Explain how Shakespeare makes Act 3, scene 1 such a memorable experience for his audience. To what extent does this scene confirm the status of Romeo and Juliet as "star-crossed lovers"?

Authors Avatar

Explain how Shakespeare makes Act 3, scene 1 such a memorable experience for his audience. To what extent does this scene confirm the status of Romeo and Juliet as “star-crossed lovers”?

Act 3, scene 1 is a very memorable scene for the audience as they are presented with two, very dramatic fight scenes which result in Romeo’s banishment from Verona. As a consequence of this Romeo thinks he will never see his wife, Juliet, again. Shakespeare cleverly changes the theme of the scene to ‘hate’ after Mercutio is murdered. What seems to be a playful fight between him and Tybalt ends in his own death.  In an act of revenge Romeo then kills Tybalt in the second fight scene. The fight scenes give the audience a chilling reminder that the play is in fact a tragedy and that the unfortunate fate of Romeo and Juliet has already been decided.

Act 3, scene 1 is one of the most important scenes in the play as well as being one of the most memorable. Throughout the play Shakespeare alternates the theme between ‘love’ and ‘hate.’ In Act 2 ‘love’ is clearly presented to the audience as the main theme and this is further emphasised when the scene is concluded with the secret marriage of Romeo and Juliet. The theme of ‘love’ continues through the start of Act 3, scene 1 when Mercutio and Benvolio are joking around with each other.

Join now!

The theme dramatically changes however, after the murder of two of the play’s main characters ( Mercutio and Tybalt). Later on in the scene the audience are reminded of the play’s tragic ending when the arguing families reignite the ‘ancient feud’ between the Montagues and Capulets. This gets the audience to think of the Prologue  The scene ends on a dramatic note with the banishment of Romeo from Verona. This is important to the play as a whole because it is due to Romeo’s banishment, that he is misinformed on the death of his beloved Juliet which leads to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay