In “Romeo and Juliet”, a lot of fore-shadowing takes place. Fore-shadowing is when the audience is told what will happen in the play before it even happens. That is what the prologue is; it is read out at the beginning of the plat. It catches the audience’s attention.
The background to act three scene five is where Juliet has been ordered to marry Paris.
“Marry my child, early next Thursday morn, the gallant young and noble gentlemen, the county Paris at saint Peters Church…” (Lady Capulet to Juliet)
Obviously Juliet refuses to marry Paris because she wants to marry Romeo.
“I will not marry yet, and when I do, I swear is shall be Romeo, whom I know I hate…” (Juliet to lady Capulet)
In Shakespeare's time all marriages were arranged. If there was no arranged marriage it was considered a betrayal to the family name. In Shakespeare’s time the parents made the decisions about who their daughter would get married to, it’s mostly the fathers who make the calls. Nowadays, there are still arranged marriages but not as much as in Shakespeare's time. Now people choose who they want to get married to, but id there was an arranged marriage it wouldn’t be when the person it at such a young age.
In act three scene five the reader or audience knows that Juliet is having an arranged marriage. Capulet is for arranged marriages; after all he was the one who set up Juliet's marriage. He tells Paris that he will marry Juliet before even asking what she thinks.
“Commend me to your daughter.” (Paris to Capulet)
“I will, and know her mind early to-mor-row.” (Capulet to Paris)
Lady Capulet is also for arranged marriages, she wants Juliet to get married, even thought she is at a very young age.
“Well think of marriage now, younger than you here in Verona, ladies of esteem, are made already mothers by my count.” (Lady Capulet to Juliet)
Obviously Juliet is against arranged marriages, she was the victim of having an arranged marriage. She believes marriage should be for love. Juliet also thinks that she is too young to get married.
“It is an honour I dream not of.” (Juliet to Lady Capulet) This shows that Juliet does not want to get married.
In the text, Nurse sounds like she doesn’t mind arranged marriages but she does always talk about Juliet's age. Maybe because she thinks Juliet is too young to marry.
“I’ll lay fourteen on my teeth, and yet to my teen be it spoken, I have but four, she is not fourteen.”
Love was a good subject in Shakespeare's time. Lots of people cared about love and thought of it as a very serious subject. The love between Romeo and Juliet was romantic love. You can tell this by looking at the way the talk to each other, every time they talk; they talk in a poetic way. It’s almost like they are talking a different language. They seem to always bring nature into everything they say.
“It is the east and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon, who is sick and pale with grief…” (Romeo to Juliet)
The love between Lady Capulet and Juliet is motherly love. The love between them is not very strong though. The way Juliet says madam instead of mother doesn’t sound very love like.
“Madam I am here, what is your will?” (Juliet to Lady Capulet)
Nurse loves Juliet as if she were her own daughter. She took up the job of raising Juliet because her own daughter had died. The relationship between Nurse and Juliet is more like motherly love. Juliet responds to Nurse as if she were her own mother.
“And saint thou too, I play thee Nurse, say I.” (Juliet to Nurse)
The love between Capulet and Lady Capulet is married love. They stand by each other, helping each other out. They make the decisions together, but maybe not for the setting up of Juliet's arranged marriage. Capulet and lady Capulet also have arguments, like in the setting up of Juliet's arranged marriage. This also shows married love because most married couples tend to argue sometimes.
The opinion of love has changed a lot. It is much different now than how it was in Shakespeare's time. In Shakespeare's time love was seen as an extremely serious matter. There was a lot of “true love” around. “True love” is like the love between Romeo and Juliet, how they would die for each other and how they cannot live without each other. There is not much “true love” nowadays, there are lots of marriage break ups or divorces and there are a lot of arguments that lead to fighting. I am not saying everyone breaks up and fights; I am just trying to say that things like break ups are happening more nowadays.
Throughout the play, Juliet's emotions change a lot. At the beginning of the play she was very childish and not very mature. As the play progresses she gets more mature and acts more like a woman and starts to get more emotional. The more she gets attached to Romeo the more mature she gets.
Juliet creates dramatic tension by changing the way she acts throughout the play; she is the main character of the play.
