How is drama created in act 3 scene 1 of Shakespeare(TM)s Romeo and Juliet?

How is drama created in act 3 scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet?

Drama is situation that is exciting or highly emotional. I believe that from early Shakespearian time drama covered all vital elements to make the performance entertaining. In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” we experience scenes of emotion, excitement, violence, humour, fear, romance, and many more to appear to all types audiences. In act 3 scene 1 we identify Shakespeare uses a variety of techniques to create drama.

Firstly Shakespeare cleverly chooses his combination of characters to create drama. Mercutio relates to the word mercury. Mercury is a term for liquid metal; liquid metal reacts to heat and pressure. This could be indicating Mercutio’s aggressive side. We know it is a hot day “these hot days” this can make normal people to become short tempered. So, Shakespeare has given Mercutio his name to suggest to the audience that you will see him react to the heat and pressure (which could make the audience on edge). We witness this when Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt; loyal Mercutio can’t stand it and fights the battle for him. This is a great way of creating drama because Mercutio is living up to his name by reacting to the heat of the day. Mercury being the only liquid metal is breaking all the rules. Again this could be bringing about Mercutio’s disobedient character, which we distinguish in the scene when he fights Tybalt as he is going against the law. Mercury is also known to be very poisonous. If you were a poisonous character you tended to be very harsh almost stuck-up. There are occasions during the scene when we see Mercutio uses harsh insults towards Tybalt such as “minstrels” and “rat-catcher” meaning who meant nothing, This again gives us the evidence that Shakespeare has linked Mercutio’s character to his name, subsequently creating drama. We notice a contrast in the characters Shakespeare has chosen because he places Mercutio with someone quite the opposite of him. His friend Benvolio means “good natured”. We certainly notice this in the scene, as he does not take offence to Mercutio’s insults: “Am I like such a fellow”. Also we begin to recognise Benvolio is fearful of the Capulet’s “By my head here comes the Capulet’s,” suggesting he is weak and has little confidence. This could bring the audience to empathize with Benvolio. Lastly I think Benvolio is quite a clever man because he predicts there will be a fight or uproar: “For now these hot days, is the mad blood stirring”. Later on in the scene Benvolio’s prediction is discovered to be correct as two deaths occur. When a prediction is proved correct it can create a lot of drama. In Elizabethan times you were judged a lot by your character to how popular you were. This could suggest because of Benvolio’s lack of confidence and weakness that he wasn’t popular or listened to often.

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The weather can easily be used to create drama and Shakespeare links the weather well into what is going on in the scene. We know it is a hot day “these hot days” this can make everyone short tempered and bitter. We begin to realise this is true as Mercutio gets aggressive and blasts out on Tybalt. In Shakespearian times hot days were the days where many people were outside so if an argument were to happen there would be many people to spur it on, as there would be an audience encouraging them. Also Benvolio says at the beginning that “these hot days it the mad blood stirring”. This could be suggesting there is a storm breaking because usually after a long period of hot days a storm breaks out. This could make the audience on uptight, as they are weary of what might come, resulting in exciting drama for the audience.

Dramatic irony is a situation that is odd or amusing because something has occurred that is the opposite of what one would expect. It is a key part to keep the audience drawn in, and Shakespeare uses it well in this scene. Romeo now married to Juliet intends on keeping at peace with her family and even tells her cousin Tybalt that he loves his family as much as his own, “Capulet, which name I tender as dearly as mine own”. This enables Romeo not to fight but to walk away from Tybalt whilst Tybalt confronts him. Once Romeo finally realises that Tybalt has killed his best friend his temper raises and slays Tybalt. It makes a massive impact on the audience because he has gone and done the thing we’re least expecting. I find it very ironic how Romeo tries to create peace and Mercutio ends up being killed under Romeo’s arm. “I was hurt under your arm.” When someone is the result of someone’s the result of someone’s death on the same side this can engage the audience as they are in a state of shock at what has happened. In Elizabethan times to be the result of someone’s death in your family or a close friend it was considered a terrible act. It was also seen immoral to wish for the death of a relative in Elizabethan times too. We experience Lady Capulet do this because she us unaware of her daughters marriage to Romeo. So because Romeo has killed her nephew, Tybalt she pleads “Romeo must not live”. This is another ironic situation because she wants her own son-in-law dead. Again this is creating enjoyment for the audience, as they know the secret however the characters remain oblivious. We can gather without doubt that the Montague’s and the Capulet’s hate each other incalculably. It seems incredibly bizarre how no one knows why. The audience isn’t told, the characters don’t recollect why. This is very ironic considering deaths are the result of this hate. You wouldn’t imagine teenagers using chivalric language, as they haven’t matured entirely to speak politely. Yet we observe Romeo use it to Tybalt “Be satisfied”. This is a honourable way of saying to Tybalt, it is enough and he will not fight. This form of irony is generating curiosity for the audience, which is why it is very dramatic.

