Romeo goes to the party because his friends Benvolio and Mercutio persuade him to go. Romeo’s friends say he should go to the party to compare Rosaline with other women. Romeo agrees as he thinks Rosaline will be in the party. This is similar to Juliet because she is asked by her mother to view her future husband, Paris. Romeo then enters the party and he sees Juliet immediately. Romeo then Talks about Juliet and says, “For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night”. This means Romeo’s feelings for Rosaline are all gone. The way how Romeo changes suggest that he is in love with the idea of being in love but when he meets Juliet, the effect is different. This suggests that Romeo is infatuated by the beauty of Juliet. The audience are now drawn into the story as they are amazed by the way how Romeo changes.
Romeo then speaks in rhyming couplets and his romantic speech is full of imagination. “It seems she hangs upon the check of night, as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear”. This means Juliet is a star and stands out from everybody else in the party. Romeo says he has never loved anyone as much as Juliet. A simile is used here to enhance the dramatic effects of the scene because it changes the mood from humorous speech to Romeo’s love speech which is more serious. The purpose is to keep the audience in tense. Also, Romeo makes comparisons between black and white as he says “So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows.” I think the comparison between black and white indicates the conflict between the families and the clash of love and hate.
After Romeo’s talk, Tybalt notices Romeo’s presence. He then immediately draws his sword and prepares to kill Romeo. Tybalt says, “Who dare the slave come hither, cover’d with an antic face, to fleer and scorn at our solemnity”. Tybalt wants Romeo to be dead because he thinks he has come to spoil the party. His speech is hateful and fierce. This suggests that Tybalt is hot-headed as he is a man who seldom speaks but more in action. Theme of hate is introduced here and the audience are now being introduced with a hot-temper character and they want to know whether Tybalt will kill Romeo or not, so the audience are anticipating what might happen next.
Fortunately, Lord Capulet saves the life of Romeo by stopping Tybalt from killing Romeo. Lord Capulet says “I would not for the wealth of this town. Here in my house do him disparagement”. Lord Capulet stops Tybalt from killing Romeo because he is influenced by the Prince of Verona in Act 1 Scene 1 as he is being told if anyone of the two families disturbs the streets again, their lives will pay for it as a consequence. The audience may be thinking there might be fight, either between Romeo and Tybalt because Tybalt wants Romeo to get out of the ball or between Tybalt and Capulet because both of them want things to be going on their own way.
Tybalt subsequently leaves the party. Romeo and Juliet begin to get talking to each other. Both Romeo and Juliet speak in rhyming sonnets and their conversation is full of spiritual language. Romeo starts the conversation and says, “If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this”. This suggests their love is spiritual and how pure their love is. At that moment, the time between Romeo and Juliet seems to stop and they are like they have been separated from everything else. However, when Romeo tries to kiss Juliet for the second time, their precious moment is interrupted by the presence of Juliet’s nurse. In my opinion, I think this symbolises their love will be interrupted in the future and is a tragedy. Sonnet is usually used to express the idea of love. In this sonnet, a lot of religious words are used, such as “holy shrine”, “pilgrim”, “prayer” and “saint”. The audience are interested and drawn into this sonnet because of the contrast response between Juliet and Rosaline.
When Juliet is away, he asks for his name and he is shocked that Juliet is a Capulet. He says, “My life is my foe’s debt”. Romeo thinks he owes his life to his enemy. Romeo is then led away by Benvolio. After that, Juliet asks her nurse to ask the name of the young handsome guy she has just met. Juliet says, “If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed.” Juliet thinks if the young guy who is Romeo is married and she shall go to die. This line is so ironic and sarcastic as it foreshadows the anticipation of the upcoming events where she might die. When the nurse tells Juliet that the Romeo is a Montague, Juliet is shocked as well and she says “My only love sprung from my only hate”. Oxymoron is used here as love and hate is a contradictory word pair. In the 16th century, the act of Juliet by not listening to parents is extremely wrong as she should do everything as required by her parents. I think both Romeo and Juliet feel despair and disappointed. Yet, none of them stops their love and try to move on. The audience are amazed by the way how Romeo and Juliet act as they are so young and they still decide to continue their love even though there are objections from both sides of the families.
Act 1 Scene 5 is the scene mostly about Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting. In this scene, Shakespeare conveys a message through the use and play of language. Shakespeare uses blank verse, rhyming couplets, oxymoron and romantic language in sonnets. He tells us that Romeo and Juliet’s love will not go along very well and this will also be their downfall and death. This scene shows the contrast of the themes of love and hate as long as Romeo and Juliet are still in love with each other, the family feud will continue. The audience is subjected to types of emotions such as humour of Lord Capulet, aggression of Tybalt attempting to kill Romeo and romance and true love elements of Romeo and Juliet. There are vast varieties of emotions in the play and the audience appreciated it. In addition, audience are then eager to know the ongoing relationship of Romeo and Juliet as it will pave the path for tragic events that are likely to happen in the future. On the whole, I think this is a crucial scene in the play because it sets the story for the rest of the play.
