This shows that both families are willing to fight anywhere and that they hate each other as they are about to have a swordfight which could leave one of them dead.
Before the ball Romeo is infatuated with Rosaline and discusses her with Benvolio. Romeo thinks that he loves her and wants to go to the Capulet ball to see her. When speaking about her he uses rhyming couplets and oxymorons. For example he uses oxymorons:
‘Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!’ (Romeo, Act 1 scene 1, line 180)
When speaking of Rosaline Romeo uses traditional images of love and later he uses more inventive images for Juliet.
Romeo uses these rhyming couplets:
‘Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still,
Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will!’ (Romeo, Act 1 scene 1, line 172 and 173)
Romeo uses this language as he is infatuated by Rosaline and he wants to state this to Benvolio.
At the ball the atmosphere is livelier than the slow paced tense atmosphere earlier in the play. The drama is built up earlier in the play as Montague and Capulet are threatening each other. Capulet says:
‘My sword, I say! Old Montague is come,
And flourishes his blade in spite of me.’ (Capulet, Act 1 scene 1, lines 77 and 78)
This means that Capulet wants his sword as Montague has his sword and he is taunting Capulet.
Montague says:
‘Thou villain Capulet! Hold me not, let me go.’ (Montague, Act 1 scene 1, line 79)
Montague tells his wife to let go of him so that he can fight with Capulet.
This compares to the opening scene of Act 1 Scene 5 as the fight is slow paced and the beginning of the ball is fast paced as the servants prepare to tidy up. The first servant says:
‘Where's Potpan, that he helps not to take away? He
shift a trencher? he scrape a trencher!’ (Servant 1, Act 1 scene 5, lines 1 and 2)
This has the effect that the play has become livelier as it was tense in the beginning when Capulet and Montague threatened to fight. At the Capulet ball the atmosphere is calmer and everyone is having a good time despite the rush before the ball.
Capulets speech at the beginning of the ball is also lively as he has a joke with his guests. He says:
‘Welcome, gentlemen! ladies that have their toes
Unplagued with corns will walk a bout with you. ’ (Capulet, Act 1 scene 5, lines 16 and 17)
Capulet says this to ensure that everyone at the ball has a good time regardless of whether the ladies have corns.
When Romeo first see Juliet at the ball he instantly falls in love with her and seems to completely forget Rosaline. He says to himself in soliloquy:
‘O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!’ (Romeo, Act 1 scene 5, lines 41 to 53)
Romeos speech about Juliet brings up the images of black and white and how they contrast. Romeo says this as he believes that Juliet’s beauty stands out more than anyone else at the ball.
Tybalts speech contrasts with Romeos as it is full of anger and hate rather than love. In his speech he says:
‘This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy.’ (Tybalt, Act 1 scene 5, lines 55 and 56)
This has the effect that Tybalt is a violent and commanding person as he is willing to fight Romeo and he demands that a slave fetches his sword. This shows that Tybalts seems to think that he is superior over everyone else. Capulet responds by saying:
‘Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone;’ (Capulet, Act 1 scene 5, line 66)
He tells Tybalt that he should calm down as he does not want his ball to end because of Tybalts desire to fight with Romeo.
Tybalt threatens trouble at the party when he asks for someone to fetch his sword so he can kill Romeo. He says:
‘Fetch me my rapier, boy’ and ‘To strike him dead, I hold it not a sin.’ (Tybalt, Act 1 scene 5, lines 55 and 59)
The audience would be shocked that Tybalt would be willing to kill Romeo because he has gate crashed the Capulet party and he is a Montague.
This scene is a very important scene in the play as it is where Romeo and Juliet meet. Their meeting is dramatic because they speak as if Romeo is a pilgrim coming to a saintly Juliet. Romeo says:
‘My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss’ (Romeo, Act 1 scene 5, lines 96 and 97)
To which Juliet replies:
‘Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;’(Juliet, Act 1 scene 5, lines 99 and 100)
Shakespeare makes this scene dramatic by comparing Romeo and Juliet to a pilgrim and a saint. Shakespeare shows Romeo as a pilgrim that has been searching for the saint, Juliet. It is a conceit comparison to show Juliet the one Romeo loves is a holy saint.
The love for Juliet that Romeo shows is more than the infatuation he showed for Rosaline. When he is infatuated with Rosaline he says:
‘O, she is rich in beauty, only poor,
That when she dies with beauty dies her store.’ (Romeo Act 1 scene 5, lines 215 and 216)
This shows that Romeo was only infatuated by Rosaline and that he was not truly in love with her.
But when speaking about Juliet he says:
‘O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;
They pray grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.’(Romeo, Act 1 scene 5, lines 104 and 105)
This sates that Romeo is truly in love with Juliet as he askes her to kiss him. Romeo was infatuated by Rosaline but he was not able to even speak to her.
The balcony scene is a lot different from the ball as it is slower paced and includes many speeches from Romeo and Juliet. This scene is important as it allows Romeo and Juliets love to develop and eventually lead to their marriage.
The ball is engineered by Capulet to introduce Paris to Juliet as a possible husband. In Shakespeare’s time arranged marriages were common as the parents of a child would find a respectable person of the opposite sex to marry their child usually for financial reasons. A social occasion like the ball was needed for opposite to meet as young women mainly stayed inside their houses but men would go outside freely.
This scene is popular with audiences as it is an exciting scene. It starts with Capulet welcoming his guests and joking with them and after when Romeo enters he sees Juliet and he is startled by her beauty. This scene also includes Tybalt threatening violence against Romeo as he is a Montague but Capulet tells him to leave it. This is also the scene where Romeo and Juliet meet. This scene is exciting to audiences from Shakespeare’s time to now as there are many events in it. In the Zeffirelli version of the film this scene has dancing and music that portrays what it would be like in Shakespeare’s time whereas in the Luhrmann version this scene has been modernised to include modern music and dancing as the scene is colourful and the disco music that is playing is loud.
To sum up, Act 1 scene 5 is very important because many themes of the play begin to appear in it. The scene is significant as Tybalt recognises Romeo in the crowd of people and he hates him as he is a Montague. Tybalt threatens to kill Romeo but he is subsequently killed by Romeo later on in the play. The theme of love also commences in this scene as Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love. The theme of love leads to the secret marriage of Romeo and Juliet. Love also leads to the theme off tragedy as Romeo is misinformed and believes Juliet is dead. The ending theme of the play is death as Romeo and Juliet both die with each other.
