Peter Ruscillo 11.1
Romeo and Juliet
In this course work I will be seeing how Shakespeare shows Romeo’s change of mood in Act 5, Scene 1. I will include what Romeo says and does as well as the audience reaction. I will also talk about Romeo’s character in this scene, his visit to the apothecary and what happened to Juliet.
By the time this scene is performed, Romeo has been banished from Verona and Juliet. The scene starts with Romeo in Mantua, where he hears the news of Juliet’s death. Before he hears the news he is reminiscing a dream he had had the night before (lines 1-11), “I dreamt my lady came and found me dead-Strange dream, that gives a dead man leave to think…” When Balthasar enters, Romeo is very anxious to hear news from Verona and asks several questions. He even repeats himself, “How doth my lady? Is my father well? How doth my lady? That I ask again, for nothing can be ill if she be well.” Unfortunately for Romeo, there is no good word from Verona, only bad, “Her Body sleeps in Capel’s Monument..” In hearing this, Romeo becomes aggressive and emotional. He will not wait for anything or anyone to tell him what he should do now. He says, “Is it e’en so? Then I defy you, stars!” Romeo will not wait for the stars to dictate what he should do now. He acts in defiance. Shakespeare uses this line to represent fate or fortune. The audience reaction is not that of shock but of sadness and bereavement for Juliet. There is also a sense of pity for Romeo. Once Balthasar has left Romeo begins to talk to himself. He talks about an apothecary he had seen. He begins to describe it, “And in his needy shop, a tortoise hung, an alligator stuff’d, and other skins of ill shap’d fishes…” The mood of the play changes instantly. It becomes dark and evil. Romeos emotions become very clear in line 50. He is deeply depressed and it is evident that he has given up on life, “An if a man did need a poison now, (Whose sale is present death in Mantuna) Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him”
