Benvolio: Nay, he will answer the letter’s master, how he dares, being dared’
As you can see from the quotation above, the speech is rapid and every response is quick and sharp, but not every character is used as a catalyst towards the plays speed.
The friar; I believe is used in the play to portray the contrast between slow and fast, his lifestyle is slow and easy, and remains so even while the frantic events are happening around him he remains in his normal steady paced frame of mind.
Mercutio; I see as the opposite of the friar, he is a witty aggressive character who often plays an influential part in the fast paced quarrels.
The quarrels are another factor of how Shakespeare conveys his impression of speed, he uses them as a sort of reminder to his audience of the ever increasing speed of the play, each one seems to become more vicious and the tempo increases.
‘Abram: Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
Sampson: No sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir. But I bite my thumb, sir
Gregory: Do you quarrel, sir?
Abram: Quarrel, sir? No sir
Sampson: But if you do, sir, I am for you. I serve as good a man as you.’
The quick snappy comments encourage you to read, tension builds upon every word.
I have also noticed while reading ‘Romeo and Juliet’ that there are some things that slow the tempo of the play down, one of these things is love. Whenever Romeo or Juliet proclaim their love for one another the pace decreases, and sharp conversations are replaced with slow placid ones.
‘ Juliet: O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse my name;
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
and I'll no longer be a Capulet’
Throughout the play important decisions are being made all the time, and nearly all of them are being made very quickly without time for much thought, a perfect example of this is when the prince decides to banish Romeo from Verona, after Romeo has killed Tybalt chaos breaks out between the families as both demand revenge on the other house. The prince without thinking of any consequences or alternative options, acts immediately and banishes Romeo, this is also a factor of the speed during the play, all decisions are rushed and sudden, the wedding for example is decided in a matter of minutes. This I feel is purposely done to place emphasis on speed, usually a wedding is planned months in advance, but in this case Shakespeare has emphasised the speed of the play and the couple are married within hours of meeting each other.
Juliet: ‘ The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse;
In half an hour she promised to return,
Which ten times faster glides than the sun’s beams,
And from nine till twelve is three hours long.’
The quote above is taken from Juliet’s speech on the delay of the Nurses return after being sent to find Romeo, throughout the speech she refers to speed in different ways.
At the beginning of the play it is easy to see that Romeo is still quite immature and does not know the true meaning of love, you can see this ith his obsession and so called ‘love’ of Rosaline. He is transfixed upon her and he wbelieves that it is love; I feel he is looking for love to try and act mature, but when he meets Juliet he gains a new respect for love. He quickly matures and instead of being totally obsessed with Rosaline for her beauty he learns to respect Juliet not as an object but as a person. Both of them mature rapidly and show towards the end that they are more grown up than the two families, they are teaching them a lesson on acceptance towards each other, but in the end it takes disaster, two youthful deaths to bring them together. so in a mere three days two juvenile teenagers have fallen deeply in love, matured greatly from the stereotypical childish crush’s and have taught their elders a lesson in acceptance.
Romeo: ‘O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright !
It seem she hangs upon the cheek of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear’
The Quote above is said by Romeo when he first catches a glimpse of Juliet, later in the speech he asks himself
‘Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.’
Here he is asking himself if he ever truly loved Rosaline, and how she doesn’t even compare to Juliet’s beauty, this I feel is the start of Romeos maturity as he realises how foolish he has been proclaiming his love for Rosaline.
In some of the text Shakespeare has left hints of the fast paced tempo of the play, throughout, there has been various quotes expressing the high speed tempo and how time is passing quickly,
‘ Juliet :Are you gone? My love, my lord, my husband, and my friend? I must hear from you every hour of the day, for just one minute will be like many days’
In the quote above, Juliet describes how every minute seems like days, this I feel is Shakespeare yet again emphasizing the speed; he cleverly slips in little comments and remarks on the speed.
So Shakespeare conveys the impression of speed in Romeo and Juliet in many different ways, he uses fast flowing snappy speech to give the play a high tempo, the decision making is very fast, whenever love is brought into it the pace slows dramatically, and finally the whole play is set over a mere four days.
All these facts help to convey the impression of speed in Romeo and Juliet.