Romeo, in soliloquy tells us that Juliet’s eyes alone could make night seem like day, this is shown through Shakespeare’s metaphor of the bird singing which is often linked with happiness and calm. He also uses the rhyming couplet of “bright” and “night” which are seen as opposites to emphasise the effect that Juliet has on him. The overall tone of the scene is that of happiness, an emotion rarely used in this play, especially after Romeo’s exile in Act 3. The scene shows true joy as Romeo and Juliet agree to get married as soon as possible. This cheerfulness is mostly due to the theme of love being explored without limits.
However, the love created in the balcony scene, is contrasted hugely with the theme of hatred explored in Act 3 scene 1. The hatred described in 3.1 is over nothing more than a hatred of a name and the terrible conclusion to this scene claims the first two victims of the “ancient grudge” that will claim a further three including Romeo and Juliet themselves. The “fiery Tybalt”, unaware of the recent marriage between Romeo and Juliet, is intent on revenge for Romeo’s presence at the Capulet ball, after calling Romeo a villain, he receives this strange answer from Romeo:
This shows Romeo’s new feeling towards what he considers to be a pointless “ancient grudge”. He now begins to “feel” for Tybalt as he is now related to Tybalt as a cousin-in-law. Shakespeare emphasises the “have to”, which shows that the feelings are not natural, as they were with Juliet. However Romeo’s feelings for the Capulet Juliet make him underestimate the true enmity of the families and it takes the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt for him to realize that Friar Lawrence’s statement (below) will not come to pass.
The dramatic irony of this sentence is shown through the prologue, as it is not the happiness of their marriage that will end the feud, but instead the tragedy of their deaths.
Shakespeare clearly shows throughout the play the fury and pointlessness of the hatred, he alludes to this through the characterisation of Romeo and Juliet themselves who appear quite different to their family and so are isolated from them, each relying upon a mentor as opposed to their parents. The anger shown in this scene is portrayed through Tybalt and Mercutio’s constant taunting of each other. This creates dramatic irony as neither Mercutio nor Tybalt know of Romeo’s wedding to Juliet. Mercutio calls Tybalt a “rat-catcher” and “King of the Cats”, in a very intimidating and demeaning way. This is a definite contrast to the balcony scene which rejects the families’ hatred of each other based merely on their names. The role of Mercutio in this scene shows the extent of the enmity for Mercutio belongs to neither house yet is caught up in the fighting between them, showing that the hatred is beyond just the families.
Loyalty is one of the central themes for both scenes; however, the way in which the characters express their loyalty is very different. In 3.1, the “ancient grudge” brings together the various alliances. The Capulet Tybalt feels passionate towards his family, referring to Romeo as “boy”, a very degrading and insulting form of address. Mercutio too, despite being neither Montague nor Capulet sides with Romeo and is dismayed by Romeo’s “cowardice”, exclaiming disbelievingly, “O calm, dishonourable, vile submission”. This refers back to the great dramatic irony as Mercutio, like Tybalt is unaware of Romeo’s marriage. Shakespeare shows the loyalty through the many threats issued from either side, each seeking a fight and neither willing to back down. He also conveys the anger and hatred through the length and expression of lines. Unlike 2.2, the lines are short and sharp, loyal to their own side. Tybalt exclaims attackingly:
This accusation is sharp and shows aggression towards Mercutio and shows signs of violence that will result in Mercutio’s death. After Mercutio and Tybalt’s deaths, Shakespeare tries to show to the audience the flaws of these loyalties that are so tied up with hatred and that caused the pointless deaths of two individuals.
The loyalty illustrated in the balcony scene is shown in a completely different light to 3.1. Both Romeo and Juliet demonstrate that they are above this petty “ancient grudge” which makes them seem deceitful to their own families. They feel angry towards their own namesake, as opposed to proud, like Tybalt; this is shown especially through Juliet’s famous “wherefore art thou Romeo” soliloquy. She exclaims that:
This shows the ludicrous superficiality and the rejection of loyalty that is shown by both lovers. Shakespeare’s characterisation of Romeo and Juliet as “disloyal” isolates them from the main core of Montague-Capulet hatred. Shakespeare uses this separation to build up to the tragic conclusion of the play. Loyalty is a key theme that brings Romeo and Juliet together; so far in the play Romeo has fallen in love with a two Capulet women, is increasingly isolated from his father and is now proposing marriage. As well as this Juliet has ignored her mother’s demands to fall in love with Paris and is accepting marriage to Romeo without her parents knowing. This deceit adds to the inevitable tragedy that is culminates in their deaths.
A theme explored mainly in 2.2 is that of time. In the prologue, the chorus refers to it describing the play as, “the two hours’ traffic of our stage”. The fact that the entire play unfolds over relatively few days (less than a week) adds to the tragedy as we can see that five fit, young people are dead within a week, sacrificed to end this “ancient grudge”. In 2.2 we see this sense of rapidity as Romeo and Juliet are proposing marriage even though it is only the second time they have met, exclaiming, “ What o’clock tomorrow shall I send for thee”. This shows great haste and Shakespeare uses this speed with fate to highlight the sadness of these events.
Time is less shown in 3.1; however, it is employed to show the great change in tone that occurs within the scene. Romeo goes from intense happiness from marrying Juliet the scene before to increasing desperation referring to himself as “fortune’s fool” after Tybalt’s murder. This is shown by the rapidity in which the happy tone is replaced with a more morbid one that is continued until the play’s terrible denouement in Act 5 Scene 3.
As I have mentioned before, fate plays a huge role within the play, leaving its hints and sign throughout the drama and not just within the Prologue which announces that “a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” From Act 1 scene 4, Romeo begins to fear the consequences of the night of their meeting, exclaiming,
This ominous warning of what to come is concluded by their deaths; however, the rising of this fate is portrayed throughout the play. In 2.2, the meeting of Romeo and Juliet, however romantic and happy is to the audience dampened by the knowledge that neither will outlive the course of the play. This is one of the key points of the play as it is arguable that the course of the play is set from here and that it is now inevitable. This fate is shown through Romeo’s actions in the scene, for he is so “star-crossed” in love that he risks death by climbing up the balcony and also risks dishonour from marrying a Capulet girl yet he does not care.
In complete contrast with this “fortunate” fate of 2.2 comes the terrible inevitability of 3.1, as Romeo misjudges the power and scale of the “ancient grudge”. After killing Tybalt, Romeo describes himself as “fortune’s fool”. This personification of fortune as a being rather than a “force” adds to the shock of the scene. It shows Romeo’s frank description of himself and of his position and the theme of fate and hatred are used to move Romeo’s quite backward character to the present. Fate leads Romeo into exile, where he can no longer see Juliet, and in an attempt to, leads to his death. The fate described in 2.2 is far less morbid and fearful as it is in 3.1 onwards. However, its optimism proves to be short-lived as the tragedy engulfs the play’s action
In conclusion, Shakespeare’s use of many contrasting and similar themes within the play brings out the great tragedy in Romeo and Juliet which makes it one of the most famous plays in English literature. Shakespeare conveys these varied themes through the characters’ speeches and body language and actions. They dominate the play, and are present within every scene, though especially in the ones I have discussed in this essay. Shakespeare shows that no matter how different the scenes are, they are all linked by the themes that ere expressed within them. For it is not one, but all the themes combined that lead to the tragic deaths of both Romeo and Juliet and the woeful ending to the play.
