The impact of the opening scene is very down to earth following the prologue on love and fate and allows the audience to associate with the ‘real life’ of the play. However this does not mean that the opening scene is dull. The atmosphere of the opening scene is engaging and entertaining. It shows the ‘rough and tumble’ of the lower status characters. This impression is given to us in many ways.
Firstly the servants talk in prose because they are common and in a different class to characters such as Montague and Capulet. So Shakespeare shows this divide by using prose for the servants and verse for the ‘higher’ class characters. Secondly the servants use simpler words than the higher-class characters. For example, when Sampson and Gregory are talking about fighting with Montague’s men and sleeping with his maids they use words such as “push” and “thrust”. These words are very simple because the servants in Shakespearean times would not have been well educated. These words also convey the vulgar, sexuality and explicit language that shows a different sort of love to that suggested in the prologue.
The servants’ role in the scene is to show the feud between the two houses. The events, which unravel in the scene, show this. The servants encourage each other to fight by putting on a façade of being tough. They use phrases of encouragement such as “Draw, if you be men” to rile each other. However whenever a servant has taunted another servant the other always comes back with a further insult to foil the fighting e.g. “know not what you do” and it goes on.
Shakespeare introduces dramatic impact by using the characters’ personalities. This is the case in the character Tybalt. Tybalt’s character is very straight to the point. He uses strong phrases such as “I hate hell, all Montague’s, and thee.” Shakespeare uses Tybalt as a catalyst device to trigger violence. In scene one, when Benvolio is trying to keep the peace between Sampson and Abram he tells them to “part, fools!” However as soon as Tybalt enters he draws “among these heartless hinds” causing the violence to irrupt again. This makes the scene very exciting and tense. The scene quickly changes to a very dark and intimidating atmosphere with just a few lines. This contrasts with other more light hearted moments in the scene such as when Sampson and Gregory are joking and boasting that they are superior to the Montague’s. The stark contrasts in the opening scene make it dramatic, enhancing the two scenes as they are so different.
Romeo’s character changes throughout the play as he becomes more mature and learns more about love. The audiences’ first impressions of Romeo at the beginning of the play are that he is a bit young and naive about love. This naivety is shown when he is talking to Benvolio about Rosaline. He uses quotes such as “ a sea nourished with loving tears” and plays with words to express how love ‘confuses’ things. In doing this, the audience sees Romeo being dramatic and over exaggerative showing his immature attitude to love.
Romeo uses lots of metaphors when he is talking about love. We see this when he is talking about how he is melancholy because Rosaline doesn’t love him back; he says, “Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs”. Romeo has stereotypical images of love and dramatises his love for Rosaline by using imagery and expressive metaphors. The words “smoke” and “fume” suggest that love is confusing like smoke, as Romeo can’t see clearly through it. Shakespeare uses oxymoron’s such as “heavy lightness” or “feather of lead” to illustrate Romeo’s confusion.
Shakespeare often uses sudden changes of moods to excite the audience and make an impact on the scene. The scene where Benvolio is comforting Romeo is a big contrast to the opening scene. In the opening scene the servants talk about physical sex without mentioning love, as though it has no meaning. However Romeo talks about love as if it where something more special. This contrast can be seen in the difference between the characters quotes. The servants use words such as “push” and “thrust” but Romeo uses phrases such as “kiss fair ladies”. Romeo’s use of the word “fair” shows that he sees women as people whereas the servants’ use of the words “push” and “thrust” shows they see women as objects. This contrast in the two scenes is dramatic and interesting to the audience.
Another difference between the scenes is how Benvolio reacts to Romeo. Benvolio always answers to Romeo. He asks him questions in a caring way to try and find out why Romeo is upset and to try and comfort him.
Romeo affects the audience in such a way so that the audience thinks of nothing else but love when he enters the stage. Romeo’s metaphors of compassion and romance and of “still-waking sleep” and of “a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes” interact with the audiences’ emotions. In doing this the audience can experience how he feels. It is important that the audience hear about Rosaline because it allows the audience to see Romeo’s love mature as he falls for Juliet.
In act one scene three the Nurse and Lady Capulet excite the audience by talking to Juliet about “marry”. This thrills the audience, as it is another era of the play. The audience know that Paris is interested in marrying Juliet but by the title of the play the audience can guess that something will happen to stop the intended marriage proceeding. The anticipation in this scene creates dramatic impact, as the audience don’t know what will happen to stop Paris from marrying Juliet. In scene three Juliet is shown to be a young girl, carried away by the fast placed plot by Lady Capulet and the nurse for her to marry Paris, this again adds dramatic impact as the plot is moving so quickly that there does not seem time for an event to happen to stop the marriage going ahead. In this scene emphasis is put on the fact that Juliet is still very young. Lady Capulet and the Nurse make Juliet’s choices for her and to Juliet “marriage is an honour that I dream not of”. In contrast to the nurse’s ‘down to earth’ character Juliet is very deep and meaningful. In the quote “your consent gives strength to make it fly”. Juliet’s use of the word fly shows how she believes love should be about feeling free and peaceful. The use of the word fly symbolises the sorts of feelings associated with love.
