Act 2

The Chorus delivers another short sonnet describing the new love between Romeo and Juliet: the hatred between the lovers’ families makes it difficult for them to find the time or place to meet and let their passion grow; but the prospect of their love gives each of them the power and determination to elude the obstacles placed in their path.

Prologue 2 Analysis

The prologue to the second act reinforces themes that have already appeared. One love has been replaced by another through the enchanting power of the “charm of looks,” and the force of parental influence stands in the way of the lovers’ happiness. This prologue doesn't function so much as the voice of fate as the first one does. Instead, it builds suspense by laying out the problem of the two lovers and hinting that there may be some way to overcome it: “But passion lends them power, time means, to meet, / Temp’ring extremities with extreme sweet” (2.Prologue.13–14).

Scene 1 Summary

Having left the feast, Romeo decides that he cannot go home. He must instead try to find Juliet. He climbs a wall bordering the Capulet property and leaps down into the Capulet orchard. Benvolio and Mercutio enter, calling out for Romeo. They are sure he is nearby, but Romeo does not answer. Exasperated and amused, Mercutio mocks Romeo’s feelings for Rosaline in an obscene speech. Mercutio and Benvolio exit under the assumption that Romeo does not want to be found.

Scene 2 Summary

In the orchard, Romeo hears Mercutio’s teasing. He says to himself, “He jests at scars that never felt a wound” (2.2.43).

Juliet suddenly appears at a window above the spot where Romeo is standing. Romeo compares her to the morning sun, far more beautiful than the moon it banishes. He nearly speaks to her, but thinks better of it. Juliet, musing to herself and unaware that Romeo is in her garden, asks why Romeo must be Romeo—a Montague, and therefore an enemy to her family. She says that if he would refuse his Montague name, she would give herself to him; or if he would simply swear that he loved her, she would refuse her Capulet name.

Romeo responds to her plea, surprising Juliet, since she thought she was alone. She wonders how he found her and he tells her that love led him to her. Juliet worries that Romeo will be murdered if he is found in the garden, but Romeo refuses to budge, claiming that Juliet’s love would make him immune to his enemies. Juliet admits she feels as strongly about Romeo as he professes he loves her, but she worries that perhaps Romeo will prove inconstant or false, or will think Juliet too easily won. Romeo begins to swear to her, but she stops him, concerned that everything is happening too quickly. He reassures her, and the two confess their love again.

The Nurse calls for Juliet, and Juliet goes inside for a moment. When she reappears, she tells Romeo that she will send someone to him the next day to see if his love is honorable and if he intends to wed her. The Nurse calls again, and again Juliet withdraws. She appears at the window once more to set a time when her emissary should call on him: they settle on nine in the morning. They exult in their love for another moment before saying good night. Juliet goes back inside her chamber, and Romeo departs in search of a monk to aid him in his cause.

Scene 2 Analysis

Act 2 is the happiest and least tragic act in the play. In it, Shakespeare devotes himself to exploring the positive, joyful, and romantic aspects of young love. Scene 2, the balcony scene (so-called because it is often staged with Juliet on a balcony, though the stage directions suggest only that she is at a window above Romeo), is one of the most famous scenes in all of theater, owing to its beautiful and evocative poetry. Shakespeare plumbs the depths of the young lovers’ characters, and captures the subtleties of their interaction, as in Juliet’s struggle between the need for caution and an overpowering desire to be with Romeo.

Many of the most important scenes in Romeo and Juliet, such as the balcony scene, take place either very late at night or very early in the morning, since Shakespeare must use the full length of each day in order to compress the action of the play into just four days. Shakespeare exploits the transition between day and night with a recurring light/dark motif, sometimes drawing a sharp distinction between night and day, at other times blurring the boundaries between them. Romeo’s long, impassioned description of Juliet in the balcony scene is an example of this theme. Romeo imagines that Juliet is the sun, rising from the east to banish the night; in effect, he says that she is transforming night into day.

Romeo is of course speaking metaphorically here; Juliet is not the sun, and it is still night in the orchard. But Romeo states the comparison with such devotion that it should be clear to the audience that, for him, it is no simple metaphor. For Romeo, Juliet is the sun, and it is no longer night. Here is an example of the power of language to briefly transform the world, in the service of love.

And yet, in the same speech, Romeo and Juliet also question the power of language. Wishing that Romeo were not the son of her father’s enemy, Juliet says:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.

What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other word would smell as sweet.

