The seriousness of Romeo’s speech contrasts with the joking manner of Capulet’s only moments before. Capulet’s speech has a general happy tone, such as when he says “Ah ha, my mistresses! Which of you all will now deny to dance?” we can see that Capulet is in a very jovial mood and his body language on stage would also show this. We know he is very happy because he is a very successful and posh man, yet he is being loud and outgoing in order to encourage others to enjoy themselves. However, in Romeo’s speech there is a serious tone, such as when he says, “For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night”. This makes the audience recognise how serious Romeo is about Juliet, as he is banishing every woman he has ever loved from his mind in order to conclude that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. This contrast in mood between Capulet and Romeo signify how Shakespeare creatively uses different themes throughout the play.
After Romeo sees Juliet, he is seen by Tybalt, who is incensed that Romeo, a Montague, has came to the party. Tybalt’s speech of rage to Capulet contrasts greatly with Romeo’s romantic speech about Juliet and shows how quickly the play can display love and turn to hate. It seems that it’s only the young members of the families that upkeep the feud as when Tybalt expresses his outrage Capulet simply replies by saying “Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone; he bears him like a portly gentleman”. This shows that Capulet doesn’t class the feud to be of any importance, and doesn’t mind about the appearance of Romeo, even complimenting him by calling him a dignified gentleman.
Tybalt’s perseverance causes Capulet’s calm to quickly develop into intolerance when he replies in anger, saying, “Am I the master here, or you? Go to”. It is obvious that Capulet has the authority here as he is mocking Tybalt and asking a rhetorical question. There is a contrast between the two characters as Capulet seems to be old and wise, but Tybalt is young and fiery tempered. This argument between two of the same family keeps the audience engaged, as it is exciting and a change from the normal feud between the Montagues and Capulets.
We know from Capulet’s protectiveness of any trouble happening at the party that he wants to keep up his reputation as a highly respected and successful man, such as when he says, “You’ll make a mutiny among my guests!” This anger when he mentions his guests shows his passion for being a very important man and also refers to authority.
From the debate between Capulet and Tybalt we can also see that Tybalt knows he is inferior to Capulet, as he doesn’t make an attempt to challenge him. His replies show an inferior status, such as when he says “Why, uncle. ‘tis a shame.” From this display of weakness from Tybalt, who is normally portrayed to be a strong minded character, we can deduce that Shakespeare wants to increase the audience perception of the authority of Capulet.
Despite the fact that Tybalt displays a lack of confidence when in the company of Capulet, the audience possibly believe that once Capulet’s back is turned Tybalt will be planning his retribution. We can see this when he says “I will withdraw: but this intrusion shall. Now seeming sweet convert to bitter gall.” Here a personal feud between Tybalt and Romeo begins, therefore the audience will be expecting Tybalt to exact revenge for Romeo’s intrusion, and feel excited yet worried, making them constantly engaged. This talent of enticing the audience’s attention is what helps to make Shakespeare a very skilled writer.
One of the main points of Act 1 Scene 5 is to exhibit the romance between Romeo and Juliet in their first ever meeting. Their first words that are exchanged are in the form of a very romantic sonnet which uses iambic pentameter, which captivates the audience and sets an amorous scene that contrasts immensely with the heated debate between Capulet and Tybalt previously, as once again Shakespeare skilfully switches themes. The sonnet contains a certain degree of religious imagery from which we can surmise many things. The language used by Shakespeare here eloquently describes the deep passion that they feel for one another, and the audience are well rewarded for their patience in waiting for the two lovers to meet. Romeo quickly forgets about Rosaline and it seems that Juliet is his new “religion”. Romeo uses religious imagery often such as at the start of the sonnet when he says “This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this.” Romeo metaphorically refers to Juliet as a “holy shrine”, from this we can infer that Juliet is his place of worship and his new religion. Furthermore we can see that Romeo values love greatly in his life as he refers to Juliet as a religion, which can also mean his way of life. The use of religious imagery has an appeal to the audience as they show great respect for religion; this helps to keep them engaged.
From the same quote: “This holy shrine”, we can also see that Romeo regards Juliet to be heavenly, therefore implying that she is so beautiful that she must of came from heaven. The fact that he calls her a “holy shrine” expresses how infatuated he has become with Juliet, to the extent that he claims that he actually worships her. The use of religious imagery in the sonnet shows great poetic effect.
It is obvious that Juliet is immediately attracted to Romeo also, as she is acting against courtly love. We know this when she says, “Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer”, this shows signs of interest, and as in a lady of high prosperity courtly love is a tradition, we notice that Juliet is falling in love; and we can see now that their destiny to be lovers is going to be fulfilled, yet their destiny to be doomed is soon to follow.
