This quote is particularly significant because Romeo is a figurehead Montague, the only son of Lord Montague, and it would seem obvious that the servant would recognize him. This scene is humorous, as the servant asked to deliver the invitations is unable to read, hence forth, asking Romeo to read it for him. This is very ironic, as the consequences leading from this invitation are particularly tragic.
Capulet’s party, scene 5, is another humourous event in the play, with jokes about corns in his welcoming speech,
“Welcome gentlemen! Ladies that have their toes
Unplagued with corns will walk a bout with you.
Ah, my mistress, which of you all
Will now deny to dance? She that makes dainty,
She I’ll swear hath corns. Am I come near ye now? ”
(Act One, Scene 5)
There is a light-hearted feel to the scene, which is reflected in the film version of the play, directed by Baz Lurhmann, whichs especially accentuates this comic event with loud music, characters in drag, and fairground noises.
However, Act One is not all comic events. It contains many tragic moments, and reveals that some events (such as the servant inviting Romeo to the party) contain more tragedy than once interpreted. The first act begins with a duel between the two houses. On stage, this opening scene would give a dramatic, tragic start, adding to the tragedy of the prologue and the vision of tragedy pre-empted by the title. On a deeper layer, the clown’s speech hides some tragedy, as, although it is amusing, the consequences following this invitation are fatal and deadly.
Not only does the first Act contain comic events, but, the language is highly comical. It includes puns, oxymorons, comical imagery, and bawdy humour.
Scene 1 contains many puns and sexual references, for example,
“Therefore I will be civil to the maids; I will cut off their heads.”
This particular quote is amusing as it is highly ironic. The use of ‘civil’ in the quotation creates the false impression of kindness, however the next phrase evades this, as ‘I will cut off their heads,’ meant to take away their virginity. These remarks would have been interpreted differently by and Elizabethan audience. Whilst a modern day audience would find such comments misogynistic and vulgar, a audience from that period would have found it highly amusing and entertaining. Shakespeare has filled Romeo and Juliet with such puns, which gives the impression to a modern day critic he intended his audience to evoke laughter. This strengthens the idea that Romeo and Juliet was supposed to be a comedy.
Shakespeare also makes use of oxmorons such as, “feather of lead”, “o brawling love”, “cold fire”, and “still waking sleep” in Romeo’s speech (Act One, Scene 1). This gives a confused, comic impression, and adds a humorous dimension to his besotted speech
That plats the manes of horses in the night
And bakes the elf-locks in foul slutt.
Unlike it was first believed, the language Shakespeare uses is not all comic. Shakespeare also uses dramatic, emotive language to emphasise the tragedy aspect in the first act. The first example of this is in the Prologue, where he involves dramatic language, and moving imagery to set the scene of the play. It includes tragic phrases, which cause dramatic irony amongst the audience as it tells of the death of two of the main characters.
Another emotive speech was that of the prince. In it, he talks of the feud between the two households. Shakespeare includes much blood and death imagery, such as,
“That quench the fire of your pernicious rage
With purple-fountains issuing from your veins.”
(Act One, Scene 1)
This quotation involves much imagery, and, in that way, is very powerful to the audience. It mostly conjures up blood imagery, but with the use of the word ‘fire’, it also involves imagery with beasts. This speech also makes use of the word ‘canker’,
“Cankered with peace, to part the cankered hate.”
(Act One, Scene One)
The word canker, meaning cancer, conjures up much diseased and corroded imagery, making the speech very tragic.
Possibly one of the most tragic speeches in the play is that of Queen Mab. It uses colourful language and disturbing imagery. Told by Mercutio, it describes a dream had by him the night prior to Capulet’s party. It involves language such as,
“This is that very Mab ish hairs”
And,
“This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs
That presses them and learns them first to bear,”
The imagery in the speech is very dark, and the imagery is that of tiny beasts and infection. The beginning of the speech begins calmly, with imagery of tiny creatures and nature; however, towards the end it becomes more tense and dramatic. This mood is mirrored in Baz Lurhmann’s production of Romeo and Juliet. In it, the scene is set at night, in a pitch black surrounding. It shows the actor playing Mercutio getting more and more dramatic, and speeding up his speech. It has references to drugs, and the scene culminates in Mercutio shouting out the words, before an eerie silence drops.
The play contains some highly amusing characters, such as Romeo, the servants, and the older individuals. Romeo’s character is very melodramatic, and fickle, which makes it highly amusing for the audience. The fickle Romeo declares his love for Rosalin, and then, at Capulet’s party, falls in love with Juliet. This is highly comical, and extremely amusing, as Romeo’s character is so very overdramatic.
More characters that are portrayed with amusement are the servants to Capulet, Sampson and Gregory. In Baz Lurhmann’s film, they are pictured wearing surfing garments, and they are shown to be brainless and dim-witted.
On the other hand, not all the characters in Romeo and Juliet are comic. It is highly tragic, for example, that the two, ‘star-crossed lovers,’ are from separate feuding households. As well as this, it is vastly tragic that the audience knows the fate of Juliet, as this makes the character of Lord Capulet very tragic, as we know that Juliet is his last hope.
From the beginning of the first act, it is hard to determine whether or not Shakespeare meant the play to be a comedy of tragedy. However, it is my belief that the play is a clear tragedy, not least because of the language, characters and events, but because from the outset, it has been pre-empted that the play was meant to be a tragedy, not least because the play is entitled the ‘Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.