Here Juliet questions why Romeo must be her enemy. She refuses to believe that Romeo is defined by being a Montague, and therefore implies that the two of them can love each other without fear of the social repercussions. But language as an expression of social institutions such as family, politics, or religion cannot be dismissed so easily because no other character in the play is willing to dismiss them. Juliet loves Romeo because he is Romeo, but the power of her love cannot remove from him his last name of Montague or all that it stands for. In the privacy of the garden the language of love is triumphant. But in the social world, the language of society holds sway. This battle of language, in which Romeo and Juliet try to remake the world so that it would allow for their love, is one to keep an eye on.

Scene 3 Summary

In the early morning, Friar Lawrence enters, holding a basket. He fills the basket with various weeds, herbs, and flowers. While musing on the beneficence of the Earth, he demonstrates a deep knowledge of the properties of the plants he collects. Romeo enters and Friar Lawrence intuits that Romeo has not slept the night before. The friar fears that Romeo may have slept in sin with Rosaline. Romeo assures him that did not happen, and describes his new love for Juliet, his intent to marry her, and his desire that the friar consent to marry them that very day. Friar Lawrence is shocked at this sudden shift from Rosaline to Juliet. He comments on the fickleness of young love, Romeo’s in particular. Romeo defends himself, noting that Juliet returns his love while Rosaline did not. In response, the friar comments that Rosaline could see that Romeo’s love for her “did read by rote, that could not spell.” Remaining skeptical at Romeo’s sudden change of heart, Friar Lawrence nonetheless agrees to marry the couple. He expresses the hope that the marriage of Romeo and Juliet might end the feud ravaging the Montagues and Capulets.

Scene 3 Analysis

In this scene, we are introduced to Friar Lawrence as he meditates on the duality of good and evil that exists in all things. Speaking of medicinal plants, the friar claims that, though everything in nature has a useful purpose, it can also lead to misfortune if used improperly:

For naught so vile that on the earth doth live

But to the earth some special good doth give,

Nor aught so good but strain’d from that fair use

Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse:

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied;

And vice sometime’s by action dignified

(2.3.17–22)

At the end of this passage, the friar’s rumination turns toward a broader application; he speaks of how good may be perverted to evil and evil may be purified by good. The friar tries to put his theories to use when he agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet; he hopes that the good of their love will reverse the evil of the hatred between the feuding families. Unfortunately, he later causes the flipside of his theory to come into play: the plan involving a sleep-inducing potion, which he intends to preserve Romeo and Juliet’s marriage and love, results in both of their deaths.

The thematic role of the friar in Romeo and Juliet is hard to pin down. Clearly, Friar Lawrence is a kindhearted friend to both Romeo and Juliet. He also seems wise and selfless. But while the friar appears to embody all these good qualities that are often associated with religion, he is also an unknowing servant of fate: all of his plans go awry and create the misunderstandings that lead to the final tragedy.

Friar Lawrence also returns the specter of Rosaline to the play. The friar cannot believe that Romeo’s love could turn so quickly from one person to another. Romeo’s response, that Juliet returns his love while Rosaline did not, hardly provides evidence that Romeo has matured. The question of Rosaline continues on into the next scene when Mercutio begins to ridicule Romeo’s lovelorn ways by mockingly comparing Rosaline to all the beauties of antiquity (it is interesting to note that one of these beauties, Thisbe, is found in a myth that very closely resembles the plot of Romeo and Juliet). The events of the play prove Romeo’s steadfast love for Juliet, but Romeo’s immature love for Rosaline, his love of love, is never quite erased. He remains too quick to follow the classic examples of love, up to and including his suicide.

Scene 4 Summary

Later that morning, just before nine, Mercutio and Benvolio wonder what happened to Romeo the previous night. Benvolio has learned from a Montague servant that Romeo did not return home; Mercutio spouts some unkind words about Rosaline. Benvolio also relates that Tybalt has sent a letter to Romeo challenging him to a duel. Mercutio responds that Romeo is already dead, struck by Cupid’s arrow; he wonders aloud whether Romeo is man enough to defeat Tybalt. When Benvolio comes to Romeo’s defense, Mercutio launches into an extended description of Tybalt. He describes Tybalt as a master swordsman, perfectly proper and composed in style. According to Mercutio, however, Tybalt is also a vain, affected “fashionmonger” (2.4.29). Mercutio disdains all that Tybalt stands for.

Romeo arrives. Mercutio immediately begins to ridicule him, claiming that Romeo has been made weak by love. As a way of mocking what he believes is Romeo’s overwrought love for Rosaline, Mercutio takes the part of Romeo and compares Rosaline to all the most famous beauties of antiquity, finding Rosaline far superior. Then Mercutio accuses Romeo of abandoning his friends the previous night. Romeo does not deny the charge, but claims his need was great, and so the offense is forgivable. From this proceeds intricate, witty, and wildly sexual verbal jousting.

