Act 4 Scene 1

At the commencement of this act Paris has come to see Friar Lawrence to commence arranging his marriage to Juliet. When the Friar tries to stall Paris’ advances, Paris explains that Juliet’s father believes that she should marry immediately because she is spending too much time alone grieving. Juliet then appears in the scene having left the house to speak with Friar Lawrence. Paris speaks to her lovingly like his future wife. The words Juliet speaks to him have a double meaning that are of high significance to the audience, and Shakespeare employs dramatic irony as the audience is aware that Juliet is wed to Romeo, but Paris is none the wiser. Juliet furthers the use of dramatic irony in this scene when she says, after Paris addresses her as his wife “that may be sir when I may be a wife,” meaning that she can only wed Paris if her marriage to Romeo is ended by his death.