Why does lord Capulet move the wedding from Thursday to Wednesday?

Answer 1

Capulet's behaviour doesn't make a lot of sense. In Act 3 Scene 4 Capulet sets the date on late Monday night for Thursday, saying that Wednesday is too soon to get the preparations ready. Twenty-four hours later he suddenly decides that the wedding should be moved up to Wednesday morning, essentially almost immediately. Of course he's already sent the wedding invitations for Thursday and there is no time to send new ones, so he's going to have a lot of puzzled wedding guests showing up on Thursday. There wouldn't be any feast for them Wednesday anyway as Lady Capulet points out. And as the friar has already said that the time is very short for Thursday, how would they expect him to come a day earlier?

Dramatically, it makes even less sense. Friar Lawrence and Juliet have set a timetable. She is to take the potion on Wednesday night. "Wednesday is tomorrow. Tomorrow night . . . drink thou this distilling liquor off." She is to wake up 42 hours later. late Friday afternoon or early evening. A message is sent off to Romeo to show up Friday. When the wedding date is changed, Juliet must be drinking the potion on Tuesday evening and will wake 24 hours before the time Romeo will arrive. And yet neither she nor the friar seem at all worried about this. In fact, Juliet wonders, "How if, when I am laid in the tomb, I wake before the time that Romeo come to redeem me?". If she is saying this on Tuesday night it is a dead cert that she will wake ahead of time. As far as anyone is concerned, it is as if the change of wedding day never happened.

A simple solution as a director for this mistake of Shakespeare's is simply to leave the change of wedding day scene out.

Does Capulet give any reason for this plan he insists upon? Not really. His "heart is light" that Juliet is so obedient, but why should this cause this impossible change of plans? The First Quarto contains the line for Capulet "I say tomorrow while she's in the mood." which suggests that he wants to strike while the iron's hot. It also means that he is not persuaded by her apparent change of heart. This line is, however, not in any of the "good" Quartos.

Answer 2

Capulet's behaviour doesn't make a lot of sense. In Act 3 Scene 4 Capulet sets the date on late Monday night for Thursday, saying that Wednesday is too soon to get the preparations ready. Twenty-four hours later he suddenly decides that the wedding should be moved up to Wednesday morning, essentially almost immediately. Of course he's already sent the wedding invitations for Thursday and there is no time to send new ones, so he's going to have a lot of puzzled wedding guests showing up on Thursday. There wouldn't be any feast for them Wednesday anyway as Lady Capulet points out. And as the friar has already said that the time is very short for Thursday, how would they expect him to come a day earlier?

Dramatically, it makes even less sense. Friar Lawrence and Juliet have set a timetable. She is to take the potion on Wednesday night. "Wednesday is tomorrow. Tomorrow night . . . drink thou this distilling liquor off." She is to wake up 42 hours later. late Friday afternoon or early evening. A message is sent off to Romeo to show up Friday. When the wedding date is changed, Juliet must be drinking the potion on Tuesday evening and will wake 24 hours before the time Romeo will arrive. And yet neither she nor the friar seem at all worried about this. In fact, Juliet wonders, "How if, when I am laid in the tomb, I wake before the time that Romeo come to redeem me?". If she is saying this on Tuesday night it is a dead cert that she will wake ahead of time. As far as anyone is concerned, it is as if the change of wedding day never happened.

A simple solution as a director for this mistake of Shakespeare's is simply to leave the change of wedding day scene out.

Does Capulet give any reason for this plan he insists upon? Not really. His "heart is light" that Juliet is so obedient, but why should this cause this impossible change of plans? The First Quarto contains the line for Capulet "I say tomorrow while she's in the mood." which suggests that he wants to strike while the iron's hot. It also means that he is not persuaded by her apparent change of heart. This line is, however, not in any of the "good" Quartos.

Answer 3

Who knows? It makes no sense, since he is making this decision on Tuesday evening. There is no time to tell any guests or Friar Lawrence and barely enough to tell the groom. When he says this, Mrs. Capulet looks at him as if he's gone nuts and says, "We shall be short in our provision. "Tis now near night." Everyone will have to rush around like maniacs to try to put together a feast for the next morning. There is no purpose solved by the change in date, unless Capulet is afraid that Juliet will change her mind again if they don't perform the ceremony immediately. He doesn't give any explanation for it.