How does Shakespeare Create Dramatic tension in Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet?

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Zoe-Alexandra Oparah 11.4

How does Shakespeare Create Dramatic tension in Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet?

In Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses a lot of Dramatic Irony to create tense moments for the audience. Much of the tension arises from the fact that the audience are aware of what is going to happen in the play, from the prologue where it says;

“..A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.. “

This is a important line in the prologue as it already tells the audience that Romeo and Juliet are going to end up dying eventually. The play creates tension that the audience feel and experience. Shakespeare appears to be taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster so they can really feel and understand the love shared between the two main characters. A lot of tension is created in this scene from the characters’ opposing personalities and family rivalries.

At the beginning of Act 1 Scene 5 Shakespeare uses comic relief to please the audience again after the dramatic tension created at the end of Act 1 scene 4. At the end of Act 1 scene four Shakespeare informs us that Romeo and his friends are going to the Capulet ball. However Tension arises dramatically as Romeo says:

“I fear, too early for my mind misgives
some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
with this night revels and expire the term

Of a despised life closed in my breast,

By some vile forfeit of untimely death...”

In the quote above, Romeo says that that he is worried about going to this ball and he feels that something in his destiny is going to be set in motion tonight and he feels it is all going to end badly. At this point, this quote has left the audience hanging off the seats as they already know the destiny of Romeo due to the prologue. This type of complex language will be more easily understood by the people seated ‘Up in the Gods’. These were the rich people that were seated high up in Shakespeare’s Theatre as they could afford. The ‘penny stinkers’ were sat right up close to the stage and had to strain their necks to watch the play. They were given the name ‘penny stinkers’ as they only paid a penny to watch the play and usually smelt really bad as they consisted of low status people. Shakespeare grabs the penny stinkers’ attention again at the beginning of Act 1 Scene 5 where the servants are rushing around trying to prepare for the party, as this is something they can easily relate to. Shakespeare very intelligently ensures that all of his audience are pleased as he reaches out to all of them using different characters and different styles of writing. Also, I noticed that all of the servants dialogue is in Prose, while Capulet sometimes speaks in Rhyming couplets this indicates that the character is of a lower status is some what ‘unworthy’ of poetry.

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As the scene continues Capulet is getting into the swing of things and encouraging people to get up and dance so everything is set on a happy mood and Capulet is encountering in conversation with one of his cousins, when Romeo first sees Juliet. When Romeo sees Juliet, he asks the serving man about her and says;

“What lady’s that with doth enrich the hand of yonder knight?”

A lot of dramatic irony is in this line alone as the audience are already aware that Romeo is looking at Juliet and seems to have fallen for her ...

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