Romeo & Juliet in Modern English: Act 4, Scene 2

Capulet was doing what he enjoyed most. He gave a list to a servant with instructions to go out and find the guests and invite them: he sent another servant to hire twenty cooks. He was afraid that things wouldn’t be ready in time.

The Nurse was telling Lady Capulet where Juliet had gone. Capulet overheard the tail-end and turned. ‘What? Has my daughter gone to Friar Lawrence?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, perhaps he’ll be able to knock some sense into her. What a willful little slut she is.’

‘Oh look, Sir, here she is, and looking so cheerful.’

‘Hello, little Miss Headstrong,’ said Capulet. ‘And where have you been gadding about?’

‘Where I’ve learnt to repent of the sin of disobedience. Friar Lawrence made me promise to fall down at your feet and beg your pardon.’ She knelt in front of him. ‘Pardon, I beg of you. From now on I’ll do as I’m told.’

Capulet laughed. He snapped his fingers at a passing servant. ‘Send for the Count,’ he said, He rubbed his hands together. ‘We’ll speed it up. I’ll have this knot tied up tomorrow morning.’

‘I met the Count at Lawrence’s chapel’ said Juliet. ‘And offered him what love I could without stepping beyond the bounds of modesty.’

‘That’s excellent,’ said her father. ‘Get up, daughter That’s how it should be. I want to see the Count.. What? Haven’t gone yet?’ he asked the servant ‘Go on now, in the name of God, and get the friar too. Our whole city is indebted to this reverend holy friar.’

Juliet took her Nurse’s hand and they got up to choose the things she would wear at her wedding.

‘That’s right, Nurse,’ said Capulet. ‘Go and help her. We’ll go to church tomorrow.’

Lady Capulet didn’t much like the haste. ‘We won’t be ready,’ she said.

‘Don’t worry, ‘ said her husband. ‘I’ll get on with it. It’ll all work out, I guarantee. You go to Juliet. Help her get decked out. I won’t go to bed tonight. Leave it all to me.’ He looked around. The servant he had sent to fetch Paris hadn’t gone yet: he was. busy doing some other preparation work. Oh well, he would walk to Paris himself and tell him that the wedding had been brought forward a day. He was in a good mood: his wayward daughter had come back into the fold of his love and everything was going according to plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read more scenes from Romeo & Juliet:

Read all of Shakespeare’s plays translated to modern English >>