The quote ‘I again behold my Romeo’ is an example of the most important theme of young love between Romeo and Juliet. Their time they have together is very important, as this is the last time they will be together. The tension will mount as the time for Romeo to leave draws nearer and as The Nurse bustles in and says ‘Your Lady Mother is coming to your chamber’
As a director these two main themes of young love and bad timing I would like to exploit the most. Secondly, the feuding between Juliet and her parents and the nurse’s betrayal to Juliet is important. The focus on Juliet should be emphasised greatly as her mood and emotions are going from high to low.
The feuding between both the families should have stopped Romeo and Juliet’s love developing, whereas it has generated the opposite. The contrast between these two themes in one scene is very important, as the dramatic change has to be conveyed by the actors. Their tone of voice and how it changes from Romeo and Juliet waking up together calm and happy, to begin with it would be soft and poetic and then altered to a panic, fast tone voice.
Lines such as ‘Wilt thou be gone, it is not near day’ would be delivered sweetly and in a slightly seductive manner. Juliet’s voice would be delicate and tender with her eyes closed and relaxed body language.
As the scene continues the mood changes gradually the words would be spoken more loudly and defined. Romeo and Juliet begin to realise that day is approaching. Juliet speaks ‘O now be gone, more light and light it grows’ this is crucial as she is basically saying we have hardly any time left together. This moment would have to be electrifying, a rush of emotions between both of the characters. They would be close and intimate, looking into each other’s eyes, holding each other as the audience watch with anticipation.
However this golden goodbye is broken when The Nurse bursts in twisting the mood to panic and confusion, use of quick panning camera shots show confusion and tension. The theme changes from love to bad timing with ‘Your lady mother is coming to your chamber’; The Nurse would burst in without any pre warning so the audience would not know she is coming. The Nurse leaves hastily. She slams the door loudly shut to make the mood uneasy and catastrophic.
As Juliet ushers Romeo to the window, there would be such desperation and sadness in their voices. The focus would still be on Juliet as she is still in scene after Romeo leaves, so her mood and emotions at this point would affect how she behaves in the rest of the scene.
With the line ‘Fair well, Fair well, one kiss and ill descend’ a long pause is needed as Juliet realises that this is goodbye, the final goodbye. Romeo and Juliet looking longingly into each other’s eyes, as he stands alone by the window. The conversation continues, as the camera shots are now single shots of Romeo. Before it was Juliet and Romeo in the frame. Then Romeo is filmed alone. This signifies his isolation for the rest of the play. In addition to this disconnection with Romeos character, the bond ship of Juliet and Romeo is shattering. In Juliet’s mind she sees him dead and has come to realise the seriousness of the situation with ‘Methinks I see thee now, as one dead in the bottom of a tomb’ she has a vision of Romeo lying alone in a church in a tomb as if he were dead. This thought distresses her as she kisses him one last time. She is still crying and reaches out to Romeo as he climbs to the ground from her window. He looks back at Juliet and ‘Adieu, adieu’. The words are delivered more intensely than any other lines that Romeo speaks in the scene. Romeo verbalises the words in French this symbolises romance and affection.
The Nurse enters back onto the scene with Lady Capulet. There would be a large close up of Lady Capulet to show her disposition and facial expressions. The mood changes within seconds, Juliet has to present a brave face. She’s crying inside but has to appear stable to her mother. If she does seem a bit tearful her mother will suspect it is because of her cousin Tybalts death.
Lady Capulet comes in cheerily and happy. The Nurse leaves, with the camera focus on the Nurse as she leaves, as this is important to emphasise how Juliet is alone. The camera zooms in on a close up of Juliet to show her emotions, and highlights if she is about to cry or not.
The setting of the room will be pink and white symbolising the youthfulness and purity of Juliet and the situation forthcoming. Many statues and figures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary are needed to the show the significance of religion in that period of time.
There will be melodious and soft music in the background perhaps panpipes or a flute and the sound of birds cheeping. The lighting in the room will be light and summery. As Romeo and Juliet wake up, the bed will be white with small embroider red flowers on it. Light net curtains with sunlight shining through will be projected onto Romeo’s face. Cream candles lit create a warm, love atmosphere but also mirror the innocence of Juliet and the couple’s young love for each other. Impressive wardrobes and an oak four- poster double bed with rich red drapes hanging from it signify the Capulet’s wealth and vanity.
As Lady Capulet tells Juliet the news of her forthcoming marriage to Paris, Juliet is mortified. She cannot possibly want to marry Paris. The lighting would become darker in the room to connote the intensity of the situation. What is Juliet going to do? Juliet spits at her mother ‘He shall not make me there a joyful bride’ The words ‘not’ and ‘bride’ shall be emphasised to represent the disgust in Juliet’s tone and the passion she has on not marrying Paris. Lady Capulet leaves it up to Capulet and is very disappointed that Juliet does not wish to marry Paris.
Juliet will sit on the floor curled up with tears rolling down her cheeks. This shows that she is still a child and needs comfort in a time of woe. A low angle shot on Juliet shows her position in this situation. Lady Capulet will be on a high angle shot to show her power however it is when Capulet enters when Juliet is afraid.
Capulet enters with The Nurse and the line ‘ How now, a conduit girl? What, still in tears? Capulet does not call her by name but by ‘girl’ alone referring to her age and that she is just a girl and should obey her parents. However he is optimistic that Juliet has accepted the news well ‘Have you delivered to her our decree’ His use of ‘decree’ presumes that he knows what will make his daughter happy where really he does not have any idea what would make Juliet happy. They are similar to strangers.
The tension could be sliced. He is about to find out that Juliet does not want to marry Paris. Lady Capulet tells him as his face wrinkles and the lighting becomes dark on his face. He stands closer over the cowering Juliet. ‘Doth she not give us thanks? Is she not proud?’ Capulet is in a sudden rage as his voice is roaring, filling the once calm and relaxed atmosphere with fury and anger. Juliet cries hysterically and changes her position on the floor to kneeling in front of her father, like she is begging him. Her body language indicates as she states ‘Proud I can never be of what I hate’. She is defenceless and alone, her mother detests her, and her father is livid with her, all she has now is The Nurse.
Capulet starts to get violent as he lifts her up by her arms and is shakes her ‘Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch!’ He spits at her like snake. He threatens her that if she does not marry Paris then she will be out on the streets.
When Juliet says ‘Is there no pity sitting in the clouds’ this metaphor should be shown as a brief shot of Juliet sitting in the clouds, gently weeping to herself. Also when Capulet refers to metaphors of storms and weather I would put in a shot of a boat at sea, rocking violently to and fro.
As Capulet turns his back on his daughter so does her mother. Juliet pleads with her mother in desperation ‘Talk to me not, do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee’ this is a powerful line which really finalises the solitary of Juliet from now on in the play. She is alone.
A high angle shot of Juliet shows how unimportant she is. The Nurse is Juliet’s only hope yet she betrays her leaving her completely alone and distraught. In Juliet’s one time of desperation and despair.
Relationships between parents and their children back then were very hostile and cold. No closeness was ever formed and it was a fundamental duty for the children to comply with their parents. The strictness and unfairness with arranged marriages was very distressful for the children but they had no choice. The words delivered by Capulet to Juliet ‘and you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets’ an ultimatum here saying he does not care if Juliet dies on the street but she will wed Paris
The setting, body language, camera shots and music will have hopefully been successful in representing the themes and conveying the ideas of the scene to the audience.
Louise O’Neill
