Unless good counsel mat the cause remove.’
This shows the audience that his family really cares about Romeo meaning that he is a respectable person otherwise his family would not care about what is disturbing him.
From line 158 Benvolio and Romeo are having a conversation about what is disturbing Romeo. Romeo says that that he is still in love. This is shown by Romeo saying
‘Out of her favour where I am in love.’
This makes the audience to want and find out about the outcome and how Romeo will fall in love with Juliet if he is still in love.
In line 165, Shakespeare is using Oxymorons to show Romeo’s emotions.
‘ O heavy lightness, serious vanity…’
Three things are shown by this. Firstly, it shows ho close love and hate are to each other. It is also showing how Romeo and Juliet are ‘opposites’. The Oxymorons could also be showing Romeo’s confusion.
Shakespeare is also using interjection for Romeo with the ‘O’s
‘O me… O Brawling love..
O loving hate… O anything’
The interjection reveals to the audience Romeo’s intense emotions. This creates more interest in him.
Shakespeare shows Romeo’s romantic side with the poetic aspect to his character.
‘Love is a smoke made with a fume of sighs’
This makes the audience respect Romeo.
In scene 2, union and relationships are the topic again but as a modern audience, we see that Capulet and Paris make a ‘deal’ about Juliet. This is shown in line 11 where Capulet says
‘Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride’
Juliet is being treated like an object here. Shakespearean audiences might have found this acceptable, and maybe even normal, but a contemporary audience finds it unfair towards Juliet. The fact that Juliet is being given off also adds to the ‘obstructions’ between Romeo and Juliet ever getting together. This makes the audience eager to find out what will happen next.
Although Capulet is giving off Juliet, he seems to have a conscience. He shows this in Scene 2 line 10 by saying
‘Let two more summers wither in pride’
which basically means that he wants her to grow up. This shows the audience how young Juliet really is that she is not ready for Paris. It also brings up another issue, which is that if she is not ready for Paris, she will not be ready for Romeo either.
In Scene 3, Lady Capulet is discussing marriage with Juliet. Juliet replies by saying
‘ It is an honour I dream not of’
The use of honour and dream show that although Juliet does not want to get married, she still respects it.
In line 100, Juliet is talking to her mother about marriage to Paris and she says that she will accept but adds
‘Than your strength gives consent to fly’
This shows that Juliet is going to follow her parents’ wishes, but only to the point that they agree to. This is ironic because she will end up with Romeo and in doing so, will not be respecting her parents.
In scene 4, Capulet is holding a party and Romeo is being persuaded by his friends to go along with them.
‘Nay gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.’
This shows that Romeo has good friends who want him happy. This in turn shows that he is well liked and therefore must be a worthy person. The use of gentle reminds the audience of Romeo’s sensitive nature. This is appealing to the audience.
Mercutio tells Romeo to forget about love in line 27
‘If love be rough with you, be rough with love:’
This is ironic because this is the night in which he will meet Juliet and fall in love. It also means that if Romeo is actually going to go, then he will most probably finally meet Juliet since this is a party that is being hosted by Capulet. This creates some anxiety in the audience.
Romeo’s first encounter with Juliet is in scene 5. He sees Juliet dancing and asks a servant who she is. Her beauty impresses him because he says
‘O she doth teaches the torches to burn bright!’
With a Shakespearean audience, this would have helped them imagine what Juliet might look like since the actor portraying Juliet was a man.
Shakespeare also reveals how deeply in love Romeo is by using a rhyming couplet
‘Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.’
The couplet gives emphasis to Romeo’s love for Juliet. This could impress the audience because of the intense emotions, or could show that he is not serious because he was complaining about how he loves Rosaline a few hours earlier.
In line 60, Tybalt tells Capulet about Romeo’s presence.
‘Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe:’
This reminds the audience that Romeo and Juliet belong to conflicting families.
Capulet replies to this by saying
‘ And to say the truth, Verona brags of him
To be a virtuous and well-govern’d youth.’
This shows that Romeo must be a pleasant person if even his enemy thinks of him that way.
After the talk, Tybalt says
‘Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.’
This is prophetic of the ‘star-cross’d lovers’. Here Shakespeare reminds the audience about the protagonists’ fate.
The meeting between Romeo and Juliet is a pivotal moment in the play. Romeo uses a semantic feel of religion to describe their first meeting
‘Holy shrine…’ ‘..Pilgrim..’ ‘..saints..’
This elevates the status of their meeting and their kiss making it seem sacred. In a contemporary audience it brings out the romantic aspect of it but an Elizabethan audience would have found this sac religious.
The interruption by the nurse
‘Madam, your mother craves a word with you.’
Reminds the audience about how young Juliet still is and that she is still controlled by her parents. It also reminds the audience that she is a Capulet.
Romeo then asks the nurse who she is and the nurse tells her that she is a Capulet. Romeo then says
‘my life is my foe’s debt.’
And this shows how serious he is about Juliet. This statement’s severity causes the audience to get more engrossed in the play.
Juliet asks the nurse whether Romeo is married and says
‘My grave is like to be my wedding bed.’
Which is a prophetic statement of what will happen to the protagonists although when she was saying this sentence, she meant it to show how much she hoped that he was not married.
In line 137, Juliet realizes that Romeo is a Montague and says
‘My only love sprung from my only hate!’
This shows that she is as troubled as Romeo is about them coming from opposing families. This makes the audience sympathetic towards the protagonists and also anxious about what will happen next.
Baz Luhrman’s interpretation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ has been designed for contemporary audiences. He has changed the setting to Verona Beach, he uses guns instead of swords and uses famous and attractive actors for the protagonists. This makes it easier for a modern audience to relate with the play.
Shakespeare has used a wide variety of techniques to build up tension, suspense, anxiety, sympathy and most importantly, love and hatred. I found that the constant reminder of how the protagonists were ill fated, by using prophetic statements was the best technique used because it creates a sense of sympathy and also false hope in the audience that the protagonists will end up well.
