Consider the dramatic effect of act one scene five on Shakespeare's audience and discuss why you feel the scene is important to the role of tragedy In the play.

English homework- Assignment, Consider the dramatic effect of act one scene five on Shakespeare’s audience and discuss why you feel the scene is important to the role of tragedy In the play

Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is all about two lovers who are driven to suicide after everyone they know tries to split them up. The two families in the play, the Montagues and the Capulets seem to have had a very long grudge against each other, “ aye, I hate the Capulets” this is one of the reasons that pushes the lovers away from each other. Romeo and Juliet’s love is one that can never really work and the audience knows this, this gets the audience more involved in the play.

Act one scene five is important in the play because it shows a different light on the characters. For example, Capulet at first we think he is a not very nice character with a grudge against the Montagues but in fact he turns out to be a very good, polite and peaceful man. I think this is used to get Shakespeare’s audience thinking, after all they did need to be entertained, because there was people from all walks of life there, from cleaners to the lords and titled people. The audience in those days consisted of being in a massive arena which was still cramped however the more well off folk could afford to gain height and see the stage clearly above and over the lower classes. Scene five also shows us that some characters are determined to cause trouble, e.g. when Tybalt gets upset over Romeo and his friends being able to go into there private masque party. This tension gathers the audiences attention especially when he quotes things such as “fetch me my rapier” (a rapier is an old sword), this makes the audiences mind start to think of the things that might happen next, an all out battle to the death? A verbal battle? Or will Romeo just give up and walk away? This enhanced the dramatic effect of the play and got people generally more interested.

The structure of Act one scene five is quite complex, it is built up over many soliloquy and important actions and conversations, For example when Capulet decides that he will tell Tybalt to do as he is told. Quite a lot happens in this scene, the masque party has a lot of people in it, Paris also attends although he does not play a big part in the play, Paris’ role is more of a background setter and to keep interest up in the audience. Paris is supposed to be marrying Juliet but when Juliet sees Romeo it all goes wrong or right in their eyes. Capulet lets Romeo and his friends get away with coming to the party. Even though Romeo and Juliet are surprised that their families cannot be seen together they still want to try and meet up, as there is definitely interest in both parties. There is an elegant word play between Romeo and Juliet about religion and how it affects their lives, “my lips, two blushing pilgrims”. The nurse also has a reasonable sized part in the play, she seems to be the one that Juliet gets on well with and can talk to openly. The nurse also gives her the idea of organising a meet between Romeo and Juliet. To generalise, Act one scene five is a complex structured piece of the play it has everything from long soliloquies to religious quotes, also there is a lot going on, this attracts the audiences attention once more. This would work well because the audience could only focus on one thing at a time, thus meaning there eyes will be darting round the stage to see what’s happening next.

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The scenes leading up to act one scene five are quite important, there is a big fight at the start of the play, this is action packed. There is an extreme grudge held towards the two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The good citizens of Verona try and stop this rivalry but it doesn’t work, however when Prince Escalus arrives in the town square the fighting stops and peace is restored, thanks to the prince. The prince has to issue a warning though to the two families it is that death will be the penalty for the next disturbance. “ Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace”. The audience already knows of the tragedy because at the start Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet there is a chorus, it explains that when they die it resolves the grudge between the families. “Doth with their death bury their parents strife” and “the fearful passage of their death-mark’d love”. This gets the audience thinking of how this all could happen. This is also known as a prologue (background information), this prologue goes into just enough detail to get you thinking without revealing the whole story of the play. Romeo is first in love with Rosaline, however in the play he says, “before this night I never saw true beauty” when he looks at Juliet. Rosaline seems to disappear from there on in the play, I think she is just another background prop which could be used to provoke Interest in the audience by getting them to think “will there be rivalry between Juliet and Rosaline over Romeo?” The friar believes that Rosaline was the one for Romeo but he says, “love then lies, not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes”. Romeo says that he wants to forget Rosaline and her name now means nothing to him “I have forgot that name, and that name’s woe”.