Modern teenagers would probably act the way Juliet has acted. They wouldn’t want to be forced to marry someone while they love someone else. They would probably run away from their parents, maybe go and live with the one they love. I highly doubt that they would commit suicide just to be with the one they love.
Juliet doesn’t have a good relationship with her mother. Lady Capulet doesn’t know much about Juliet, she never even knew her age. Nurse had to correct her. Juliet and lady Capulet do not really care about each other and do not want much to do with each other. Their relationship is not very strong, it might not be so good because Juliet loves Romeo and Lady Capulet hates him. One, because he is a Montague and two because she thinks he is a murderer.
“That is because that traitor murderer lives” (Lady Capulet to Juliet)
The relationship between them in act one scene three isn’t very good but it gets better in act three scene five. In act one scene three, as I have said before, Lady Capulet doesn’t even know Juliet's age. Whereas in act three scene five Lady Capulet talks to Juliet more like a mother, also Juliet answers to her mother differently.
In act one scene three: “Madam I am here, what is your will?” (Juliet to Lady Capulet)
In act three scene five: “Who is’t that calls? It is my Lady mother. Is she not down so late or up so early?” (Juliet to Lady Capulet)
Lady Capulet’s actions in act three scene five create more drama, she questions and answers back to Capulet, while he is angry and shouting about why Juliet doesn’t want to marry Paris and prefers Romeo.
A modern mother would probably have thought about her daughters feelings and would have known that who she fell in love with would be up to her daughter.
Capulet is clearly the head of the household; he gives the orders. If he asks for something, he gets it. He has all the power. Just like how in act one scene one he orders his wife to give him a sword instead of just getting it himself.
“What noise is this? Give me my long sword, ho!” (Capulet to Lady Capulet)
“A crutch, a crutch! Why call you for a sword?” (Lady Capulet to Capulet)
“My sword, I say! Old Montague is come, and flourishes his blade in spite of me.” (Capulet to Lady Capulet)
In act one scene five when Capulet makes a public appearance he is very calm and in control. He is very comfortable around people and knows how to keep them interested in what he is saying.
“Welcome gentlemen, Ladies that have their toes unplagued with corns, will walk about with you.” (Capulet)
In act three scene five Capulet doesn’t act like a good father. He threatens his own daughter because she went against his will. He wants her to marry Paris but she wants to marry Romeo. He says if she does not marry the one he wants her to marry he would not want to see her ever again.
“Hand thee young baggage, disobedient wretch. I tell thee what, get thee to a church a’ Thursday, or never after look me in the face.” (Capulet to Juliet)
In act three scene five the language he uses reveals how angry he is because what he wanted to happen is not happening.
Capulet makes the scene more dramatic by showing lots of anger. The audience would want to know what will happen to Juliet because she refused to marry Paris. So when Capulet shows his anger towards Juliet he is giving the audience what they want.
A modern father would be angry if his daughter didn’t do what he wanted or marry who he wanted her to marry. It’s not the daughter’s fault that she fell in love with someone else. In the end a modern father would probably let his daughter go with the one she loved.
The relationship between Juliet and Nurse is good. They look out for each other and help each other out. In act one scene three, Nurse stands up for Juliet. She doesn’t like to see a mother that doesn’t know her own child even though she lives with her. At the start of act three scene five, Nurse warns Juliet that her mother is coming. This adds to the dramatic tension.
“Your lady mother is coming to your chamber, the day is broke, be wary, look about.” (Nurse to Juliet)
At the start of the scene she doesn’t mind Juliet being with Romeo, but then later on in the scene she tells Juliet not to marry Romeo and to be with Paris instead.
“I think I best you married with the County, O he’s a lovely gentleman.” (Nurse to Juliet)
Nurses views on Juliet's marriage change throughout the play, she first thinks its okay for Juliet to marry Romeo, but she then changes her mind to saying its better to marry Paris. I think she does this because she doesn’t want to see Juliet in any more trouble so she should take the easy way out, which is to marry Paris.
Altogether, I think this play is very dramatic. Act three scene five is a very dramatic scene because there is argument, anger and shouting, this is all because of two star-crossed lovers that were not destined to be with each other but fell in love anyway. That’s what an audience wants. Just thinking that this play was written in Shakespeare's time while reading it, makes it feel dramatic and exciting.