The Mother Speaks of Marriage

Scene summary

Lady Capulet sends the Nurse to call Juliet, and the Nurse, who addresses the girl with pet names such as "little lamb" and "ladybug," calls for her loudly. When Juliet arrives, her mother sends the Nurse out for a secret conversation, but soon calls her back, and the Nurse takes the chance to remind them of the girl's age: she will be fourteen on the eve of Lammas, a little more than two weeks away. She also recalls that she weaned her on the day of the earthquake, eleven years before, and tells, laughing, how her late husband joked with the little girl who had fallen flat on her face, asking whether she would fall on her back when she had more sense, and how she, still small, answered "yes." Her mother asks her to be quiet, and Juliet asks the same.

With the Nurse silenced, Lady Capulet asks Juliet what she thinks of marrying. Juliet answers that it is an honor she has never dreamed of. Her mother reminds her that in Verona girls younger than she already are mothers, that she herself had Juliet at almost that age, and says that the valiant Paris asks for her hand. The Nurse praises him as a man of wax, that is, perfect, and her mother compares him to a beautiful book lacking only its cover, and to the most beautiful flower of Verona's summer, and says Juliet would share everything he owns. Juliet answers that she will look to see whether she likes him, without going further than her mother's consent allows. A servant interrupts: the guests have arrived, supper is served, and everyone asks for the lady, for Juliet and for the Nurse. Her mother tells Juliet that the count is waiting, and the Nurse adds that she should look for happy nights for her happy days.