How does Shakespeare present the first meeting between Romeo and Juliet?

When Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet times were very different. Religion was viewed with a lot more importance than it is today. At the time England was a Christian country. Attending the divine service was compulsory and absences could be punished by fines. Religion was taught better than ever before due to The Book of Common Prayer now being used in every church and English translations of the Bible being read in public. This means that no one alive around the time of Shakespeare would be able to escape religion. Therefore Shakespeare used religious language and in particular when Romeo and Juliet meet there is much reference to it. This is because that is what the people of the time would have understood. At the time education was no where near as good as it is today so Shakespeare would have had to write his plays using concepts and language that all people of the time were able to understand. School education reinforced the church’s teachings. The social context to the play is very different to today. When Shakespeare wrote the play marriage occurred at an age a lot younger than it does today. Quite often it was the parents of the daughters who chose who they married. Marriages were not chosen because of love they were chosen according to power and wealth. Many young people opposed their marriages but were forced into them.

Shakespeare structures the scene using the isolation of Romeo and Juliet as a main feature. The other characters in the scene carry on moving round while Romeo and Juliet are completely focused on one another. The impact that this has on the audience is that they can see straightaway that there is a connection between the two characters. At this point the audience will be aware that the two young lovers are of opposing families. This leads to a feeling of sympathy as the audience knows that a relationship would be almost impossible. Shakespeare emphasises’ the sympathy the audience feels for Romeo and Juliet by making Nurse interrupt their first meeting. This is also made even stronger by Tybalts hatred of Romeo and the fact that he wants to either have Romeo seriously injured or killed.

Shakespeare gives each character their identities by giving them all different types of speech depending on their class and personality. The characters behave differently and we are able to see their individual traits show throughout the play.

Lord Capulet’s character is developed as a lively man who likes to enjoy himself. We can also see that he is conscious of what others think of him and wants his parties to be the best and will not allow anything to go wrong or to spoil his party. This is shown when Tybalt spots Romeo and wants to get ...

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Tybalt’s character is shown as one who is more prone to violence and revenge. He has very strong views about his family’s honour and will not allow anyone to mock them. We are shown his violent nature when he discovers that Romeo is at the party. He said that Romeo came ‘To scorn at our solemnity this night’ (1,5,63). We can then see that he wishes revenge once Lord Capulet has told him to leave Romeo alone, ‘I will withdraw, but this intrusion shall, Now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall’ (1,5,90-91).

Nurse’s character is developed as a character who is very devoted to the family that she serves. This is shown when Romeo asks Nurse who Juliet’s mother is. She replies, ‘Her mother is the lady of the house, And a good lady, and a wise and virtuous’ (1,5,112-113). We also learn that Nurse and Juliet have a close relationship as Nurse said to Romeo, ‘I nurs’d her daughter’ (1,5,114).

By nursing Juliet she meant that she breast fed her. This means that Nurse has been with Juliet since the child was born and that she brought her up.

Juliet’s character is developed as one who knows what is wrong and what is right. Her character is also shown as being clever at portraying her emotions, ‘Come hither, Nurse. What is yond gentleman?’ (1,5,127). This shows that Juliet is hiding her interest in Romeo by questioning Nurse about other men at the party so as to find out more about Romeo without revealing that she is in love with him. We are shown her knowledge of right and wrong in her first meeting with Romeo, ‘Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer’ (1,5,101). This shows that she knows that her first meeting with Romeo would be considered as wrong. It shows her hesitation and that Romeo is coming on too strong for her.

Romeo’s character is developed as one who is taken by beauty. His character is also persuasive. Romeo is portrayed to fall in love easily. We have already in the earlier parts of the play seen Romeo in love with Rosaline. Now after seeing Juliet we hear him say, ‘Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night’ (1,5,51-52). This shows that he falls in love easily and also that he is taken by beauty. His persuasiveness is shown in his meeting with Juliet, ‘let lips do what hands do’ (1,5,102). Here he is persuading Juliet to kiss him, and he is persistent.

Shakespeare chooses his language depending on the character, their class and their personality. The ‘common’ characters, such as Nurse and the servants, speak in prose. The ‘noble’ characters in the play are given blank verse. Some of the characters also use rhyming couplets. The different types of language are there to show how the characters behave and what type of background they come from. The audience is able to form a general picture of what type of person the character is by the type of language they use.

Shakespeare gives Romeo and Juliet a sonnet to share. This gives them an instant connection. The sonnet completely isolates the two from all others on stage, both physically and in language. The audience can see from this that Romeo and Juliet fell in love immediately and that the two are thinking in the same way. This makes the audience feel sympathy for the two. Romeo compares Juliet with light and dark. This shows his love for her as he is allowing hr the image of light and therefore you see her as being pure and beautiful.

In my opinion this story still has relevance as it has the basic idea of love that cannot be. There are still people today that are prevented from having relationships due to religion, race, culture and factors such as that. The story can relate to situations that people find themselves in today. There are many people who are stopped from marrying the person that they love due to the views of family. This teaches us that although some relationships are considered as wrong, if you love someone there is nothing that can be done to prevent the love and that there is nothing wrong with being with them. It can also teach us that if we try to intervene in other peoples love we are not helping, only causing deep problems.

I feel sympathy towards Romeo and Juliet as they are in love but their love is not allowed. I feel sorry for them because their relationship is very difficult. I think that Shakespeare aimed to make the audience feel sympathetic towards Romeo and Juliet in their first meeting. He was successful with this portrayal. Shakespeare managed to show that Romeo and Juliet fell in love at first sight. This gives the audience even more incentive to feel sorry for the star crossed lovers.

Sian Anderson 10HO