Although act 3 scene 4 is a very short scene it is crucial to the plot. In this scene Capulet, lady Capulet and Paris are discussing plans for Paris and Juliet’s wedding. Throughout this scene the audience have the advantage of knowing more about what Juliet has done than her parents, and more about her parents plans than she does. Capulet makes all the plans in this scene without consulting Juliet and without much input from Paris (who says less than 30 words!). Capulet is confident that Juliet will obey him but in the next scene he is proved wrong.
In the next scene, act 4 scene 1 Juliet goes to the friar “to know his remedy”(240), where she finds Paris discussing plans for their wedding. When Paris has left Juliet threatens to kill her self if the friar cannot help. Eventually the friar comes up with a plan that will allow Juliet to appear dead for forty-two hours. Then Romeo will collect her and take her to Mantua.
In act four scene two Juliet has returned home from the Friar’s cell to tell her father, mother and the nurse that she will marry Paris because Friar Laurence has helped her “ repent the sin/ Of disobedient opposition.”(17-18)
In order to explore the dramatic effectiveness of Romeo and Juliet act 3 scene 5, it is important to understand the chronological storyline. This lengthy scene starts with quite a relaxed pace although it is more sentimental than either of them realise at this point. Romeo and Juliet say what are to be their final goodbyes. O’, think’st thou we shall ever meet again?” Juliet is already unsure about their future together. The nurse interrupts to tell Juliet “ Your lady mother is coming to your chamber”. This urgency adds to the sadness of the lovers parting as it now has to be rushed. Lady Capulet comes to Juliet’s room to tell her that she will be married “ early next Thursday morn”. Capulet then tries to exert his authority over his disobedient daughter. It would have scandalous for a noble daughter to disobey her father during this period, and a subject that the Elizabethan audience would have been shocked by, far more than a modern day audience. Family, nobility and reputation were all inextricably linked in this society.
Juliet’s situation is now even worse. If she follows her family’s wishes and marries Paris then she will be breaking the law and as she is Catholic she cannot get divorced. If Juliet leaves her family she will not have anyone to turn to, as the government would not support her. Her father is very angry that she will not agree to marry Paris “go with Paris to Saint Peter’s church, / Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.”(154-155). He says that if she doesn’t “ you shall not house with me.”(189), meaning that she shall not live in his house any more if she doesn’t marry Paris. Lady Capulet has very little sympathy for Juliet as she was married at a similar age. She thinks that it will be best for Juliet to marry Paris and has had enough of the fighting about it. She simply tells Juliet “Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee”(204).
Whilst other parts of Romeo and Juliet such as scenes with Mercutio are full of wordplay and double meanings, act 3 scene5 has no witty puns or multivalent language. Shakespeare still uses colourful language drawn from nature “jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops”(10) and scenes commonly recognisable to his audience “ the bark (boat) thy body is/ Sailing in this salt flood”
Shakespeare’s plays were designed for a live audience, so the plot included the audiences’ reaction. The audience could make the atmosphere more tense and dramatic. The cheapest seats in the Globe theatre were not really seats, they were just places you could stand on the stage to watch, which means that the audience were very close to the actors. The audience was an important part in the play because the characters could talk “aside” to show what they were thinking and to explain the plot better.
When Romeo talks about death “ Come, death and welcome! Juliet wills it so.”(24) The audience will be reminded that the play ends in death, which adds more frightening emotion to an already sad part of the scene. When Capulet becomes aggressive with Juliet and starts threatening her the audience would be shocked because earlier in the play when there was talk of Juliet marrying Paris, Capulet said he would not give permission unless Juliet agreed. But this time Capulet is forcing her to marry Paris and is no longer seen as a loving and caring father. When the nurse stands up for Juliet it shows her strength of character and loyalty to her, but Juliet is soon let down and the nurse proves how weak she is by telling Juliet to forget about Romeo and marry Paris. By the end of the scene Juliet has become determined to be with Romeo and not marry Paris, which proves how strong her love is for Romeo and makes the audience feel proud that she is standing up for herself.
Shakespeare was not only a playwright but a poet too. This is shown through out this scene and generally in the whole play. He used blank verse with unrhymed iambic pentameters, which use the natural rhythm of the lines. At the beginning of the scene rhyming couplets are used to show the closeness of Romeo and Juliet, and to show the effect of the nurse disturbing them, Romeo only returns to a rhyming couplet in his last line of the scene.
Capulet’s language directed at Juliet is full of insults and abuse which shows the change in his character from act one scene two where he is only going to agree to Paris marrying Juliet, if Juliet agrees as well.
Juliet uses a few double meanings when she is talking to her mother, this is dramatic irony because the audience understands what she really means but can appreciate that she is trying to hide the truth from her mother.
This scene is very effective as a piece of drama because it has the audiences’ emotions constantly changing. It shows different sides to the characters that we thought we already knew and understood, as Capulet becomes violent, and Juliet becomes defiant. The scene is more effective as a live play than on video or reading the script, which is no surprise as this was how Shakespeare intended it to be seen. The audience are used to constantly echo the characters emotions and add tension to the scenes, which is not there when watching on video. Many different styles and techniques of writing are used in this scene, which adds to the interest and stops the audience being bored with the language. This is a dramatic and powerful part in the play and it comes across very well in the way it has been written.