The Nurse enters, trailed by the servant, Peter. The Nurse asks if any of the three young men know Romeo, and Romeo identifies himself. Mercutio teases the Nurse, insinuating that she is a harlot, thus infuriating her. Benvolio and Mercutio take their leave to have dinner at Montague’s house, and Romeo says he will follow shortly. The Nurse warns Romeo that he had better not attempt to “deal double” with Juliet, and Romeo assures her he is not. He asks the Nurse to tell Juliet to find some way to attend confession at Friar Lawrence’s cell that afternoon; there they will be married. The Nurse agrees to deliver the message. The Nurse also agrees to set up a cloth ladder so that Romeo might ascend to Juliet’s room on their wedding night.

Scene 4 Analysis

In addition to developing the plot by which Romeo and Juliet will wed, Act 2, scene 4 offers a glimpse of Romeo among his friends. Romeo shows himself to be as proficient and bawdy a punner as Mercutio. This punning Romeo is what Mercutio believes to be the “true” Romeo, suddenly freed from the ludicrous melancholy of love: “Why, is not this better than groaning for love? / Now art thou sociable, now art thou Romeo” (2.4.76-77). In the last scene, Juliet tried to battle the social world through the power of her private love; here Mercutio tries to assert the social language of male bravado and banter over the private introspection of love. Interestingly, both Juliet and Mercutio think they know the “real” Romeo. A conflict emerges; even friendship stands in opposition to Romeo’s love. Romeo must remain both the private lover and the public Montague and friend, and he must somehow find a way to navigate between the different claims that his two roles demand of him.

Scene 5 Summary

In the Capulet orchard, Juliet impatiently waits for her nurse, whom she sent to meet Romeo three hours earlier. At last, the Nurse returns, and Juliet anxiously presses her for news. The Nurse claims to be too tired, sore, and out of breath to tell Juliet what has happened. Juliet grows frantic, and eventually, the Nurse gives in and tells her that Romeo is waiting at Friar Lawrence’s cell to marry her. The Nurse departs to wait in the ally for Romeo’s servant, who is to bring a ladder for Romeo to use to climb up to Juliet’s chamber that night to consummate their marriage.

Scene 5 Analysis

Throughout these scenes, Shakespeare emphasizes the thrilling joy of young, romantic love. Romeo and Juliet are electric with anticipation. In a wonderfully comic scene, Juliet can barely contain herself when the Nurse pretends to be too tired to give her the news. Romeo is equally excited, brashly and blasphemously proclaiming his love is the most powerful force in the world.

Though the euphoria of love clearly dominates these scenes, some ominous foreshadowing is revealed. The Nurse’s joking game in which she delays telling Juliet the news will find its sad mirror in a future scene, when the Nurse’s anguish prevents her from relating news to Juliet and thereby causing terrible confusion.

Scene 6 Summary

Romeo and Friar Lawrence wait for Juliet to arrive at the cell. An ecstatic Romeo brashly states that he does not care what misfortune might come, as it will pale in comparison to the joy he feels right now. Friar Lawrence counsels Romeo to love moderately and not with too much intensity, saying, “these violent delights have violent ends” (2.6.9). Juliet enters and Romeo asks her to speak poetically of her love. Juliet responds that those who can so easily describe their “worth” are beggars, her love is far too great to be so easily described. The lovers exit with Friar Lawrence and are wed.

Scene 6 Analysis

A more profound foreshadowing exists in the friar’s observation, in reference to Romeo’s powerful love, that “these violent delights have violent ends” (2.6.9). Every audience member knows that the play is a tragedy and that Romeo and Juliet will die. The friar’s words, therefore, are more than just a difference of opinion with Romeo; they reinforce the presence and power of fate.

Friar Lawrence’s devotion to moderation is interesting in that it offers an alternative to the way in which all the other characters in Romeo and Juliet live their lives. From Romeo to Tybalt, and Montague to Capulet, every character follows passion and forsakes moderation. The friar criticizes this way of acting and feeling, noting its destructiveness. Friar Lawrence is most certainly correct, but after expounding his belief, the friar gets himself embroiled in all of the excess and passion he counsels against. The passion of the young lovers might be destructive, but it is also exquisitely beautiful; if Romeo and Juliet were moderate in their affection, their love would not strike such a chord.

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