Oil on canvas, 43 x 50 inches. Pre-Raphaelite, Inc., London.

When this picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1863 it garnered high praise from the critics for its distinctive use of color and its "rich tone." Its medievalism (note the triptych on the wall) and attention to detail--influences of the Pre-Raphaelite painters--understandably elicited positive comments from F. G. Stevens, D. G. Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones (Christian 188).

This is a scene we do not actually see on stage. In Act III, Scene ii, Juliet has prepared for her bridegroom's arrival with ropes for him to climb into her room. When she learns that Romeo has killed Tybalt and that the Duke has banished him, she despairs; she tells the Nurse that now they will not need the ropes.

Take up those cords: poor ropes, you are beguiled,
Both you and I; for Romeo is exiled:
He made you for a highway to my bed;
But I, a maid, die maiden-widowed.
Come, cords, come, nurse; I'll to my wedding-bed;
And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead!

The Nurse consoles her and says:

Hie to your chamber: I'll find Romeo
To comfort you: I wot well where he is.
Hark ye, your Romeo will be here at night:
I'll to him; he is hid at Laurence' cell.

Juliet takes comfort in knowing that she will see Romeo one last time before he goes into exile.

O, find him! give this ring to my true knight,
And bid him come to take his last farewell.

Stanhope's painting shows her sometime after this scene and before Act III, Scene v, when she and Romeo part at morning. With the ropes on the floor behind her, she waits impatiently, looks out the window, and anticipates the arrival of Romeo.