Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 4 — Summary & Analysis

What happens

In the street, Mercutio and Benvolio learn that Tybalt has sent Romeo a written challenge. Romeo turns up in good spirits, and he and Mercutio trade a long run of quick, filthy wordplay — Mercutio is delighted his friend sounds like himself again. Then Juliet's Nurse arrives looking for Romeo, and Mercutio teases her until she is furious. Once he leaves, Romeo gives the Nurse the plan: Juliet should find an excuse to come to Friar Lawrence's cell that afternoon, where they will be married. He promises a rope ladder so he can climb to her window that night.

Why it matters

Two plots cross in this scene without noticing each other. Tybalt's challenge sits unread while Romeo arranges his wedding. The audience holds both at once — the marriage being set and the duel being primed — which is why the cheerful banter carries an edge of dread underneath it.

This is the lightest Romeo gets all play. His wit matches Mercutio's; the two sound like equals enjoying themselves. It matters because it is nearly the last of it. Remember this Romeo when you reach the next scene, where Mercutio dies and this very friendship is what pulls Romeo into the killing.

The Nurse is comedy and machinery at once. She is mocked, she is offended, and she is also the one carrying the message that makes the marriage possible. Shakespeare runs the play's most consequential errand through its broadest comic figure, which keeps the wedding feeling giddy rather than solemn.