In act one scene four a sense of foreboding creates an uneasy yet exciting mood in the audience. Mercutio’s character plays a key part in reminding the audience about the Prologue and the fateful end that these two “death - marked lovers” will face.
Shakespeare presents Mercutio and his ideals as a foil to Romeo’s character who is unwilling to go to Capulet’s party.” Not I believe me”. As a foil Mercutio is enthusiastic about the party “You are a lover, borrow cupids wings”. This brings contrast to the scene to make it more exciting. We also see this affect in scene 3 in which the Nurse is a foil to Juliet. In act 1 scene 4 Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech brings a fanciful image, which begins innocently and then turns more malicious. This reflects the whole play and Romeo and Juliet’s situation “because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are”. This shows how from a nice beginning their fate turns bad and how their “death-marked love” is tainted. The Queen Mab speech is clever and full of wit as it uses entertaining imagery that turns into horrific scenes when queen Mab enters the dream. One line of the queen Mab speech describes “ladies’ lips, who straight on kisses dream, which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues.” This shows how at the start of the dream the scene is of ladies lips, which are described as a nice thing, but then when queen Mab enters the dream the ladies lips are described as being covered in blisters. This change in imagery creates a dramatic impact on the audience, as it is shocking and horrifying. The audience are also put in suspense as they wait for Romeo to go to the party where they know that Romeo “shall bitterly begin his fearful date”. This suspense adds more dramatic impact to the scene because the audience are eager to see what will happen to Romeo at the party.
Romeo has a premonition that “with this nights revels” he will have “some vile forfeit of untimely death”. This reminds the audience of Romeo and Juliet’s inevitable fate and of their death. At the end of the scene the atmosphere is of sorrow but also of anticipation about finding out what happens to Romeo and Juliet in the next act where they will be at Capulet’s Party.
Following Romeo foreseeing his “untimely death” at the end of act 1 scene 4 Romeo is surprised to see Juliet as he was expecting something bad to happen because of his premonition. This is a key scene in the play as it is when Romeo and Juliet first meet and their relationships with one another are created. Romeo romances Juliet by telling her that he wishes to “smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss”. Juliet is thrilled by Romeo but she is poised and replies “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much”. The mood in this scene starts off as being tense as Tybalt discovers Romeo and intends to start a fight with him. This scares the audience as Romeo’s premonition and the prologue both tell of his “untimely death”. However the end of the scene replaces the fear as the “star-crossed lovers” death-marked love” begins.
In scene 5 the audience sees Tybalt, rebuked by Capulet, leaving the party and threatening vengeance. The audience also see Romeo and Juliet talk together for the first time and then see Romeo learn from the Nurse that Juliet is a Capulet.
In this scene Romeo uses a religious metaphor to imply that their love is sacred and true. Romeo calls himself a “blushing pilgrim”, ready to “smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss”. When Romeo suggests that Juliet should “let lips do what hands do” meaning pray by touching. Juliet keeps her composure and replies with a pun on the word “move”. As in the prologue this scene is written as a sonnet. It is romantic and their first kiss after the rhyming couplet at the end. This scene is romantic but also light hearted as Juliet replies to Romeo’s advances with a pun on the word “move”. The scene contrasts between the romance of Romeo and Juliet and the suspense at the begging of the scene with the tension between Tybalt and Capulet.
The scene ends rapidly after Romeo and Juliet’s second kiss since the nurse enters because Juliet’s mother “craves a word” with her. This quickly changes the mood of the scene and brings the audience out of Romeo and Juliet’s romance. However the end of the scene is yet more dramatic when Romeo finds out that Juliet is “a Capulet” and Juliet finds out that “his name is Romeo, and a Montague”.
Shakespeare has made the opening of Romeo and Juliet dramatically effective in many ways. Firstly he surprises the audience by telling the audience what is going to happen in the play. This is unusual and creates an expectation for the audience. Secondly he uses sonnets to express true, devoted love finishing a dramatic scene with rhyming couplets. He does this in the prologue using the words “attend” and “mend”. Shakespeare uses contrasts throughout “Romeo and Juliet” to create dramatic impact with contrasts in mood, events, characters and language.
The first act is important because it grabs the audience’s attention with the violent opening. It also introduces the characters to the audience and sets the relationships between the characters for the remainder of the play.
“Romeo and Juliet” is still relevant to audiences today as the current issues raised in the play are still around today such as the Muslims fighting in Iraq. It is also a timeless love story that is often repeated with slight variations in films and books. This means that the story of “Romeo and Juliet” is still popular with many people.
In my opinion Shakespeare has used clever ideas, language and atmosphere in this play to make it dramatically effective and to create an impact. The opening Act is creative and keeps the audience guessing what is going to happen next it is also comic, with Shakespeare’s play on words as the audience sees in scene five with the pun on the word “move”. In conclusion “Romeo and Juliet” is a romantic and moving play which I have enjoyed reading and analysing.
