ACT IV - Scene IV Practice Quiz — Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: ACT IV - Scene IV
Where does Act 4, Scene 4 take place?
Inside the Capulet household, where the family and servants are preparing for Juliet's wedding to Paris.
What time is it when Act 4, Scene 4 begins?
Three o'clock in the morning. Capulet notes that the second cock has crowed and the curfew bell has rung.
What does Lady Capulet ask the Nurse to do at the start of the scene?
She gives the Nurse keys and tells her to fetch more spices for the wedding feast.
What foods are being prepared for the wedding feast?
Baked meats (pies and pastries), dates, and quinces are being prepared in the pastry kitchen.
What is a "cot-quean"?
An Elizabethan term for a man who meddles in household work traditionally done by women. The Nurse uses it to tease Capulet for interfering in the kitchen preparations.
What does the Nurse advise Capulet to do?
She tells him to go to bed, warning that he will make himself sick from staying up all night.
How does Capulet respond to the Nurse's advice to sleep?
He dismisses her concern, boasting that he has stayed up all night before for lesser reasons and never been sick.
What does Lady Capulet mean by calling her husband a "mouse-hunt"?
It is Elizabethan slang for a man who chases women. She teases him that his past late nights were spent pursuing romantic interests.
What does Capulet mean when he says "A jealous hood, a jealous hood!"?
He is playfully accusing Lady Capulet of being jealous, brushing off her teasing remark about his youthful flirtations.
What is the servant's joke about "logs" and "Peter"?
When told to ask Peter where the drier logs are, the servant quips that he has a head that can find logs on its own—a pun on "loggerhead" (blockhead), which Capulet catches and appreciates.
What signals to Capulet that Paris has arrived?
He hears musicians playing. Paris had promised to arrive with music at dawn, and Capulet realizes it is already daylight.
What is Capulet's final command in the scene?
He tells the Nurse to go wake Juliet and get her dressed ("trim her up"), while he goes to chat with Paris. He repeats "make haste" three times.
What is the central dramatic irony of this scene?
The Capulets are eagerly preparing a wedding celebration, not knowing that Juliet has taken a sleeping potion and appears to be dead in her chamber.
By what name does Capulet address the Nurse, revealing her actual name?
He calls her "Angelica," one of the few times her given name is used in the play.
How does this scene create suspense for the audience?
The audience watches the family unknowingly rush toward the moment they will discover Juliet's apparent death, making every cheerful command feel increasingly urgent and tragic.
What does "loggerhead" mean in the context of this scene?
A blockhead or fool. Capulet uses the word as a playful pun after the servant jokes about using his own head to find logs.