there are a few plays in which we are obliged to constitute the existence of a regular chamber scene, with several personages and perhaps furniture, set 'above'. The second scene of the induction to the Taming of the Shrew, just cited, is already a case in point. The presenters here do not merely sit, as spectators in the lord's room might, and listen. They move about a chamber and occupy considerable space. Scenes which similarly require the whole interior of an upper room to be visible, and not merely its balcony or window bay, are to be found in 1 Sir John Oldcastle, in Every Man In his Humour, twice in The Jew of Malta, in 2 Henry IV, and in Look About You.[1] I do not know whether I ought to add Romeo and Juliet. Certainly the love scenes, Act II, scc. i and ii, and Act III, sc. v, require Juliet's chamber to be aloft, and in these there is no interior action entailing more than the sound of voices, followed by the appearance of the speakers over Juliet's shoulder as she stands at the casement or on a balcony.[2] It would be natural to assume that the chamber of Act IV, sc. iii, in which Juliet drinks her potion, and sc. v, in which she is found lying on her bed, is the same, and therefore also aloft. Obviously its interior, with the bed and Juliet, must be visible to the spectators. The difficulty is that it also appears to be visible to the wedding guests and the musicians, as they enter the court-yard from without; and this could only be, if it were upon the mainand Nurse', and the warning is given while Romeo is still above. Juliet says (41) 'Then, window, let day in, and let life out', and Romeo, 'I'll descend'. After his 'Exit' comes 'Enter Mother' (64), and pretty clearly discourses with Juliet, not below, but in her chamber. Otherwise there would be no meaning in Juliet's 'Is she not downe so late or vp so early? What vnaccustomd cause procures her hither?' Probably, although there is no s.d., they descend (125) to meet Capulet, for at the end of the scene Juliet bids the Nurse (231) 'Go in', and herself 'Exit' to visit Friar Laurence.]
- ↑ Cf. p. 66, n. 1, p. 67, n. 1, p. 68, n. 2, p. 68, n. 3.
- ↑ In R. J. II. ii Romeo is in the orchard, and (2) 'But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?' The lovers discourse, he below, she 'o'er my head' (27). Presently (F_{1}; Q_{1}, is summary here) Juliet says 'I hear some noise within' (136), followed by s.d. 'Cals within' and a little later 'Within: Madam', twice. Juliet then 'Exit' (155), and (159) 'Enter Juliet again'. Modern editors have reshuffled the s.ds. In III. v, Q_{2} (reproduced in F_{1}), in addition to textual differences from Q_{1}, may represent a revised handling of the scene. Q_{1} begins 'Enter Romeo and Juliet at the window'. They discuss the dawn. Then 'He goeth downe', speaks from below, and 'Exit'. Then 'Enter Nurse hastely' and says 'Your Mother's comming to your Chamber'. Then 'She goeth downe from the Window'. I take this to refer to Juliet, and to close the action above, at a point represented by III. v. 64 of the modern text. Then follow 'Enter Juliets Mother, Nurse' and a dialogue below. Q_{2} begins 'Enter Romeo and Juliet aloft'. Presently (36) 'Enter Madame [? an error
