On over-hearing Romeo speak to the servant and recognizing his voice, Tybalt is incensed that a Montague has the gall to attend the party and instantly orders his servant to fetch his sword so that he can deal with Romeo. Tybalt is convinced that the only reason a Montague would do such a thing was to cause trouble. Witnessing the anger in Tybalt, Capulet approaches him to find the cause “Why, how now, kinsman, wherefore storm you so?” (line 59). The audience is now being subjected to both the major emotions in this scene, love and hate. Capulet tells Tybalt in no uncertain terms that there will be no fighting under his roof. He also states that “And to say truth, Verona brags of him to be a virtuous and well-governed youth” (line 66-67). I find this quite a surprising statement in that we see Capulet stating the worthy opinion of the town saying Romeo is “not a bad lad”. This is surprising as it is the son of his worst enemy. I feel that maybe Shakespeare is allowing Capulet to speak well of Romeo so that the audience will think that when Romeo and Juliet fall in love, their love will be enough to heal the feud between the two families. Maybe that would have been the case had not Capulet ridiculed Tybalt causing him to vow revenge on Romeo for his humiliation. Romeo and Juliet are completely oblivious to the scene around them. We, the audience, are however, very aware of the threats made by Tybalt. Shakespeare has created tension and drama for the audience whilst leaving the main characters ignorant of this fact.
We see a big change in Romeo’s speech when he first speaks to Juliet. Previously his talk of love had been all doom and gloom. Now he uses religious imagery to convey his feelings. The use of words such as “holy shrine, faith, pilgrims, sin, devotion” give a feeling of deep sincerity to his first talk with Juliet. Likewise she uses similar words and comparisons to convey her feelings. Their first conversation is written as a sonnet, this was a popular option at the time the play was penned. The young couple get together and stand palm to palm. The significance of this gesture is that pilgrims brought palm leaves back from the Holy Land and were subsequently known as “palmers”. They use very strong poetic words in the conversation and are both obviously smitten with the other. They use their palms as a symbol of their lips before they kiss, “For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss” (line 98-99). The intimacy of the scene is interrupted by the nurse who calls Juliet’s attention to the fact her mother wishes to see her. Both are still unaware of the identity of the person they have fallen in love with, blissfully ignorant of the tragedy that is to follow. Romeo asks the nurse for the name of his love and is devastated that his love is also his foe “Is she a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt” (line 117-118). Romeo and Benvolio decide it is time to leave the ball. As they leave we see a slightly more devious side to Juliet. She wishes to know the identity of her love but does not wish to draw attention to the fact she loves him, she thinks he may be married and she would be distraught if that were the case “Go ask his name. – If he be married, my grave is like to be my wedding bed” (line 133-134). This is a rather melodramatic statement, worthy of the original way that Romeo speaks of love. It shows that even in those days teenagers were prone to be drama queens. However nothing could be worse news for Juliet than the news that her true love is the son of her family’s sworn enemies.
Shakespeare has allowed the audience to see the whole picture unfolding within this scene. We are aware of the threats of violence from Tybalt, the fact that the two offspring from opposing houses have fallen in love and of the devastation they feel at knowing theirs is a forbidden alliance. Romeo has changed his whole outlook on life in this act. At the start of the play he was a very unhappy, lovesick and melancholy person who it seemed was enjoying the attention he was receiving from his kin with regard to his misery. Capulet and Montague have been reprimanded by the Prince regarding the recent spate of violent outbursts within the town and it seems that Capulet has taken these words to heart. He is very insistent that there will be no more aggravation caused by his family, especially within his own home. Tybalt is a very hot headed and volatile member of the Capulet household who wants to maintain the feud in any way possible, or at least let it end with the Capulets being the victorious side. He is disgusted at his uncle’s attitude to the gate-crasher; he feels that instant revenge should be gotten. Not only does his uncle refuse to act upon his cries of vengeance he also finds himself the butt of his uncle’s anger. He really feels that Romeo has made him look a complete fool. He gives in to his uncle’s request to leave it be but as an aside we hear him vow revenge.
The meeting of Romeo and Juliet takes centre stage in the act, all the party carries on around them but they are completely oblivious to it. This is the moment that really sets the ball rolling in the play, the meeting of the “star crossed lovers”. Was it their destiny to meet and end the feud as a result? Even though the play is not yet halfway through the significance of this meeting is the crux of the whole play. There are a lot of “what ifs” that could be applied, “what if Romeo didn’t lust after Rosaline”, “what if he hadn’t gate crashed the party”, “what if Paris had been what Juliet desired” etc but the biggest what if has to be “what if Tybalt had not vowed revenge on Romeo”. If this had not been the case then the lovers may have been able to overcome their parents’ hatred with their love. We know from the previous scenes that both sets of parents hold their offspring in high regard. They may have put aside their differences for the sake of their children.
Despite the title of this play there are actually very few appearances of the lovers together on stage. Their first meeting in this scene is undoubtedly the most important as we see the beauty of love at first sight unfolding before our eyes. This is in direct contrast to the bawdy remarks made by the nurse and by Mercutio earlier in the play which reduces love to the baser emotion of lust and also to the undercurrent of deep hatred throughout. Witnessing the emotions of the young couple and the outburst of Tybalt the audience are compelled to watch but unable to alter the inevitable outcome. They know the end is tragic (as the chorus right at the start have outlined the plot) but there is still a sense of hope that their love will win through, that everything will perhaps be different this time. That just maybe the families will see sense before the unnecessary deaths of the young couple.