Introduction
Romeo and Juliet was one of William Shakespeare’s earliest tragedies. It was written in the 16th century when Queen Elizabeth was on the throne. This play was set in Verona, Italy, and was based on two feuding families. The names of the two families were Montague and Capulet who had two members that fell in love. They were, of course, Romeo and Juliet. Their relationship was frowned upon by the elders of the families as it was strictly against what they believed in. This play was written to be very entertaining about two tragic lovers and ends in a tragedy when the two lovers, who were also the main characters, die. Also, this play would appeal to everybody as it includes many emotions such as love, hatred, aggression, anger and lust.
Act 1 Scene 5
So far, we have seen Romeo’s premonition when he believes that he knows that something terrible will happen later on in the play. This would create a sombre mood in the audience as they would fear for Romeo. This is also foreshadowing as we know that something will happen to him. Act 1 Scene 5 opens with the servants arguing and bustling about. The servants are figures of fun and will be there to amuse the audience in the way they are doing their jobs. For example when Sampson says to Anthony and Potpan, “save me a piece of marchpane, and as thou lovest me, let the porter let in Susan Grindstone and Nell”. This quote shows that he is implying that he wants to have his own little party while the masked ball is taking place. The masked ball begins with Lord Capulet’s welcome speech. This has a dramatic effect on everybody as you begin to realise that this is when Romeo and Juliet are going to meet up and get together when Lord Capulet quotes “young men and women get together”. When Romeo first does see Juliet, he says that she is almost God like. You notice this when Romeo says “beauty too rich for use, for Earth too dear”. Although Shakespeare makes Romeo notice Juliet, he delays their meeting. He does this for a number of reasons: firstly, he does it to make Romeo find out who she is as he doesn’t already know. Also he does it to make the audience become more involved in the play, as they know who she is and that they are going to fall in love. Romeo’s speech about Juliet is very flattering. He says that Juliet can “teach the torches to burn bright” which means that he thinks she is unreal. He also says that she is better than all the rest when he says “a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear” and “so shows a snowy dove trooping with crows”. This paints a picture in the audience’s mind and helps them to understand it. When Shakespeare makes Tybalt enter, he makes it change from romantic words to aggressive. He does this to show the audience that Tybalt does not want Romeo there and that there is bad blood between the two. Shakespeare makes it very dramatic at this point as Tybalt sees Romeo and goes to tell his uncle, who is Lord Capulet. Immediately after this tense confrontation between Tybalt and his uncle about Romeos presence at the ball, Romeo and Juliet speak for the first time in the language of love, in the form of a sonnet. For Romeo and Juliet’s first words to each other to be in the form of a sonnet just heightens the impact on the audience. During the sonnet, both Romeo and Juliet speak parts to show their spiritual connection. For example, when Romeo says, on the 9th line, “have not saints lips and holy palmers too?”, then Juliet answers with “ay pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer”. What Romeo is saying is she is a saint and that he worships her. This is a very romantic section of the scene which is for the audience to recognise how much Romeo and Juliet love each other and will make them feel romantic and warm. The ending of this scene is also very dramatic as Romeo and Juliet say prophetic lines. One of them comes from Juliet when she says “if he be married, my grave is to be like my wedding bed”. This means that she will die unmarried or she would rather die than be unable to marry him. This is foreshadowing, as when she gets married to Romeo, she dies almost straight after she sees Romeo dead. This would have a very dramatic impact on the audience as they would feel upset, shocked and surprised that she has foreseen her own death.
