It also suggests that there are major consequences to the fights between the two houses and this is also suggested in the prologue “of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.” Which means that Romeo and Juliet are lovers from rival houses and are doomed by the influence of the stars.
Next, Tybalt enters and confronts Benvolio, “Turn thee, Benvolio; look upon thy death.” Tybalt’s anger and bitterness links to Act 3 Scene 1, the scene in which he kills Mercutio. Benvolio replies that “he does but keep the peace” and then challenges Tybalt to either fight him “Put up thy sword” or “manage it to part these men with him.” Tybalt then appears to take great offence at this and says that he hates “hell, all Montagues, and thee (Benvolio),” With this, Tybalt and Benvolio start to fight. This also shows how bitter Tybalt is and suggests the Capulet - Montague feud is greater than it first appears.
Benvolio therefore makes the conflict in Scene 1 even worse and this is ironic because he tried to stop it in the first place. Benvolio’s failure to break up the fight links to act 3 scene 1 as Romeo fails as the peacemaker and this results in Mercutio’s Death.
Lord and Lady Capulet enter closely followed by Lord and Lady Montague, they quarrel and Capulet asks for his long sword, but the Ladies of both houses are reluctant to comply. This shows that both Capulet and Montague are relatively fierce characters and shows that the feud is no joke.
Prince Escalus warns the Capulets and the Montagues “If you ever disturb our streets again your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace,” as this is the third time that the Capulets and Montagues have had a civil brawl. The death of Tybalt is linked to this speech as it led to Romeo being exiled from Verona.
The Prince also stated that the Capulets and Montagues have misused their swords by staining them with their neighbour’s blood. “Profaners of this neighbour stained steel.”
This speech may cause the audience to think that another civil brawl will be the reason for the tragedy in the story and this links to a later part of the play as a civil brawl does have something to do with Romeo and Juliet’s death.
When we first see Romeo, he is depressed because he is in love with Rosaline “In sadness cousin I do love a woman.” But, she does not love him back. “Out of her favour where I am in love.” This is a link to a further event in the play as Romeo falls in love with Juliet later on. I think the audience would feel sorry for Romeo because they do not know his true character yet and some people in the audience may be able to relate to him. Romeo uses oxymoron here to stress his heartbreak “O Brawling Love… O Loving Hate… O Heavy Lightness.” This would link to Romeo’s heartbreak when he mishears that Juliet is dead.
We also learn in this Act that Romeo is a very fickle person. In Scene 1 we see Romeo depressed because he is in love with Rosaline, but, at the Capulet Ball in Scene 5, Romeo forgets all about Rosaline and falls in love with Juliet, after saying that he will not look at any other women. Romeo’s fickleness links to Act 5 Scene 1 where Romeo finds out that Juliet is “dead.” This is a link because it is surprising that Romeo does not just find another Wife straight away.
Romeo talks of Rosaline very heart fully, his language is depressing and he speaks in rhyme to exaggerate his unhappiness. “Breast…Pressed, Sighs… Eyes.” He says that love is a contradictory and confusing emotion and, upon hearing of the fight he becomes even more depressed. He says that Hate causes turmoil in the streets whereas Love causes turmoil inside of himself. This links to other events in the play as it shows the contrast of love and violence, such as the deaths of Romeo and Juliet, they both committed suicide due to the one they love being dead. Other deaths caused by love were Tybalt’s (Romeos love and respect for Mercutio,) Paris’ (Romeos love for Juliet and him wanting to visit her tomb) and Lady Montague’s (Her love for Romeo when he was exiled)
The Audience would think that Romeo is a very emotional character at this stage in the play and when Benvolio makes the suggestion that Romeo should “Go thither (Capulet Ball) and compare her face with some that I shall show,” they might think that Benvolio is insensitive as Romeo is so persistent that he does not want to do this. However, this is ironic as Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulet ball and falls in love with her.
In Scene 2 we see Capulet and Paris talking about Juliet and the possibility of Paris being wed to her. Paris asks Capulet whether he could marry Juliet but Capulet believes she is two young as “she hath not seen the change of fourteen years” but he states that his “will to her consent is but a part” therefore it is Juliet’s decision.
The audience may think that Capulet is a respectful man that is not the stereotypical father of the time who forces his daughter to get married, however, this is ironic as he does force her to marry him in Act 3 Scene 5. Therefore, this is another link.
In Scene 3, we hear Juliet’s own view of marriage. She admits, “It is an honour she dreams not of,” but this is ironic as she marries Romeo almost as soon as she meets him. However, she agrees to consider Paris as a potential husband and to obey her mother’s wishes. The main links here are to the marriages later on in the play.
In this scene we also see that Juliet has a close relationship with the nurse and perhaps even closer than her own mother. Juliet’s mother wishes to talk in secret with the nurse, but calls her back, suggesting that the Nurse is much more than just a carer. The nurse reminisces about Juliet's childhood which shows that she has been around for a lot of Juliet’s life, and the fact that she lost her daughter, Susan “Susan is with god,” May mean that the nurse looks on Juliet as her own.
