The ‘Balcony Scene’ is the most famous and most romantic scene in this play. It is filled with romantic references and gestures. Set at night, it shows romance by being dark and mysterious. By using this, Shakespeare is showing how deeply in love Romeo and Juliet are. Juliet repeats the word ‘O’ a lot, which shows deep emotion, which is in this case, love. Romeo uses cosmic and religious references such as “speak again bright angel.” and “it is the East, and Juliet is the sun!” This shows he believes Juliet is his religion, his angel. In the scene Shakespeare uses this to describe Juliet’s importance to Romeo by saying she keeps him alive. Without the sun, humans would die, so he’s saying that without Juliet, Romeo would die. This shows us how important Juliet is to Romeo. Also referring to body parts and clothing (“O, I were a glove upon that hand”). Cosmology suggests someone’s wonder and amazement at someone else and their feelings for them. Whereas religion suggests that the love between two people is blessed, pure, innocent, true and right. Body parts and clothing references suggest that they want to be intimate.
Juliet says
“Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.”
At this, the audience should feel a rush of love and sympathy for Juliet, as she is in love with someone she should not love. When you are in love with someone you can’t, it breaks your heart. They cannot be without each other but they are not allowed to be together. It kills them both. Juliet says “’Tis twenty year till then. I have forgot why I did call thee back.” She uses hyperbole to express that it will seem like years until the next morning. It makes you see that she feels so strongly about Romeo that she can’t even be away from him for one night, because it will seem like 20 years and she will miss him so much. Romeo replies to that with “Let me stand here till thou remember it.” What he means by this is that he doesn’t want to leave her because he is in love with her so much and he will miss her.
The language in this scene is really romantic. Juliet refers to Romeo as her God;
“Swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I’ll believe thee.”
She is saying that if he swears by himself that he loves her then she will believe him because to her, he is her God, whom she will obey. Also Romeo feels as if nothing can hurt him as long as he has Juliet’s love;
“Romeo: Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me.
Juliet: If they do see thee, they will murder thee.
Romeo: Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye,
Than twenty of their swords!
Look thou but sweet,
And I am proof against their enmity.”
This shows he doesn’t care if he gets caught, because nothing can ever hurt him again as long as he has Juliet near and as long as she loves him.
Romeo’s speeches are written in blank verse. This is common in love poems such as Shakespeare’s sonnets, and because Romeo’s speeches are mainly romantic, it suits him perfectly. This is the same as some poems are written in. Poetry is the language of love which lulls Romeo and Juliet into a more romantic mood. Long sentences and using love as a reference, shows that Shakespeare wanted to make this scene as romantic as he could. Also this scene is a private setting on Juliet’s balcony and her orchard with just two characters, which makes the scene more romantic because it is their secret. This meeting is just by chance but it creates a spontaneous outlook on this scene.
The balcony scene makes you feel as if the feud is all going to be over soon and it will end happily ever after, as the Montagues and the Capulets make peace. But as soon as you read the fight scene, you find out its all gone wrong. Two deaths only fire the feud more. Because Tybalt kills Mercutio and Romeo kills Tybalt, everything changes.
The second most famous scene in this play is the ‘Fight Scene’ in which two main characters are killed out of anger. This scene is full of hate and death with a hint of love from Romeo as he talks about Juliet. Shakespeare creates a tense and aggressive atmosphere in this scene by setting it in the middle of the day, when the sun is at its highest in the sky. The bright sun reflects how hot the anger is. Mercutio and Tybalt use words such as ‘consort’, ‘minstrel’, ‘fiddlestick’, ‘discords’ and ‘dance’ as part of an extended musical metaphor. This keeps the tense atmosphere by Tybalt calling Mercutio a minstrel (which is a lowly street musician); this is the greatest insult for someone like Mercutio. All the characters in this scene have names that have strong meanings which reflect how their character really is. Tybalt’s name means ‘King of Cats’ but it could also refer to a lightning ‘bolt’ which is fast, angry and dangerous. Mercutio’s name is similar because this refers to ‘Mercury’ which when heated becomes hot, dangerous and aggressive. The ‘merc’ part of his name means hot-headed, provocative and angry. Whereas Benvolio’s name means peacekeeper and ‘bene’ which comes from the word benelevent, is Latin for good.
At the start of this scene, Benvolio talks in rhyme, proving his name as ‘peacekeeper’; however Mercutio and Tybalt do not. They talk almost as if they are trying to get it all out at once because they are angry at each other. Rhyme is supposed to show peace and love in a character but the way Mercutio and Tybalt talk just proves they are angry. This scene is kept tense and aggressive by Tybalt using insults at Romeo such as ‘boy’ and ‘man’. He replies with
“Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting.
Villain I am none.
Therefore farewell
I see thou knowest me not.”
Romeo confuses Tybalt and Mercutio by saying he must love him and he cannot fight any more. Seeing as they are enemies, they find this very strange and out of character. This reflects Romeo’s name because his name is a pilgrim to Rome and it refers to love. Romeo uses the words “Thy beauty has made me effeminate.” which means that he has gone soft because he is in love and can not fight. He blames himself for Mercutio’s death and lets his anger guide him when he goes after Tybalt in vengeance. The language in this scene is angry and aggressive. Aggressive comments and accusations which are structured in short sharp sentences give this scene the angry atmosphere it needs to be complete; they are quick and to the point. These insults hurt the characters they are aimed at and Shakespeare uses short sharp sentences because sharp things hurt people too. Mercutio’s phrase ‘A plague a both houses!’ make you think Mercutio does not care much for either family and he blames Romeo for his fatal wound. “They have made worms’ meat of me” suggests the fatal nature of his wounds. It also means that because he will be dead, he will be underground and worms live in the soil. When this happens it should make the audience feel sad and upset for both Romeo and Mercutio as Romeo feels it is his fault for Mercutio’s death. It has the same effect on Romeo. Romeo’s anger fills him up until he can not take it anymore and just bursts; this is when he goes after Tybalt.
This scene is written in prose which doesn’t have any rhyme. Also this scene is a public setting in the town square with about seven characters, which makes the scene more open and tense because it is out in the open, for everyone to see. This meeting is planned; Tybalt goes hunting for Romeo, it is a thought of pre-meditated violence.
At the end of this scene, as Prince appears, Benvolio tells him all that happened (which proves his name as ‘peacekeeper’. He is trustworthy and honest, and Prince believes him. Unfortunately, Lady Capulet doesn’t. She feels Romeo should be put to death because he murdered Tybalt. “Romeo slew Tybalt; Romeo must not live.” shows all of her feelings in this. She shows her emotion by repeating ‘O’ a lot. It shows her devotion for her dear Tybalt. This scene ends with Romeo’s banishment and Prince saying “Else, when he is found, that hour is his last.” which is a great, abrupt end to the scene.
In conclusion, I think this play is worth studying because it teaches you a lot and it has a big reference to today’s society. This play is relevant to today’s society because there is a lot of young love around and in some cases, (as you may see in papers worldwide) if they can’t be together, they often commit suicide. In my opinion, it is both families fault for their children committing suicide. If they allowed Romeo and Juliet to be together there would be no deaths. But, on the other hand, if there were no deaths, there wouldn’t be a story.
