Through the duration of the play it shows the story of the star cross’d lovers falling in love and all the obstacles they must pass to be together. Unfortunately their death mark’d love comes tragically to an end when they both kill themselves, this results in an end to their parents feud. But this is an Elizabethan tragedy and they don’t have plays where only to people die, other people that die are: Mercutio (Romeo’s Best friend and a kinsman to the Prince), Paris (The Governors son and kinsman to the Prince) and Tybalt. We have taken a small look at the first scene now to delve into the world of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
It begins in Verona a beautiful Italian city where two Capulet servants, Sampson and Gregory, enter the scene, these two friends try making fun of each other, actually Gregory twists everything the Sampson says making it sound bad for example,
“Sampson: Gregory, o’ my word, we’ll not carry coals,”
(Act 1 Scene 1 Line 1)
But Gregory quickly responds by saying,
“Gregory: No, for then we should be colliers,”
(Act 1 Scene 1 Line 2)
In modern language Sampson said that they shall not be insulted (mainly by someone from the house of Montague) and Gregory says that if they carry coal (are insulted) they would be coalmen or ‘colliers’, this kind of humour is authentic punning using old English language a pun meaning a play on words. In their funny humour the two Capulets argue how they will not back down from a Montague, they also talk about how they will make the Montagues maids ‘impure’ or unable to retain their ‘maidenheads’ (virginity).
Sampson is the first person to talk in the scene, Sampson tries to act very macho, we can tell this because throughout he talks about taking on any Montague in a fight a quote to back up this statement would be,
“Sampson: A dog of that house shall move me to stand: I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague’s.”
(Act 1 Scene 1 Line 10-11)
He likes to instigate and is very impulsive and wouldn’t pass up the chance to cause mischief,
“Sampson: Nay, as they dare. I shall bite my thumb at them which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.”
(Act 1 Scene 1 Line 37-38)
As we can tell from this quote Sampson acts on his impulse, or so he would like people to believe.
Gregory, Sampson’s quick-witted friend likes to make fun of Sampson by twisting Sampson’s words he always makes Sampson look like a coward this in fact makes Sampson more willing to fight to prove that he is not a coward. If Sampson isn’t enough to cause trouble then Gregory is there to egg him on. Unlike Sampson, Gregory doesn’t try to be macho and doesn’t boast about things, he also thinks ahead and doesn’t act so impulsive he may seem a coward compared to Sampson, but he is smart not wanting to start a fight. So when the Montagues come past Gregory panics but Sampson wants to stand up to them.
At the beginning of the scene Sampson and Gregory seem to be clowning around joker kind obviously Shakespeare wants the audience to change our minds about them as they seem to turn very sinister,
“Sampson: ‘Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids, and cut off their heads.”
(Act 1 Scene 1 Line 20-21)
Here they are talking about raping the women and cutting off their heads, although they are joking about it, it still seems evil to talk about it like that. I don’t think they are supposed to be funny, Sampson talks about standing up against the Montagues and Gregory twists his words to make him seem cowardly. Until the Montagues come Sampson talks about how brave he is and when Sampson bites his thumb at them Abraham questions them about it, but Sampson is too cowardly to back up his insult,
“No, Sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, Sir, but I do bite my thumb, Sir.”
(Act 1 Scene 1 Line 44)
If Sampson were brave he would say he did bite his thumb at them. Sampson obviously dislikes the Montagues and when two Montague servants come along Sampson decides to cause trouble, he provokes them by biting his thumb at them, in modern day this would be equivalent to a finger gesture, which in Elizabethan times would cause serious offence, for that reason this provocation caught the Montagues’ attention. As disagreement occurs they begin to fight.