This links to when the nurse had the ability to stop Romeo and Juliet’s relationship before it even started but she had too much respect for Juliet and their bond was too strong.
The Nurse praises Paris and comments on him as “a man of wax.” meaning he is the very model of manhood. Then, at the end of the scene we are re-introduced to Shakespeare’s bawdy language, which is a main part of the Nurses character. The nurse says to Juliet: “Go girl; seek happy nights to happy days,” implying that if Juliet has a “happy night” it will run through and make her days happy, which prominently sounds as though the Nurse is talking of sex. This links to the first scene where Sampson and Gregory use bawdy language to talk about the Montague Maids.
In Act 1 Scene 4, we see Romeo, Benvolio, Mercutio and five or six other masked men making their way to the Capulet ball. Romeo has a bad feeling about the night ahead “And we mean well in going to this masque, but ‘t is no wit to go,” as he has had a bad dream, which leads Mercutio to believe that “Queen Mab hath been with Romeo.” He goes on to explain that Queen Mab is the fairies’ midwife, and that it is she who determines what people dream of “She gallops night by night through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love.”
We also see some more bawdy wordplay when Mercutio tries to cheer up Romeo who is still depressed and “empiercéd with cupids shaft.” Mercutio suggests that “if love be rough with you, be rough with love: Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.” Which can either mean to hurt love back, or to have sex.
Inside the party, Capulet welcomes all of the guests and encourages them all to “walk about” or dance, this would give the audience the impression that Capulet is a cheerful character. Romeo is there to look at Rosaline, and Juliet is there to look at Paris, but, when they cannot find who they are looking for, they find each other. Romeo asks a nearby servant “what lady’s that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight?” meaning Juliet. But the servant does not know, and Romeo says to himself how beautiful Juliet is “shows a snowy-dove trooping with crows,” he thinks of her beauty in terms of brightness, in contrast to the surrounding dark and he also suggests that there is something holy about her.
His last two lines of his speech though, really show how fickle he is as he was deeply in love with Rosaline and saying how beautiful she was, but now “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight for I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Suggests that he never loved Rosaline and that she wasn’t actually beautiful.
Tybalt over hears “a Montague” talking. Tybalt declares, "This by his voice, should be a Montague". He fills up with rage and shouts "Fetch me my rapier". Old Capulet sees Romeo and isn't too bothered about him being there, but moves to calm Tybalt. He tells Tybalt "To say truth, Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well-governed youth," he also says that Romeo has a good reputation, but this is ironic because it is Romeo that kills Tybalt and then is banished to Mantua. Tybalt becomes even more enraged "I'll not endure him," and with this Capulets attitude and manner suddenly changes towards Tybalt "He shall be endured". At that, Tybalt storms out the room leaving the audience in suspense. They now know that Capulet is a short-tempered character that is not used to being challenged. This links to when Juliet refuses to marry Paris in Act 3 Scene 5. Another link here is Tybalt’s anger, which links to the death of Mercutio. This could also be connected with Tybalt’s own death, as if Mercutio had not been killed, Romeo would not have killed Tybalt.
There is a contrast between the tense atmosphere created by Tybalt’s use of harsh language “villain… dead… slave” and the romantic atmosphere created by Romeo and his use of rhyming couplets “stand… hand, sight… night.” As Romeo and Juliet’s love builds up in this scene, Tybalt's anger and wish for revenge also builds up. This is important as Tybalt's need for revenge shapes the play later on.
Romeo approaches Juliet and takes her hand asking if he can “smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.” They use a lot of religious terms such as “pilgrim, saints and holy shrine” and create a sonnet together which links to act 3 Scene 5, where they create another sonnet. Romeo and Juliet exchange loving words and then they kiss twice “You kiss by the book.” Then, the nurse interrupts and says to Juliet “madam, your mother craves a word with you.” Juliet joins her mother and Romeo asks who Juliet’s mother is “What is her mother?” The Nurse replies “Her mother is the lady of the house, and a good lady, wise and virtuous.” She also states that whoever “can lay hold of her shall have the chinks.” Which sounds as though she is trying to set Romeo and Juliet up, rather than stop it whilst she has the chance. This links to the balcony scene, as the Nurse had the ability to stop the relationship there as well, as she knew that Romeo was a Montague. But, I think that the Nurse did the right thing in letting the relationship continue as it is not her position to decide on Juliet’s love life and it shows her respect for Juliet.
With this, Romeo realises that he has fallen in love with a Capulet “My life is my foe’s debt,” and Juliet herself discovers that she has fallen in love with her ‘enemy.’ She then says to herself that her “only love sprung from her only hate. Too early seen unknown, and known too late.” Showing that she feels far too much for him to be able to stop the relationship. Juliet then hides her thoughts and feelings from the nurse and goes off to join her mother.
In conclusion I think that there are a great deal of links between act 1 and the rest of the play that help to prepare the audience for the up and coming events. It gives a taster of the characters and their traits and shows the audience what will happen in the form of the contrast between fighting and love. The prologue gives away the storyline but still leaves the audience asking questions. Altogether, I believe that Shakespeare included links to the rest of the play in act 1 so that the Audience could get a feel for the play and become more involved.
