Romeo and Juliet Summary of Act IV, Scene 4
by William Shakespeare

Summary

The Nurse and Capulet finish off the plans for the marriage of Juliet to Paris. The scene ends with Capulet sending the Nurse off to wake Juliet, as Paris has arrived.

Analysis

The dramatic irony in this scene relies almost entirely on the multiple puns on “watch” traded by the Nurse, Capulet, and the servants. Capulet prides himself on having stayed up all night to “watch” the servants and ensure that no detail has escaped his notice – except that his daughter is lying in bed upstairs as if dead.