it, the word means commotion, noise, or emotional outburst. Simply, the Friar is telling them that their wild and emotional outbursts will not help the matter any but will instead only make the matter worse. Of course, the Friar knows that Juliet is not really dead; and, so, he is not experiencing any emotion himself over Juliet’s death.
When the Capulets and others quiet down, Friar Laurence takes the opportunity to criticize them for their past behavior regarding Juliet.
Heaven and yourself
Had part in this fair maid. Now heaven hath all, And all the better is it for the maid.
Your part in her you could not keep from death,
But heaven keeps his part in eternal life. (93-97)
The Friar is bringing up the concept of the dual nature of man according to Christian belief. All people are comprised of body and soul. The Capulets’ part in Juliet was her body, but God’s (or Heaven’s) part is her soul. Juliet’s body is now gone, being dead; so God has all that remains, her soul. The soul is immortal, and it will live forever in the paradise of Heaven. The Friar is telling his listeners that Juliet is far better off being in Heaven than she was on earth.
Next, the Friar criticizes the Capulets in regards to their treatment of Juliet:
The most you sought was her promotion,
For ’twas your heaven she should be advanced, And weep ye now, seeing she is advanced
Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself?
(98-101)
The Friar is criticizing the Capulets because they thought only of earthly goals and accomplishments but had ignored the spiritual needs of both themselves and Juliet. They thought only of the promotion or advancement of Juliet’s “body”: they thought only of the rich social status that she and they would attain when she would marry Paris. They gave absolutely no regard for the advancement of Juliet’s “soul.” In medieval Christian belief, the Church taught that all people should think of their time on earth as preparation for the advancement of their souls to Heaven. Obviously, the Capulets, like most people on this planet, did not observe this teaching.
Finally, Friar Laurence criticizes the
Capulets for their mad emotional outburst:
O, in this love, you love your child so ill
That you run mad, seeing that she is well.
She’s not well married that lives married long,
But she’s best married that dies married young.
Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary
On this fair corpse, and, as the custom is,
In all her best array bear her to church; For though fond nature bids us an lament,
Yet nature’s tears are reason’s merriment.
(102-10)
The Friar is now warning and advising the Capulets to think of Juliet’s soul and the customs of the Church. During the Renaissance many plants and herbs are symbolically significant. Rosemary symbolizes remembrance. Friar Laurence is telling the Capulets to think of Juliet and stop thinking about themselves. In the final couplet, the word fond means foolish. Weeping and lamenting is an act caused by everyone’s foolish human nature. However, if people were to use their reason instead of their emotions, they would feel merry or joyous. The Friar is saying that the Capulets should be happy because Juliet is now experiencing eternal bliss up in Heaven. Thus, they should be celebrating Juliet’s great happiness. Christian priests and ministers during the Renaissance frequently preached that people should allow their reason to control their emotions. But, as the Capulets and Shakespeare and most people realize, that is not an easy task; and sometimes such a task is impossible.