How does Shakespeare create a variety of moods in Act 1 scene 5 of 'Romeo and Juliet'?

How does Shakespeare create a variety of moods in Act 1 scene 5 of ‘Romeo and Juliet’?

‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a play full of extremes and opposites. The most obvious opposite is the theme of love and hate that the play is based around. The younger and older generations are also another opposite, as the older generation take things in moderation, whereas the younger generation are very hasty.

Opposites are shown in different ways throughout the play. One of the ways is through the characters. Benvolio is the peacekeeper in the play, and his rival Tybalt is extremely fiery. This leads to major conflict as the opposite personalities clash. Throughout the play Romeo suffers from extreme mood swings. The first obvious one is, on the first day of the play, he is melancholic about Rosaline, but by the evening he is in love with Juliet. As the play is so full of extremes and opposites, the mood in each scene changes frequently. At the beginning of Act 1 scene 5, the mood is light-hearted and chaotic.

Shakespeare creates the chaotic mood in many ways. Up to line 15 there are a lot of stage directions of actors going in and out. This creates the atmosphere of it being very busy without the use of scenery. The chaotic mood is also created by the use of imperatives. Many of the sentences in the first part begin with commands like “Away”, “Remove” and “Look”. These commands suggest that things need to be done suggesting that a party could be to come and that everyone is very busy, trying to make sure everything is ready for when guests arrive.

The light-heartedness of the beginning is created by the way it is written. The servants all speak in prose, creating informality. Also the use of sarcasm and play on words, “When good manners shall lie all in one or two men’s hands, and they unwashed too, ‘tis a foul thing” suggest that everybody is in high spirits. This light-hearted note is needed to relieve the tension from the previous scene. The ominous note that was left after Romeo spoke about his premonition of death is soon alleviated by the light-heartedness of this scene.

The scene continues with the same light-hearted, informal mood as Capulet welcomes his guests, but a more lively and celebrating mood is included too. The informality continues as the two Capulet brothers argue jokily in blank verse and the speech is very conversational and when he jokes with the ladies the audience get the impression that everyone is at ease and enjoying themselves. This not only makes it informal but also creates a welcoming vibe.

Shakespeare needed to show different details of the party to the audience through his language. From this part of the scene we gather ...

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Shakespeare needed to show different details of the party to the audience through his language. From this part of the scene we gather that the party is in full swing. We know this because Old Capulet asks for “More light, you knaves!” and to “quench the fire” as the room had “grown too hot”.

The lively mood is created by the use of exclamation marks throughout Old Capulet’s speech. Also, we can tell that all the guests are lively as he asks for the servants to “turn the tables up,” obviously so they had more room to dance. Similarly the fact that it is a masquers ball suggests a large number about the atmosphere and surroundings. As masquers balls were very popular among the rich, it suggests that the party must have been held in a huge hall with rich, opulent furnishings and the atmosphere warm and welcoming. So does the mentioning of servants, which shows the opulence they must have had. This helps create a vision of the surroundings that could not be shown through scenery.

However, from line 41 to 53, Romeo replaces the fun, lively mood for a more romantic, serious mood. He had just spotted Juliet across the dance floor and recites a soliloquy about her beauty. This is a dramatic device used to inform the audience of a character’s feelings. In this case, it is used to show Romeo’s love towards Juliet. The verse structure changes too, it goes from blank verse to rhyming couplets. This is significant because Elizabethan love poetry was also written in this way. This again helps convey the feeling of love.

Romeo uses metaphors to help convey Juliet’s radiance, “Shows a snowy dove trooping with crows”, “ as a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear”. These metaphors suggest how much more beautiful she is in comparison to everyone around her, and how she stands out.

Shakespeare uses clichéd language to show the irony of the situation. Romeo says, “Did my heart love till now?” This is incredibly ironic as only hours before he was declaring how much he was in love with Rosaline. This suggests the fickleness and artificialness of young love.

In contrast, the next part has an entirely different mood. The romance is destroyed by Tybalt’s words of anger and hatred. Shakespeare uses insulting language and imperatives to create a more aggressive scene. Tybalt describes Romeo as a “villain” and a “slave” suggesting he is poor and worthless to them. The use of insults creates a confrontational vibe and makes the audience feel uncomfortable and uneasy as something shocking might happen.

The fluency of Romeo’s previous soliloquy is broken and replaced by short, threatening statements like, “I’ll not endure him.” This suggests that the conversation is becoming a heated argument. Capulet threatens to disinherit Tybalt, which adds to the hostile mood.

In line 82 to 88 the sentence construction breaks down completely, which helps to convey Capulets growing anger and agitation. However he still trys to keep his guests happy and act as if nothing is wrong: “Marry, ‘tis time –

Well said, my hearts! – You are a princox, go:

Be quiet, or – More light, more light!”

Tybalt’s final speech in lines 88 to 91, the verse structure changes back to rhyming couplets. This is to put emphasise on the threat that he is making. This is done deliberately to make it linger in the audience’s mind. The language is poisonous, “gall”, and Shakespeare uses plosive sounds and sibilance in this dialogue. The plosive sounds, “Patience perforce”, convey his hatred and anger, whilst the sibilance, “Now seeming sweet”, makes it sinister and even more threatening.

Again there is a swift mood swing as Romeo and Juliet meet. It becomes playful and flirtatious and there is an air of romance as well. Shakespeare conveys the romance, by making the lovers first conversation a sonnet. Sonnets are generally used to express love, and by the two sharing one it shows that they share the same feelings, and the love is reciprocated.

The young lovers have an immediate bond, which is shown by the extended metaphor used throughout the sonnet. The metaphor uses a lot of religious diction like, “saint”, “pilgrims” and “holy”, suggesting that the “star-cross’d lovers” believe their meeting is blessed my God, elevating it. Also the religious diction shows that they believe their bon is incredibly strong and nothing could break it. Romeo begins the metaphor by comparing Juliet to a holy shrine and his lips to pilgrims. This implies that he wants his ‘pilgrims’ to go to her ‘holy shrine’ which would lead to them kissing. Juliet carries the metaphor on by saying, “palm to palm is holy palmer’s kiss”. By carrying the metaphor on it also shows that their feelings are reciprocated, and allows Juliet and Romeo to flirt with each other. At first Juliet plays hard to get and does not let Romeo kiss her, but when they finally do, it just enhances the romantic mood.

However the nurse, who comes to take Juliet away to her mother, soon destroys the atmosphere. It is then that Romeo discovers that Juliet is a Capulet, which in turn makes the scene feel ominous. That feeling is then enhanced my Romeo talking of death again, “My life is my foe’s debt.” Shakespeare uses this change of mood to remind the audience of the prologue at the beginning where he tells the audience about two families feuding causing younger lovers to die. Juliet says, “Prodigious birth of love is it to me,” which again reminds us of the prologue and how they are “star-crossed lovers.”

Throughout this scene the moods change from chaotic to lively and excited, then to a more serious romantic mood when Romeo first sets eyes on Juliet. This is then contrasted with an angry, threatening mood by Tybalt before turning to a flirtatious playful mood. The scene ends on an ominous note as the audience is reminded that the two lovers who have just met die tragically and that their love does not last long. Shakespeare does this by using language, sentence structure and verse form effectively to change the mood, and help convey the surroundings as well.

By Emma Stanley 10f