How Does Shakespeare Create Excitement and Tension in Act One, Scene Five of Romeo and Juliet?

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Thomas Kader 10T

How Does Shakespeare Create Excitement & Tension in Act One, Scene Five of Romeo and Juliet?

In Act One, Scene Five, the masked ball scene, of Romeo and Juliet, a myriad of different moods and tensions are created through Shakespeare’s use of characters and their interactions. He brings up emotions such as warmth, anger and romance and from this, opinions of the characters are created in the audience. His utilisation of techniques like dramatic irony and rhyming couplets causes the atmosphere to change, through the scene, from jubilance and frivolousness to romance and mystery. This becomes anger and tension and then returns to tender romance; which is eventually destroyed by the harsh voice of reason.

Act One, Scene Five opens with a brief speech from Capulet in which he welcomes the people of Verona to his masked ball. On stage, Capulet’s entry to the room, probably wearing bright, colourful clothes would create a dramatically effective visual contrast with his servants, dressed in drab kitchen clothes. This would help to characterise Capulet and show the audience the difference in social class.

 The jolliness of the party creates a strong contrast to the tension of the previous scene. I believe that it is Capulet’s gracious and familiar air as a host that creates an atmosphere of joviality and homeliness. This is shown on the first line of the scene when he says, “Welcome, gentlemen! Ladies that have their toes unplagued with corns will walk about with you!” He uses this as a light hearted way of teasing those women at the party who refuse to dance by suggesting that they have fungal feet. In my opinion, this is Capulet’s way of creating a party mood, with all the guests frivolously dancing and joking with each other. Also, it seems that it is Shakespeare’s way of showing Capulet’s status by having him make jokes freely at the guest’s expense whilst the guests themselves have to be careful with what they say to him.

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Shakespeare has worded Capulet’s lines in order to give the audience the impression that he is addressing a large number of people when in fact, due to the stage’s space restrictions at the time, only very few actors were able to be on stage at once. The idea of a masked ball is, in itself, a dramatic device. In terms of the play’s plot, it provides a means for Romeo and the other Montagues to enter the party without revealing their identities to their rival Capulets. In the way of stage craft, it allows the actors of the guests to ...

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