The mood of the play once again chances from slow to fast. The two lovers are pulled away from each other. Then they both find out that they are enemies and the language changes from loving too depressing language. Romeo says “My life is my foe’s debt” Which means that his life is in the enemy’s power. That he does not care that she is a Capulet that he loves her and he will do what she wants. Juliet says “My grave is like to be my wedding bed.” This is prophetic as she actually dies just after her marriage. It means that she will not marry if she does not marry Romeo. She shows huge respect towards Romeo and shows that she loves him. However this is not Juliet’s decision, the father makes the decisions for the family, he is the main figure. Going against her father would be unheard of at that time.
Staging
If I was a director of the Ball scene I imagine the modern day version play and the old version would be very different. First of all in the old days there was never many props and the stage would just be a simple blank stage. It would not have scenery or anything of the sort. I imagine this would make the audience have to think hard to imagine each scene and the actors would have to be very good to help them in this. In the modern version for the scene the stage would be very colour and there would be a lot of scenery and props used. This is a party scene so there would have to be lots of things to see and a lot of detail. Such as food, party decorations, a lot of people dressed up and maybe a band to play at this party. Also at the start there would be quite a lot of people so many costumes would be used to dress all of these people.
The costumes would also be very colourful and detailed. However the old version would not have very detailed costumes, this would only be if it was a very important scene or the person was very rich and flamboyant. For example what Juliet wears at the party would be a good, detailed costume. This is because the modern day ‘theatre goer’ has to be entertained a lot more as they have less of an attention spam then in the 1600s.
Lighting and sound is used a lot in the modern theatre and would be used a lot in this scene. There would be background music for the actual party, but this music would slow down and speed up a lot when the mood changes. Normally the music is fast and loud when the mood is bad but when it is good it is quiet and soft. An example of this is when Romeo and Juliet see each other, the music would be very slow then. It would speed up when Tybalt sees Romeo. Lighting would also be used too make the main characters stand out especially when they are talking. Also the lightening would be used differently when the play is at different moods. When the play is bad or evil it would be dark but when it is happy or good, like in this scene, it would be very light. This could not be used very well in the time of Shakespeare because we did not know how to harness electricity in the1600s.
The only sound from the play would come from the actors or occasionally a band. Which in this scene they might have used. However it was very difficult for the actors to talk to the audience as it was a huge theatre and just there voices had to fill it also it didn’t even have a full roof. The only lighting that was used was from the roof or the windows, so once again even more difficult to make a good affect on the audience. In this scene the difference between the old version and new would be huge. The main things that you would notice is how much more props and scenery the old version has rather than the old. Also it would have a lot of lighting and sound compared to the old version.
Conflict and Resulting Tension
This scene has two main events. The first event is when Romeo and Juliet first see each other and they kiss. The second is when Tybalt sees Romeo and tries to confront him. This scene is very tense and dramatic for the audience. When the scene first starts off Romeo and Juliet see each other and immediately the audience will be thinking could this be a good relationship and do they have any relation between each other already? Then a contrast, from the play being slow, soft and Romeo describing how beautiful Juliet is, Tybalt sees Romeo. Suddenly the mood changes and is bad, the play speeds up and the language is a lot more aggressive. Tybalt says “Now by the stock and honour of my kin, to strike him dead I hold it not a sin.” Tybalt is saying if he was to kill Romeo it would not be a sin. This is very aggressive and a totally different of contrast from the start of the scene, which was all happy and welcoming. The audience would now be thinking what will happen to Romeo and Juliet would this put off Romeo and make him leave. However ending this scene after the two have talked and kissed and the play is slow and the mood is soft. Juliet and Romeo both find out who each of them are to each other. Romeo finds out that Juliet is a Capulet and Juliet finds out that he is a Montague thus they both love an enemy. They then split up and the scene ends. This will make the audience wonder about whether they think they should try and get together whether enemies or not, or they might think that if they are enemy’s then they definitely should not be in a relationship together. There is much foreboding and audience anticipation surrounding this scene. This make the audience have a lot of expectation of the next scene before the curtains are even pulled on this one.
Section 2
The second section I will be considering is the balcony scene. The atmosphere is very tense, the audience anticipate how the lovers will react to the news that they are enemies because of the family feud. However the audience may think, it is good that Romeo has gone to find Juliet and has he got passed this feud for his love. All this makes the audience very tense and wanting to see more of the play.
There are only two characters in this scene, those are Romeo and Juliet. At this time in the play Juliet is very confused and is not to sure what she should do. She has found out that Romeo is her father’s enemy and so her enemy but she loves him. We know this when she says”My only love sprung from my only hate, too early seen unknown and unknown too late.” Juliet is saying that her only love has come from her only hate. Also she says that it is too late now, she still loves him. Romeo has also found out that Juliet is or rather should, be his enemy. He is so caught up in this new love affair that he does not care for all that, he still loves her and in this scene shows what she is worth to him. As Juliet is not too sure what she must do Romeo may use persuasive language in this scene. He will try to get her to disobey her father and to marry him.
