Act III - Scene IV

Capulet's House

[Enter Old Capulet, his Wife, and Paris]

CAP:: Things have fall'n out, sir, so unluckily
That we have had no time to move our daughter.
Look you, she lov'd her kinsman Tybalt dearly,
And so did I. Well, we were born to die.
'Tis very late; she'll not come down to-night.(5)
I promise you, but for your company,
I would have been abed an hour ago.

PAR:: These times of woe afford no tune to woo.
Madam, good night. Commend me to your daughter.

LADY:: I will, and know her mind early to-morrow;(10)
To-night she's mew'd up to her heaviness.

CAP:: Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender
Of my child's love. I think she will be rul'd
In all respects by me; nay more, I doubt it not.
Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed;(15)
Acquaint her here of my son Paris’ love
And bid her (mark you me?) on Wednesday next—
But, soft! what day is this?

CAP:: Monday! ha, ha! Well, Wednesday is too soon.(20)
Thursday let it be— a Thursday, tell her
She shall be married to this noble earl.
Will you be ready? Do you like this haste?
We'll keep no great ado— a friend or two;
For hark you, Tybalt being slain so late,(25)
It may be thought we held him carelessly,
Being our kinsman, if we revel much.
Therefore we'll have some half a dozen friends,
And there an end. But what say you to Thursday?

CAP:: Well, get you gone. A Thursday be it then.
Go you to Juliet ere you go to bed;
Prepare her, wife, against this wedding day.
Farewell, my lord.— Light to my chamber, ho!
Afore me, it is so very very late(35)
That we may call it early by-and-by.
Good night.

Exeunt.

Footnotes

Tender means both fond feeling and legal currency. Notice that when Capulet discusses his daughter's marriage, he uses monetary terms as if she is a business transaction.

— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
This again seems to undermine the importance of Tybalt's death. Capulet treats Tybalt's death flippantly in order to arrange his daughter's marriage and demonstrates the inverted value system that the feud has created in Verona.

— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff
"Move our daughter" in this context means to convince her to marry you. In the last two scenes, the other characters in the play have suggested that everyone in the Capulet House will be grief stricken by Tybalt's death. However, this scene opens with the Capulets and Paris planning Juliet's marriage and talking about Tybalt's death as if it were an inconvenience. This either demonstrates the cold nature of Juliet's parents or that in the context of the feud death has become commonplace.

— Caitlin, Owl Eyes Staff