“I have seen the day that I have worn a visor”
“For you and I are past our dancing days”
These quotes reinforce how old he is and show that he is reminiscing back to the days when he was young and free. This is effective as there is contrast between his old age and the youth who are present at the party.
Lord Capulet is portrayed as a welcoming friendly host who wishes for his guests to feel relaxed, comfortable and happy at his party. Later on in the play the audience see a more controlling side of Capulet when they see him responding to Tybalt with aggression because he doesn’t follow his commands.
The mood and atmosphere changes, as Romeo expresses his inner thoughts in a soliloquy. The moment he sees Juliet, he is immediately struck by her beauty. His premonition erases and he completely disregards Rosaline. This suggests that Romeo’s love for Juliet is superficial and reminds the audience that he is still at a young age.
“Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear”
This simile expresses the true beauty of Juliet; she is compared to a jewel which symbolises prestige and beauty.
“So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows”
Juliet is then compared to a dove which symbolises purity and innocence. She outshines all the other women at the party as Romeo becomes critical of them, associating them with crows.
“She doth teach the torches to burn bright”.
When Romeo sees Juliet he speaks about her, using metaphors. This tells us that Juliet's beauty is much brighter than that of the torches. She is so much brighter that she teaches the torches how to shine which is a poetic exaggeration as this is not possible. It is important for Romeo to say this, as the audience cannot see Juliet's beauty directly. In Shakespeare's theatre a boy would play Juliet.
Shakespeare uses literary techniques which are not only used to express the emotions felt, but to create a picture in the audience’s mind. Therefore, Shakespeare creates a beauty through language, which an actor could not compensate for.
The style changes from soliloquy to dialogue as a heated dispute between Capulet and Tybalt occurs. Tybalt recognises Romeo and feels insulted that Romeo has come to mock the party. He refers to Romeo as a “slave” which shows his hatred towards the Montague’s. His character is unfriendly and aggressive. He is full of hate and potentially violent. Tybalt’s use of language contrasts with the language Romeo uses to describe Juliet’s beauty which vividly illustrates the difference between love and hate.
Capulet is not concerned by Romeo’s intrusion and instructs Tybalt to “endure him” which shows that he is relaxed about the situation and does not want disruption. When Tybalt refuses to listen to his commands, Capulet becomes angry and dismissive. He begins to insult Tybalt by calling him a “saucy boy” and a “princox”. Tybalt is then forced to be patient but the hate and anger that he is holding in gradually escalates to violence later on in the play.
Capulet says “This trick may chance to scathe you” to Tybalt when he still refuses to endure Romeo. He says that the attitude that Tybalt has might end up causing him harm, which is quite ironic as we later see that he is killed.
The audience see a difference in the way Capulet’s character is presented and start to wonder whether the welcoming and friendliness which they had previously seen is a complete façade.
Later on in this scene, Shakespeare focuses on when Romeo and Juliet speak for the first time and exchange their sonnet. The moment they meet, there is an immediate and intense attraction to each other.
There is a contrast in the mood as Romeo and Juliet are presented as separate and aloof from the liveliness of the party creating a quiet, still moment which adds a sense of serenity to the meeting.
In Romeo’s quatrain, Shakespeare uses religious imagery to give the audience an insight into the character’s thoughts. Romeo declares his love for Juliet and is eager to get a kiss from her and in order to do this he uses religious language for it to seem more acceptable.
Romeo describes his lips as 'two blushing pilgrims’. In this sonnet, Romeo is the pilgrim who is devoted to Juliet. By saying that his lips are 'two blushing pilgrims,' Romeo is using a metaphor which reinforces the image of love and devotion.
Juliet playfully encourages him by saying “For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss” Shakespeare has written in sonnet form to express the characters’ love for one another and their bond. The lines shared by Romeo and Juliet shows immediate connection and reflect that they are in tune with each other, working together and are feeling the same way. This has a strong impact on the audience because they speak of such strong love at such a young age.
Juliet says "You kiss by the book" just after she and Romeo share their first kiss. She suggests that Romeo is very good at interpreting the rules of kissing.
We see how Romeo shifts his interest from Rosaline to Juliet. His speaking of the sonnet shows him loving the idea of being in love with Juliet. His mood shifts from despair to happiness because he has a new object of love.
The moment of happiness and tranquillity is then broken by the nurse taking Juliet away from Romeo. This is effective as now the pace of the play is speeding up, retaining the interest of the audience and bringing them back to reality. The audience are reminded that the love of Romeo and Juliet cannot exist because of the feud between their families which adds drama to the play.
Romeo is curious to find out about Juliet, so he asks the nurse and she replies saying:
“I tell you, he that can lay hold of her shall have the chinks”
The nurse's image of love is in sharp contrast to what we have just witnessed between Romeo and Juliet. She talks about the money that Romeo would stand to gain if he married Juliet. She views the relationship as a materialistic venture; there is no mention of love or devotion.
When Romeo acknowledges that Juliet is a Capulet, he is distraught and says “My life is my foe’s debt”. His life is in the hands of his enemy. We are once more reminded of the danger of the situation as their love is unfeasible and will follow with unhappiness and eventually their death.
“My only love sprung from my only hate” is said by Juliet after the Nurse tells her that Romeo is a Montague. She is in despair but has already fallen in love with him. The information has come too late to save her from this difficult situation.
The words “prodigious” and “birth” are used as metaphors to describe her unnatural love for Romeo which cannot be blocked out, just, as a baby is born and cannot be killed. The love that she has is “unnatural” as that love that she has should be turned into hate, as Romeo is a Montague. Therefore he is her enemy.
This has a great impact on the audience as they react to the irony of two young teenagers uncontrollably falling in love but finding out that they are enemies. This brings about their downfall as whilst their feuding families think about defeat, their love is being torn apart.
In the prologue it says “And the continuance of their parents rage, which, but their children’s end, naught could remove”
This suggests that Romeo and Juliet’s death is caused by the arrogance of the two families.
In conclusion I think that Act One Scene Five is one of the most important scenes in the play, as it is when Romeo and Juliet first meet and it very dramatically effective. This is because Shakespeare used Capulet’s speech to set a contrasting happy mood to the beginning of the play, so already this scene is different. Shakespeare expresses Romeo’s declaration of his love for Juliet to intensify the mood. Then Tybalt’s speech is used to resurrect the hatred and conflict between Capulet and Montague and to also focus on the key theme of hate. Shakespeare has created a mixture of emotions which change throughout the scene, making it more interesting for the audience. Finally, Shakespeare adds the kiss of Romeo and Juliet to enhance the drama and passion but also to represent another key theme, love which is a source of dramatic irony. Although the audiences are aware of the outcome from the prologue, they still feel the anger and shock of the build up in motion towards their death which this effective scene sets.