Act one, scene five opens with the servants having a chat to each other; you can see that these characters mean nothing in the play, as they do not talk in verse. However when Shakespeare’s Romeo doesn’t talk in verse it means something usually important is going to take place. E.g. when they say “ You are looked for and called for, asked for and sought for, in the great chamber”. Another example of this would be “cheerly, boys; be brisk awhile, and the longer liver take all”.

When Romeo sees Juliet for the first time he starts to talk in a very poetic and romantic way, as if Shakespeare wants to show the audience another side to Romeo, maybe a romantic side. Romeo implies that she is the best of the Capulet family, “Shows a snowy dove trooping with crows”. When Tybalt makes his threats I think the audience will be on “edge of their seats” because it will start them thinking what will happen next, a fight? A verbal fight? Or an invitation to something a little bigger? Maybe to the death? This enhances the audience’s view of the play as it gets them involved more. The sonnet would provide some interest in certain types of the audience, Shakespeare’s audience varied from kings and queens to paupers. The sonnet was a bit of the play that was a special and romantic play on words and I think that only the well off and educated people would understand. It was used to broaden the audience appeal throughout Shakespeare’s audience. The Elizabethans enjoyed the sonnets because they themselves like to speak in rhythm and they found it entertaining to watch a well written one with a meaning which wasn’t always clear, so it gave the more intelligent of the audience something to work out aswell.

The audience feels sad for Romeo and Juliet when they fall in love because as an audience we already know the fate of the lovers; “ death-mark’d love”. Also to add to this we also know that is isn’t exactly possible for Romeo and Juliet to be seen together as their two families are in a heavy grudge against each other. At the end of the play Juliet says “my only love sprung from my only hate”, this is significant because it gives the audience the opportunity to understand the situation that she is in. I think that Juliet regrets or is embarrassed because she has fallen in love with someone who is known to be part of a family feud. When Romeo first sees Juliet and instantly falls in love with her, he says that she is too beautiful for this earth, “beauty to rich for use, for earth too dear!” this shows how much of a high opinion that Romeo has of Juliet. He also says that he has never seen beauty on this scale till tonight “for I ne’er saw true beauty till this night”. The lovers engage in a very image related play on word later on in the scene. There is a strong imagery of religion “good pilgrim”. I think this is used to emphasise the fact that they aren’t allowed to be together, like a saint and the pilgrim that worships the saint, there is a sense of untouchability in there speech.

This scene is important to keep the role of tragedy going because, there is always an emphasis on how they are madly in love and want to be together. But sadly never can be in reality, as they both come from two different types of family. This makes the audience feel sorry for them. The fact that Juliet is desperate to be with Romeo and he knows it means that in the later scenes they are pretty much guaranteed to try and sneak out and meet each other. This is again almost guaranteed to get the audience thinking about what is to come in the play, after all the Elizabethan’s where people who liked to work things out for themselves.

As a conclusion, this scene is quite important in the play as it sets the background, shows us a different light onto some of the characters and altogether gives a wider appeal to the audience as there is a bit in it for everyone. The well off people had a lot to think about which kept them happy whilst the poor people could watch the mass movement on stage which would keep them busy. There is a lot of movement in this scene, there is dancing and there almost was a duel between Romeo and Tybalt although it was stopped by Capulet because he didn’t want a ruckus amongst his guests. This still proved to be entertaining to see Capulet tell off Tybalt, when its Tybalt who has the reputation for being a trouble starter and a very good swordsman. In all the play is an emotional rollercoaster, I think that the audience would be sad one minute and then happy the next and then they might be excited. This scene is also has a range of characters in it. For the first time we get to hear the servants discuss there lives without the main stars of the play being near. This gives us, as an audience, an insight to the 'normal' people’s views on the main family leaders. In this scene there is a heavy play on words between Romeo and Juliet, this is done through many religious images. As an audience we already know what is going to happen, but suprisingly it still shocks the audience.

Jonathan

Sword