When Romeo firsts speaks about Juliet "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night..............." Hes says meaning both that her beauty is brighter than the blaze of any torch and that her presence makes the whole room light up. All of what he says about Juliet is in poetic imagry and in rhyming couplets. When he says " Like a rich jewel" he tries to symbolise that she is worth alot and is rare. There is also aniaml imagry in what he says about Juliet " So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows" meaning she different from other women and that she is special. Romeo says all this whilst the Capulets are all dancing. The stage at this time should be Romeo on one side looking over at Juliet and all of the other Capulets the other side to show there is a barrier in between and that he can't get Juliet as easily as he thinks.I think he would be thinking very hard of how to get nearer to her and would be making a plan in his head. When the dance is over,he will note where she is, then make his way to her to touch her hand. This plan is very bold, and he has put aside all of his melancholy ideas about always being a loser in the game of love. He says, "Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."
Tybalt changes the atmosphere as he overhears Romeo speaking of Juliet. "This, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch my rapier, boy............." This speech raises a question that probably can't be answered: How can Tybalt tell that Romeo is a Montague "by his voice"? Do the Montagues all talk funny? I think Shakespeare just threw that in because at this moment Romeo is wearing a mask, which is what "cover'd with an antic face" must refer to. As for the rest of the speech, it shows us Tybalts arrogance. As soon as he identifies a Montague he sends his "boy" for his sword and justifies his intended murder by the "honor of my kin."
Tybalt is so arrogant and self-centered that he's forgotten whom he's dealing with and where he is. He's contradicting the master of the house and saying "Ill not endure him" just as though he owned the place. This earns him a humiliating tongue-lashing from Capulet starting with "He shall be endured, What, goodman boy! I say, he shall, go to..............." Capulet has given up on giving friendly advice and is now sputtering with anger. He calls Tybalt "boy" and mocks him and sneers "you'll be the man!" Tybalt is apparently surprised by Capulet's anger, and says, "why, uncle,'tis a shame", but now its too late to say anything to the old man, who makes threats and takes the whole thing very personally, growling, "This trick may chance to scathe you.............." Not only is Capulet very angry, but he tries to cover the embarrassment of the moment by calling out to his guests, "What, cheerly, my hearts!" as though he were perfectly happy. Tybalt's only choice is to shut up and leave, which he does, but not before making a promise to himself that Romeo will pay. He says, "I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall now seeming sweet convert to bitter gall."
With Tybalt's threat still echoing in our ears, we now read that Romeo is holding Juliet's hand and wittilt offereing to kiss it. He says "If I profane with my unworthiest hand....." (lines 93-96) To us, Romeo may sound impossibly sappy, but hes not. The popular love poetry of the time often portrayed the lover as one who worshipped his beloved with religious devotion. Romeo is having fun with that idea by offering to pay the penalty "fine" for touching Juliet's hand "this holy shrine" by kissing it. Juliet willingly joins in Romeo's game. Showing her own wit, she tells him that there's nothing wrong with his hand and that he's showing proper devotion by holding her hand. She adds, "For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss" meaning that it's allowed to touch the hand of a saint, and that the touch of pilgrims' ("palmers") hands is holy kissing. Not discouraged by this, Romeo asks if it's true that both saints and pilgrims have lips. Juliet replies "Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer." this means that saints and pilgrims must use there lips to pray, which sounds like a no-kissing statement, but "pray" also meant "ask for," which is a hint that if Romeo wants a kiss, he's going to have to actually ask for it. Romeo catches the hint and makes his prayer "O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do............" He's asking for permission to let his lips pray and kiss. He's also saying that if she doesn't grant his prayer, she won't be fulfilling her duties as a saint, because saints are supposed to make faith stronger, not make it turn into despair. They kiss, and Romeo expresses his happiness "Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged" meaning that the kiss of his saint has clensed him of sin. This gives Juliet an opportunity to tease him into another kiss. She says that if her lips have taken away his sin then her lips must now have his sin. Juliet, probably laughing, says "You kiss by the book." To do something "by the book," is to do it according to the rules, and she is suggesting that Romeo is very good at interpreting the rules in a way which results in a kiss. This whole love-game, including the kisses bulids up great tension for the audience as they already know who Romeo and Juliet are.
The Nurse appears with the news that Juliet's mother wants to speak to her. Juliet obediently turns away, and Romeo asks the Nurse who Juliet's mother is. The Nurse informs him that her mother is the lady of the house, and that she herself is Juliet's Nurse, and that "he that can lay hold of her shall have the chinks" meaning that the husband of Juliet, only heir to a rich man, will make her husband rich. However, upon learning that Juliet is a Capulet, Romeo shows that he doesn't care about Juliet's money. He exclaims, "O dear account! my life is my foe's debt" because he is in love, he now owes his very life to Juliet, and she (as a Capulet) is his foe.
Suddenly Benvolio comes to tell Romeo that it's time for them to go. On their way out, Capulet tries to get the strangers to stay by offering them some food, but in a moment they're gone, so Capulet heads for bed, leaving Juliet and the Nurse alone as the last guests go out. Juliet asks the Nurse who the various guests are, she wants to know who her new love is, but to hide her intentions from the Nurse, she asks about two others first. The Nurse knows who the first two are, but not the third, so Juliet sends her to learn his name. As the Nurse chases after Romeo, Juliet says, "If he be married. My grave is like to be my wedding bed" she means that if Romeo is married, she will die unmarried, because she will never marry another, but she is also unknowingly foreshadowing her fate, in which her grave does become her wedding bed. The Nurse quickly returns with the news that the one who Juliet asked about is Romeo and a Montague. Juliet exclaims, "My only love sprung from my only hate,too early seen unknown, and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy." "Too early seen unknown, and known too late" suggests that if Juliet had known Romeo to be a Montague she wouldn't have fallen in love with him, but now its "too late." She feels, like Romeo, that love is once and forever, and they both fear the consequences of their love, but without any thought of changing their minds or hearts.
The Nurse asks Juliet what she's saying, and Juliet lies, saying it's just a rhyme she heard from a dance partner. The someone calls for Juliet, and she and the Nurse hurry away, ending the scene.
I think Act 1 scene 5 is a very crucial scene as this is where the play really kicks off and starts to build the tension. I think its one of the most important scenes of the whole play as this is where they meet and the love begins shortly followed by hatred. We see a lot of emotions come through in this scene, firstly with Capulet and Tybalt having an arguement, then, Romeo and Juliet falling in love and then finally Romeo and Juliet finding out that there 'only love sprung from their only hate.'