There is great conflict with authority shown in this scene to create drama. In the past attempts to fight authority have failed. The audience know that the Prince has warned them that if the two families were to disturb the streets again their lives would pay the forfeit of peace. This tells the audience that to go against authority again it would need to be a bigger and better reason for doing so. Benvoilio repeats the warning to Mercutio, hoping he would listen to his advice. However Mercutio still doesn’t think twice about drawing to Tybalt. This conflict is very exciting for the audience and characters around them as it brings across Mercutio’s strong defiant character. In Elizabethan times this would have been a rarity to see someone in broad daylight brake the law so this makes it even more exhilarating. Marriage has to have parent’s permission before the age of 18 and is merely illegal before the age of 16. Not only are the parents uninformed that they are married but they aren’t yet at the age where they are allowed to be. This is very dramatic for the audience as it is clashing with authority to a very high extent. In the Elizabethan era, if you were English you were expected to be strict Protestant. So to be murdering somebody it wasn’t just going against the law of the land it was going against God’s law. So there is almost this rebellion against God, as we know he commanded us not to murder. Consequently there is this risk of being frowned upon by the Church if you happened to be caught murdering someone. This kind of rebellion can also be very dramatic.

The location of the scene can create exciting drama. Shakespeare has set the scene in a public place; already we get a sense of danger hovering in the air, as public places are usually places of tension. Also public places is where you are likely to find many people, this could create an audience if there were to be a fight. Not only that, because of the vast amounts of people any criminal acts would not be mistaken as there are plenty of witnesses. This follows us back to what the prince has warned them about. So again we are reminded of this tension that hangs in the atmosphere. We are shown that the law means nothing to Mercutio’s loyalty for his friend; neither does he care of many people watching his act. This interests the audience and they too like the characters on set, may want to encourage the fight between Tybalt and Mercutio. Benvolio however we realise hates being caught up in the centre of attention and suggests to Mercutio and the beginning of the argument “Either withdraw unto some privet place”. He obviously doesn’t want to be publicly humiliated. On the other hand the audience could object and be eager for that to happen, as is it very amusing for them. As it being a rarity for that to happen in Shakespearian times the fight would have been encouraged and blown out of proportion resulting in great excitement for the audience.

The language used in this scene acts like a magnet towards the audience. The reason for this is a lot of it is witty and sex orientated. I believe that the curse language is the most stimulating. Shakespeare makes great use of this because we undergo Mercutio’s curse both houses three times. “A plague on both houses” This is incredibly spellbinding especially for the superstitious people in Shakespearian times. This use of repetition is another reason why it is so powerful because to repeat something so evil such as to with the plague on your fellow house it emphasizes the great anger in Mercutio. The sense of honour shown in the language particularly Romeo, causes confusion for the characters. “Be satisfied”. This is telling Tybalt that he will not fight and that he should accept that. The audience can understand this but the characters do not which is why it engages the audience so vividly as they are interested to see the characters reaction. This use of insult language can be quite amusing for the audience “rat-catcher” is not an insult we use today nonetheless it is regarded as a heavy insult because in Elizabethan a “rat-catcher” was a name for someone with an extremely low status. The audience may find it witty or striking but overall very dramatic. Exaggeration is another form of language that Shakespeare has a tendency to use. I reckon Romeo can’t love Tybalt as much as he makes out “which name I tender as dearly as mine own” because he ends up killing him a short while after saying that. However I believe it is very affective as it is used to confuse and shock the characters, which he succeeds in doing. Yet if he were to show his true feelings to Tybalt it wouldn’t be so dramatic because you wouldn’t see much of a contrast after Tybalt kills Mercutio.

Secrets can cause immense drama for the audience. Shakespeare has conjured the biggest secret of all. Having seen and read the whole play I know that near the beginning Romeo married Juliet. Firstly from this we understand that it is going to make such an impact on the play. We have the aspect of love in this too, which is very enjoyable. But the reason why it is so emotive is because for these two sides to get on it was unheard of. But to be in love it was almost an offence. The real enjoyment is produced when the secret is shared with the audience but not the characters. It frustrates them so much more so Mercutio because he can’t understand why Romeo won’t fight Tybalt. He is disgusted with Romeo “ vile submission” and ends up getting himself killed. Also we recognise Romeo is speaking in riddles to confuse the characters as he does not want to let slip the real reason why he wont fight. “But love the better than thou canst devise”. As part of the audience we can work this out hence why it is so dramatic. Lady Capulet wishes for the death of her son-in-law because she is unaware of this secret, we know this was considered immoral in Elizabethan times.

There is a great deal of threat that hangs over the whole scene. The Prince who we know has claimed that any more disruption to the streets would result in the death to people in those houses creates the majority of this threat. This produces this atmosphere of threat throughout the scene, as the audience are aware of what could happen. What could happen is that reason why it is so dramatic because the audience become anxious once they empathize with the character on either side. Some threat is also created by the marriage between Romeo and Juliet because of what might happen if they were found out and what impact it would have on the play. It can make the audience on edge, which is why this kind of threat adds to the drama of the whole scene.

Having discussed all the elements Shakespeare uses to make “Romeo and Juliet” intensely dramatic we can really understand a lot about Shakespeare and the play itself. Shakespeare having written the play when he was 30 must have remembered precisely what is was like to be a teenager. It’s almost like he can still feel the same feelings of love and anger like a 14 year old would because he portrays its so well. I reckon this is why it is so appealing for teenagers and older people alike as they can recover and experience being the age they are or that age again as Shakespeare has interpreted it so well in this play.

By Natasha Godfrey 10y1