In the second section the main characters are Capulet and his cousin. When Capulet walks in he is very welcoming and plays the happy host, e is in a party mood and teases the girls into dancing. The atmosphere is very bright and happy and the lighting reflects this. The music is jig-like and very jolly so that the characters can dance. This is set in a huge ballroom that is elaborately decorated to show off Capulet’s wealth and the costumes are gorgeous dresses for the girls and masks on the young men. But this changes and the audience sees a contrast in his attitude when he talks to the servants as he commands them and speaks to them very rudely. ‘More light, you knaves; and turn the tables up….’ Then he changes again when talking to his cousin and they start to reminisce about their youth. Here, they take a seat in a room next door to ballroom and sit.
In the section the main character is Romeo and he has just spotted Juliet. He acts as if he’s in a trance is fascinated by her ‘What lady’s that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight.’ He asks in soft as he is in a daze. He uses similes ‘she hangs upon the cheek of night like a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear’ and metaphors ‘a snowy dove trooping with crows’ to compare her to other women so that the audience can see that she is amazing and all other girls are insignificant in comparison with her. ‘Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight; for I ne’er saw true beauty till this night’ shows that he has completely forgotten about Rosaline and is totally in love with Juliet and this is done with the use of rhyme. Shakespeare had introduced the idea of courtly love earlier because Romeo was ‘in love’ with Rosaline, a girl totally out of his reach he had put her on a pedestal. She totally ignored his approaches and he was left to despair over her rejections. This section is very important because it is the beginning of their love and their doom. The theme is love. Romeo should stand in the shadows and when he sees her, take of his ask to get a better view of Juliet. Juliet is in the spotlight wearing a white dress that shimmers and reflects of the light as she moves. She notices Romeo and then romantic music starts playing, which will play every time they see each other. This is the instrumental violin music, sort of like what’s used in Bahz Lurman’s ‘Romeo + Juliet’.
In the fourth section the main characters are Tybalt and Capulet. Tybalt sees Romeo staring at Juliet and is furious that he dares attend a Capulet part. There is a huge contrast from Romeo’s soft language to Tybalt’s fiery and dangerous language. He tries to get rid of Romeo ‘Fetch me my rapier boy’ he asks in a quiet and menacing voice, wanting t kill Romeo quickly and quietly. Capulet sees him and tries to get him to calm down and stop being in a ‘storm’) saying that he would not allow Romeo to be killed ‘here in MY house’ this gives the impression that Capulet would not care if Romeo was murdered outside of his home. But Tybalt does not like this and loses his temper saying ‘I’ll not endure him.’ Capulet is furious and goes to humiliate Tybalt ‘He shall be endured’ he says in a stern voice as if talking to a child. Tybalt backs down but Capulet keeps on shouting at him and totally humiliates him. Tybalt is fuming to the point that his flesh ‘trembles’ which shows that he’s so angry that he’s shaking. He controls his temper because he has to. In a mean whisper he says ‘This intrusion shall, now seeming sweet, convert to bitt’rest gall.’ He uses alliteration to show his contempt and the rhyming makes the words more memorable. This gives a sense of foreboding and the audience and knows that something bad will come of the Tybalt situation. The lighting is dark, maybe a bit of red and there is just one long ominous note of dread.
In this section the main characters are Romeo and Juliet. Juliet searches for Romeo and he searches for her. Romeo finds her and pulls her into the next. Romeo and Juliet share a love sonnet which shows that they are both in love; it’s almost as if their minds are working together and they are in a world of their own. They seem about to start speaking in another sonnet but are interrupted. Although modern audiences might not notice, audiences in Shakespearian times would have. The lighting is very soft and creates a romantic atmosphere. The music is the same as was in the third section when they first saw each other. Shakespeare uses religious language to show the purity and tenderness of their love. Shakespeare shows that Romeo and Juliet’s love is not fake and the typical ‘courtly love’ because she doesn’t despise him and they both love each other.
The main characters in this section are the Romeo, the Nurse, Benvolio and Capulet. Capulet is standing on the stairs and is about to retire to his chambers so he bids his guests goodnight. Juliet is standing behind him. Capulet is still talking but the sound goes over to Romeo. Romeo is standing with the crowd of people in the shadows. Still enchanted by Juliet wants to know who she is and asks the Nurse. The Nurse, who is a crude character, is very talkative. ‘He that can lay hold of her shall have the chinks’ she says, giving Romeo a clue that Juliet is rich. It dawns on Romeo who Juliet is and his world comes crashing down ‘Is she a Capulet?’ The party music stops. He is devastated that one of the best things to have happened to him could also be the worst. Benvolio tries to tell him that it’s all for the best but he’s oblivious. The spotlight goes onto Juliet as she walks upstairs, away from him (even more out of reach).
In the final section the music playing is still the romantic music remnant of the fifth section and Juliet wants to find out who Romeo is but she doesn’t want to be too obvious. When the nurse returns an tells Juliet who Romeo is the music stops and she is very unhappy. ‘My only love sprung from my only hate!’ she says with despair. She knows that her father will never marry a Montague, a dreaded enemy. This is how marriage was in those times. The father picked out a man, usually of higher class for his daughter and she had little choice about whether she would marry him. A girl could be married at young ages such as fourteen or fifteen. She goes into her bedroom. The audience is left looking at an empty stage.
