How does Shakespeare make Act 1 Scene 5 of Romeo and Juliet dramatically effective?
Shakespeare has made Act 1 scene 5 dramatically effective through his use of form, structure and language techniques.
At the start of Act 1 scene 5, Capulet turns to the maskers at the ball and tells everyone to enjoy the night and dance to the music. This is important, as it lets the audience know and that this night is a happy and joyous occasion. And this adds to the dramatic effectiveness of the scene because the audience are already aware of the great tension that is waiting to explode between the houses of Capulet and Montague.
During the dancing, Romeo starts talking to a servant about Juliet. His speech about Juliet is in a completely different form of writing than the rest. This change in text tells the audience that Romeo is truly tempted by Juliet’s beauty. The audience can also see rhyme being used in Romeo’s speech. “O she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon cheek of night As a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear, Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear”. This use of rhyme makes the scene effective because the audience can see the contrast between prose and poetry, that is used in the text. We can also link this to the use of rhyme, which helps to emphasise important parts of the play. And this use of rhyme and contrast makes the scene effective because it stands out to the audience, thus making the audience more interested in the play. I also think that the use of rhyme shows how much Romeo loves Juliet.
