Original: Hold, then; go home, be merry, give consent
Modern: Wait, here’s the plan: go home, act happy, and agree

Original: To marry Paris: Wednesday is to-morrow:
Modern: to marry Paris—remember, Wednesday is tomorrow.

Original: To-morrow night look that thou lie alone;
Modern: Tomorrow night, make sure you sleep alone;

Original: Let not thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber:
Modern: don’t let your nurse stay with you in your bedroom.

Original: Take thou this vial, being then in bed,
Modern: Once you’re in bed, take this small bottle,

Original: And this distilled liquor drink thou off;
Modern: and drink all of this special liquid inside.

Original: When presently through all thy veins shall run
Modern: Soon after, flowing through all your veins will be

Original: A cold and drowsy humour, for no pulse
Modern: a cold and sleepy fluid, because your pulse

Original: Shall keep his native progress, but surcease:
Modern: won’t keep its natural rhythm—it will stop.

Original: No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest;
Modern: No warmth, no breathing will show that you’re alive;

Original: The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade
Modern: the rosy color in your lips and cheeks will fade

Original: To paly ashes, thy eyes’ windows fall,
Modern: to pale gray, your eyelids will close,

Original: Like death, when he shuts up the day of life;
Modern: just like death does when it ends a person’s life.

Original: Each part, deprived of supple government,
Modern: Every part of your body, robbed of flexible movement,

Original: Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death:
Modern: will become stiff, rigid, and cold, looking exactly like death.

Original: And in this borrow’d likeness of shrunk death
Modern: And in this temporary appearance of death

Original: Thou shalt continue two and forty hours,
Modern: you’ll remain for forty-two hours,

Original: And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.
Modern: and then wake up as if from a peaceful sleep.

Original: Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes
Modern: Now, when Paris arrives in the morning

Original: To rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead:
Modern: to wake you from your bed, you’ll appear dead.

Original: Then, as the manner of our country is,
Modern: Then, following our country’s custom,

Original: In thy best robes uncover’d on the bier
Modern: dressed in your finest clothes and lying uncovered on a funeral platform,

Original: Thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault
Modern: you’ll be carried to that same old tomb

Original: Where all the kindred of the Capulets lie.
Modern: where all your Capulet relatives are buried.

Original: In the mean time, against thou shalt awake,
Modern: Meanwhile, before you wake up,

Original: Shall Romeo by my letters know our drift,
Modern: Romeo will learn our plan through my letters,

Original: And hither shall he come: and he and I
Modern: and he’ll come here, and he and I

Original: Will watch thy waking, and that very night
Modern: will be there when you wake, and that same night

Original: Shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua.
Modern: Romeo will carry you away from here to Mantua.

Original: And this shall free thee from this present shame;
Modern: And this will free you from this current disgrace,

Original: If no inconstant toy, nor womanish fear,
Modern: as long as no foolish whim or weak fear

Original: Abate thy valour in the acting it.
Modern: doesn’t reduce your courage in carrying out this plan.

In Act IV, Scene 1 of “Romeo and Juliet,” Juliet arrives at Friar Laurence’s cell where she encounters Paris, who has come to arrange their wedding with the Friar. Paris greets Juliet affectionately and refers to her as his wife, but Juliet responds evasively, neither confirming nor denying the relationship. Paris speaks of their upcoming Thursday wedding, and Juliet cleverly deflects his advances with ambiguous responses that could be interpreted multiple ways. After a brief, uncomfortable exchange, Paris kisses Juliet and departs, leaving her alone with Friar Laurence.

Once Paris exits, Juliet’s desperation becomes immediately apparent. She tells the Friar she has come for confession but quickly reveals she seeks a solution to prevent her marriage to Paris. Juliet threatens to kill herself with a knife, declaring she would rather die than marry Paris while still being Romeo’s wife. The Friar, seeing her determination and desperation, tells her to put away the knife and listen to his plan. He proposes that Juliet take a potion that will make her appear dead for forty-two hours. She will be placed in the Capulet tomb, and meanwhile, the Friar will send word to Romeo, who will return to Verona to retrieve her when she awakens, allowing them to escape together to Mantua. Juliet eagerly agrees to the plan, willing to face any terror to avoid the marriage to Paris and remain faithful to Romeo.

“Romeo and Juliet” tells the story of two young lovers from feuding families in Verona. Romeo Montague attends a Capulet feast in disguise, where he meets and instantly falls in love with Juliet Capulet. They meet secretly that night on her balcony and decide to marry the next day. Friar Lawrence agrees to perform the ceremony, hoping their union might end the family feud.

After the secret wedding, Romeo encounters Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, who challenges him to a duel. When Romeo refuses to fight, his friend Mercutio accepts the challenge and is killed by Tybalt. In revenge, Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished from Verona by Prince Escalus. Meanwhile, Juliet’s parents, unaware of her secret marriage, arrange for her to wed Count Paris.

Desperate to avoid this second marriage, Juliet seeks help from Friar Lawrence, who gives her a potion that will make her appear dead. The plan is for Romeo to return and take her away when she awakens in the Capulet tomb. However, Romeo never receives the friar’s message explaining the scheme. Believing Juliet truly dead, he purchases poison and drinks it beside her tomb.

Juliet awakens to find Romeo’s lifeless body and, in despair, kills herself with his dagger. The tragic deaths of their children finally reconcile the Montague and Capulet families, who vow to end their ancient hatred. Prince Escalus concludes that all are punished by this sorrowful outcome of the families’ bitter feud.