Romeo and Juliet - Act 1.

Muhammad Omar Khan

Romeo and Juliet

Questions on Act 1

Romeo and Juliet is one of the best stage plays that Shakespeare has written with a lot of tragedy involved in it and to balance the tragedy Shakespeare has introduced comedy into the play. He achieved this by doing such things as adding comical figures such as nurse or odd behaviour of a character which seems amusing to the audience.

The main comedy in the play is introduced when Romeo enters the stage in act one scène one as love sicken person who is over infatuating his love for Rosaline.

“Out of her favour where I am in love.” (Act1, Scene 1).

This to the audience is even more hysterical when his friend Benvolio pities him because he thinks the girl Romeo thinks is so sweet is actually is a complete cow.

“Alas the love so gentle in his view should be so tyrannous and rough in proof! (Act 1, Scene 1).

Later on in the play another comical character in this play is introduced, Nurse, she is the comedy character in this play. She is always making a joke which makes the audience laugh. She is a nanny to Juliet who is closer to Juliet than her own mother. In the play she makes crude jokes about Juliet’s childhood such as,

“Thou wilt fall back backward when thou hast more wilt; Whilt thou not, Jule? ...crying and said ‘Aye.’” (Act 1, Scene 3).

This to the audience would seem hilarious because Juliet in her young age replied yes, that when she grows older that she will have sex. This is even more hysterical to the audience that the Nurse keeps on repeating this crude joke.

Shakespeare in this play didn’t write all his jokes as crude jokes he Introduced jokes that were for the sophisticated audience too, by having hilarious puns said by different characters but mainly by Mercuitio.

“For tomorrow you may find me a grave man.”

This to the audience is a really funny joke because tomorrow he might be found in a grave.

The last bit of comedy in act 1 is the famous Queen Mab speech, in which Mercuitio humours Romeo by telling him the childish dream story,

“O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you” (Act 1, Scene 4).

This is amusing to the audience because Romeo is believing what he for saw in his dream is to be true and Mercuitio starts making fun of him by telling him a story ...

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“For tomorrow you may find me a grave man.”

This to the audience is a really funny joke because tomorrow he might be found in a grave.

The last bit of comedy in act 1 is the famous Queen Mab speech, in which Mercuitio humours Romeo by telling him the childish dream story,

“O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you” (Act 1, Scene 4).

This is amusing to the audience because Romeo is believing what he for saw in his dream is to be true and Mercuitio starts making fun of him by telling him a story which children are told, this humouring amuses the audience but later on the play we, the audience find out that the dream was true .Mercuitio dies.

In conclusion act one is one of the main scenes in which comedy is seen by the audience; this is done by the comical characters such as Mercuitio and Nurse. But later on as the play intensifies the comical features in the play die down by characters such as Mercuitio dying. All the jokes in act one has been cleverly done by Shakespeare ingenuity this is so the audience have a good opening to the play with humour and laughter and prepare them for the tragedy which is to unfold ahead of them.

Romeo is never really in love with Rosaline it is his thoughts and erotic desires which really attracts Romeo to Rosaline.

“Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold :”( Act 1, Scene 1).

This really shows that Romeo really not in true love with Rosaline at all, all he wants to do is to use her for her sexuality. In the play Romeos true love is shown when his eyes gaze at Juliet at the Capulet’s party. His thoughts of erotic desires are never shown and he forgets about Rosaline in an instant.

“So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.”(Act 1, Scene 5).

This really shows how much in love Romeo is with Juliet that straight away he has recognised true beauty and he compares her to the rest of them as crows, even Rosaline. Further on Romeo proceeds to show his true love towards Juliet to only touch her skin with his unworthy hands,

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand, This holy shrine”

Whereas before with Rosaline he was thinking of “Opeing her lap”

All this shows that Romeo was never in love with Rosaline at all. All he really wanted Rosaline was for her sexuality. The constant rejections from Rosaline built his hunger to “ope her lap” and the continuous lust for her built up until he gazed at Juliet.

The impending marriage between Juliet and Paris would shock the Elizabethan audience for it would have seemed shocking idea to them because the Capulet parents told Paris that they would only give the answer yes if her daughter approved of him.

“And she agreed, within her scope of choice, Lies my consent of fair according voice.”(Act 1, Scene 1).

This is seems unusual to the Elizabethan audience because parents never gave the choice to their daughters whether they liked their future husband especially if it was some one like “Paris” a rich nobleman.

Meanwhile the only daughter of the Capulet Juliet acted the normal obedient daughter for the Elizabethan era. She obeys her mother and talks to her in a formal, polite manner.

“Madam I am here. What is your will?”(Act 1, Scene 3).

Also she has no problems in marrying a man which her parents have advised her to.

“I’ll look like, if looking liking move….make it fly.”

Basically she is saying that she will do no other than look at him which seems very normal behaved girl for her time but later on the play she turns out not to be that behaved girl after all.

In the time in which this play was set many people believed in fate, people believed in a philosophical life in which life was mapped out for you and in this play fate has a big part. If it wasn’t for the servant Romeo might never of known about the Capulet party and if he had never known that he might never of met Juliet and this whole cascade between the Capulet and the Montague’s might never of happened.

In scene 3 the impressions we get from Juliet is that Juliet is more formal and polite to her own mother compared with Nurse

Juliet: “How now, who calls?”

Nurse: “Your mother.”

Juliet: “Madam, I am here. What is your will?”

This shows that as soon as Juliet finds that her mother calls upon her she changes her tone to a more formal polite manner showing that she talks to nurse in a informal manner whilst talking to her mother in a formal manner showing a bond between Nurse and Juliet which you might see between the modern mother and daughter figure. Although she seems very dutiful and polite to her mother in this scene, she turns out to be rebellious later on in the play.

In scene 4 there are two opposite views presented about dreams. Romeo who has just had a dream and believes in it to be true,

“A dreamt a dream tonight.”

Whilst Mercutio is scornful of dreams he doesn’t believe in it at all.

“That dreamers often lie.”

He further shows how much he thinks dreams are a load of nonsense that he makes fun of Romeo by humouring him by telling him the Queen Mab speech in a childish manner.

“O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.”

Later on the play the dream of Romeo is found to be true.

The high intensity of feud between the two families is shown right at the start of the play indicates that the rivalry has been there for quite some time. There are talks of raping the women and killing the men.

The first impressions we get of this play is a very intense brawl with heavy language involved such as threats of rape,

“I will push Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall.”(Act 1, Scene 1).

This kind of language is mainly from Tybalt’s group who is the main character who has fire in his belly but the rest aren’t that interested in having a brawl.

Later on in the party we seem to get a different impression from Lord Capulet that he might no longer want to fight because there is a death penalty if so happens.

“Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone, A bears him like a portly gentleman;”

Lord Capulet is telling Tybalt to leave him alone because he is acting like a well mannered person, showing that Lord Capulet doesn’t want any trouble.

In conclusion this shows us that the feud between the Capulet and Montague’s is intensified and been going on for a time but the two parties don’t want any trouble expect Tybalt who is eager to start a brawl between the Montague’s especially Romeo.

Extended metaphor is a metaphor extended. When you describe something in even more detail.

Oxymorons are two same words which touch each other to create a dramatic effect, for example confusion of Romeos love.