Romeo shows great romance and politeness with his speech in this part of the text, such as when he says, “They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair”. Romeo is enquiring for a kiss in an ingenious way, prior he had said only religious terms can be used to describe their relationship, as it is associated with the purity and passion of god-like beings. Romeo’s well-mannered speech relates to previous when Capulet defends him and refers to him as a dignified gentleman.
The scene between Romeo and Juliet is a good indication of the roles that each will play in their relationship. It is obvious that Romeo will be the more dominant of the couple, such as when he says, “If I profane with my unworthiest hand”. We can see that Romeo has made the first move towards seducing Juliet, and as she is just a young woman she is quite easily tempted. The fact that Romeo can be seen as the more dominant lover is no surprise to the audience, as he is older and more mature.
Despite starting off timidly, Juliet seems to mature from a timid young girl to a mature woman. She also grows in confidence; we know this because she says, “Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake”. Here she is using her intelligence to encourage Romeo to kiss her again in order to take back the sin that he has placed on her lips. This growth in confidence shows that Juliet is falling deeper into love with Romeo, as she further letting go of courtly love and expressing her emotions by kissing Romeo.
Another indication of how Juliet seems to mature is her interesting comment: “You kiss by the book”, which can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, it emphasizes Juliet’s naivety, in many plays this line would be said with a degree of wonder, so that the audience thinks she is saying what a great kisser Romeo is. Secondly, the line can be said in a matter of fact manner indicating that Romeo kisses by the book, meaning that he is proficient, but unoriginal. However, it is clear that Juliet is impressed with Romeo and ends up encouraging him to pursue their love. This way of producing two different meanings from one sentence is a very clever piece of writing by Shakespeare, and is another addition to the different ways he has of capturing the audience’s interest.
The love here is real love, not infatuation. It is more genuine than the love Romeo expressed for Rosaline; we know this because of the language used. By using passionate dialogue, such as “Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take”, Shakespeare is able to once again express the feelings of Romeo towards Juliet. This also shows the audience that to kiss Juliet, would mean no greater thing in the world to Romeo. The dramatic effect of this kiss is increased, because of what it now means in the context of their lives and also the play. Drama is effectively used, to translate to the audience that this is one of the most important incidents and scenes of the play. All of this significance of this scene is skillfully used to prove to the audience that Romeo’s love for Juliet is the real thing.
The drama is built up again when the two characters find out that each other belong to the family enemy. Romeo recognizes his misfortune and exclaims “O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt”. This shows that Romeo is truly saddened by the news, and helps to persuade the audience that his love is genuine. Romeo believes his life is now owed to his family’s enemy and he begins to believe that whatever happens will be disturbing for him when he says, “Ay, so I fear; the more is my unrest”. The dramatic irony of the audience already knowing that they belong to enemy families has now dissolved, and Romeo and Juliet are truly shocked.
Juliet’s reaction is more dramatic than that of Romeo’s. She knows that there is a grave problem with her being in love with Romeo and she shows it by her reply to the Nurse when she finds out the news: “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late!” She produces two rhyming couplets, she shows her regret in the first by saying it is too late, she is already in love with him. This relates to the fact that it was their destiny to fall in love, and there was nothing she could do to prevent them meeting.
In her second rhyming couplet, Juliet says “Prodigious birth of love it is to me, that I must love a loathed enemy”. This shows Juliet’s awareness of how ill omened the fact that she has fallen in love with a hated enemy is. This relates to the fact that they are destined to be doomed, as well as destined to fall in love. This creates a stronger sense of dramatic irony, as the audience already knows Romeo and Juliet’s fate. This dialogue helps to keep the audience enticed throughout the rest of the play, as it builds up even more tension to help increase the dramatic effect.
In conclusion, Act 1 Scene 5 is very dramatic because Shakespeare uses Capulets speech to set a contrasting happy mood to that of the beginning of the play, so already this scene was different. Shakespeare expressed Romeo’s declaration of his love for Juliet to intensify the mood even more. Then Tybalt’s speech was used to renew the hatred and conflict between the Capulets and the Montagues, and also to use the key theme of hate. Finally Shakespeare added the kiss of Romeo and Juliet, to heighten the drama and passion but also to represent a key theme, that of love. These two themes, love and hate, are used constantly throughout the play to give it an edge over other plays. These themes are used because the world can relate to love and hate easily, as it is an emotion of everyday life, which has helped to inspire many more books and films. This scene is crucial to the rest of the play as it contains all of these important and dramatic scenes mentioned. In my opinion, Act 1 Scene 5 is one of if not the most important scenes in the play, purely because of its use of significant drama that is vital in setting the scene for the rest of the play and the tragic tale that is Romeo and Juliet.
