Capulet is also flirtatious; ‘I have worn a visor and could tell a whispering tale in a fair lady’s ear’ Shakespeare creates this flirtatious side of Capulet to remind the audience that at this party individuals may meet and flirt, resulting in the beginning of romance.
The overall affect of making parts of this scene exciting and humorous is that a divide between the first half of the play and the second is created. Before Act Three, when Romeo and Juliet have just met and fallen in love, it still seems that they could be together. However after the death of Tybalt and Mercutio the themes of danger and tension build up to the climax of Romeo and Juliet’s tragic death.
Possibly the most crucial theme of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is romance. Romeo instantly falls in love with Juliet when he sees her dancing at Capulet’s party: ‘Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight’ He also seems entranced by Juliet’s apparent luminous beauty: ‘O she doth teach the torches to burn bright’.
Romeo describes Juliet as a ‘dove’ amongst a troop of ‘crows’ (other women). Shakespeare uses this way of describing Juliet because it shows that she is not only beautiful but that she is also a symbol of peace. This is ironic because in the end it is Juliet’s and Romeo’s death that ends the feud, and creates peace in Verona.
Romeo speaks in 5 rhyming couplets which romanticises his immediate feeling for Juliet (line 43 to 53). This shows how trivial his feelings for Rosaline were and that it was nothing more than an infatuation. Shakespeare uses Rosaline to prove that Romeo hasn’t just fallen in love with Juliet because she is the first attractive girl he has met. In the chorus from line 144-57 this point is proven again; ‘Now old desire doth in his death bed lie/ and young affection gapes to be his heir.’ This is essential because it makes Romeo’s and Juliet’s love seem extremely strong and by doing this, it makes the play more believable.
When Romeo and Juliet meet for the first time they talk in a 14 line love poem known as a sonnet. The use of a sonnet isolates the lovers from Capulet’s other guests, and emphasizes the special moment of their first meeting by showing their immediate connection. Romeo describes Juliet’s hand as a shrine: ‘If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this, my lips two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.’ Shakespeare’s use of religious terminology illustrates the fact that Romeo doesn’t just love Juliet, he worships her. Also, like a pilgrim, Romeo travels to Juliet and goes through hardships to be with her; therefore this introduces the idea that they will have difficult times. Shakespeare uses the theme of religion a lot throughout ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The reason for this is that, in the 1590s religion was extremely important and if Romeo and Juliet had not got married the audience would have thought it was disgraceful.
Various themes and ideas are introduced in the prologue and are developed during Act 1, Scene 5. Shakespeare skilfully expands and intertwines the themes of fate, love, tension and danger to prepare the audience for the tragic events later on in the play.
Tybalt is used to add danger and tension to Act 1, Scene 5 to preparing the audience for the death of Romeo and Juliet. Tybalt’s impulsive and spontaneous behaviour is a great contrast to Capulet. This is portrayed when Tybalt instantaneously reaches for his sword when he recognises Romeo’s voice as a Montague’s: ‘This, by his voice, should be a Montague/ Fetch me my rapier, boy.’ This makes it clear to the audience how far Tybalt is willing to go if he believes he is preserving the ‘Capulet’ honour. Shakespeare includes this emphasis on family honour because in the 1590s it was very important. Also the fact that Tybalt would consider killing Romeo prepares the audience for the tragic ending.
The link from Romeo’s romantic poem and Tybalt’s violence creates the contrast between Romeo and Juliet’s love and the hate caused by the feud. The idea that love ‘sprung’ from Romeo’s and Juliet’s only hate is ironic and it is one of the reasons that the play is so famous.
Capulet’s reaction to the information that Romeo has entered his party is completely opposite to Tybalt’s. Even though Lord Capulet understands Tybalt’s annoyance, he decides that Romeo should be left alone. ‘To say truth, Verona brags of him, to be virtuous and well-govern’d youth. I would not for all the wealth of all this town, here in my house do him disparagement’ However with the prominence being on ‘here in my house’ it is made clear that if the same situation happened anywhere else there could be a different outcome. This again, links to the fact that Shakespeare is building up the tension towards the final events.
The ending of the play is revealed in the prologue; which would have been sung by a chorus: ‘from forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of stair-cross’d lovers take there life’ Shakespeare informs the audience that Romeo and Juliet will die, within the first 14 lines, so that their focus isn’t on what the ending will be, but on the reasons for its occurrence. Romeo says that Juliet is: ‘too rich for use/ for earth too dear.’ This gives the impression that Juliet’s beauty can’t be valued on earth because she is too beautiful to belong there and that perhaps she belongs in heaven. By using fate as a theme Shakespeare make it seem that there was nothing anyone could do to save the young lovers and that they were meant to die.
Romeo and Juliet’s death is partly because of their rash behaviour. This impulsive behaviour is introduced and developed within the theme of the generation gap. Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet and Mercutio all display spontaneous and rash actions (this point is proven in my earlier comments about Tybalt). Romeo and Juliet rush into their relationship and because they were so quick to die for their love they cannot be saved. However Romeo and Juliet’s parents and Friar Lawrence aren’t quick enough in their responses. For example, if Friar Lawrence had delivered the letter to Romeo on time then his plan would have succeeded, averting the tragedy.
In addition to my previous point, Romeo and Juliet were so in love that they had to die. It was the only way that their love could stay so strong and perfect. The intensity of their love couldn’t last forever because the passion they had wouldn’t have meant as much if Shakespeare had lengthened their brief time together. Therefore the strength of their love in itself is an indication that their ending wouldn’t be joyful and that they couldn’t end up alive, together. The strength of their love is what ultimately ended the feud of the Capulet’s and Montague’s.
In Act 1, Scene 5 Shakespeare introduces key themes and develops them to prepare the audience for the tragic events at the end of the play. The way in which the themes of romance and excitement are finely intertwined with the themes of tension and danger makes the audience aware that something bad will happen because of Romeo and Juliet’s un-breakable love. Additionally, in human nature and in most situations in life, there is generally more than one emotion involved. That is ultimately why Shakespeare uses the contrasting themes of excitement, romance, tension and danger to show the complexity of what Romeo, Juliet and their families were going through. To achieve this, Shakespeare merges the key themes into the personalities of all the characters. By doing this, Shakespeare sets the themes subtly and skilfully and this makes the overall play of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ one of the most renowned pieces of literature ever written.