Romeo uses a lot of light imagery in this scene to describe Juliet. For example when she appears he says “Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, having some business, de entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return”. This means that her eyes could take the place of two of the most beautiful stars in heaven. This was a huge comment to make because in the time of this play Dark and Light imagery were very powerful. Romeo also says “Oh speak again bright angel”. This is more light imagery, and comparison. Romeo is comparing Juliet to an angel which is again a powerful compliment as angels are know as beautiful and great. When Juliet finally speaks she asks Romeo a question, in not he is there. “O Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo! Deny thy father and refuse thy name.”. This means “why are you Romeo, deny your Father and throw away your name”. Juliet is asking Romeo a huge favour. She is asking him to deny his Father, which in the time of this play was a huge deal. For her to say this would shook the audience. The father did everything and made all the decisions you could not do anything of importance until you have got clearance of you Father. To ask too deny him is consequential, normally no good can come out of this. Juliet language is very plainly from her heart and to the point. She goes on to say “That which we call a rose, by any other word would smell as sweet”. This means if you call a rose a different name it will smell no different. Juliet thinks that a name should not matter, even if he is a Montague that shouldn’t matter. A name should not come between true love. Juliet then says “And for thy name, which is no part of thee, take all myself”. This means that if he was to deny his name Romeo would have Juliet. She is asking Romeo to replace his name with her. Juliet is saying all this not aware that Romeo can hear her. Juliet now knows that Romeo has overheard all that she has spoken. She says to Romeo, “My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words of thy tongues uttering, yet I know the sound”. This means “I have not heard you speak a hundred words but I know who you are”. This quote from Juliet just shows that she truly loves Romeo. Romeo also shows that he truly loves Juliet, he first says “and but thou love me, let them find me here”. He is saying to Juliet if she does not love him, he might as well be found, and then killed. He is implying that he would rather be dead than not loved by her. His relationship between Juliet is a lot more serious than what it was with Rosaline. He is ready to die for Juliet however it was more like a teenage crush with Rosaline. He also says “I am no pilot, yet wert thou as far as that vast shore washed with the farthest sea, I should adventure for such merchandise.” Once again he is saying he would risk he life to be with her, he would rather be with her than anywhere else. You can see by the language used and the actions taken that Juliet is the main figure in this relationship. She is asking for things and telling Romeo what to do and he is listening to every word. Now that they are being rushed in talking to each other Juliet wants to make sure that they may at least have a chance of a future together, to make this possible she says.” If that thy bent of love be honourable, thy purpose marriage. Send me word tomorrow, by one that I’ll procure to come to thee Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite”. Juliet is asking Romeo if he really does love her and wants to marry her, that he will tell someone who she will send where and when the ceremony will take place. This shows that Juliet is maybe doubtful of Romeo or she is doubtful that this much good can come so quick. The language used in this and the imagery tells us that this is a moment of true love for the young couple. The audience would be looking forward to seeing what happens to this young couple, and if Romeos premonition has anything to do with there future together.
Staging
If I was the director of the play in the balcony scene I think that the old and new versions would not be so different in the way that they look and sound. The overall Balcony scene is rather plain. There is only two characters in it, Romeo and Juliet and they are talking to each other not using hardly any thing else apart from their voices. Neither of the versions would have props in this scene as they are just not needed. However the new version would use some scenery, too once again keep the audience interested. Not too much just a small wall for Romeo to climb up to talk to Juliet. Sound affects would be used in the modern version, some quiet background music would be used in this scene and various some affects. Lighting would be used onto Juliet when she is talking to the moon because it is just her and she would be highlighted. Height would be used in this scene, as Romeo moves up too Juliet it would show that Romeo is getting to the same equality in the relationship. The modern version would make this more noticeable than the old version. In the whole of the new version the characters would move around a lot more to keep the audience interested. There is a large use of colloquialism rather than correct English. This is because we use colloquialism a lot actually not many people actually talk in correct English nowadays.
The old version would have not used any scenery. Juliet would have been talking from one of the top floors and Romeo would of climbed up too her or just stayed at the bottom. There was no music used in this scene for the old version either was there any sound affects used. In the old version this scene would practically all just be talking, the characters would be rather still throughout and the audience would be concentrating on what they were saying and not as much on what they were doing.
Conflict and Resulting Tension
This scene is a very important scene and changes the course of the whole play. Something major happens in this scene which in Shakespearean time would be out of the question and would be very surprising for the couple to carry it out. The couple decide to get married. This is very bad because in the times when the play was made the Father would make all the decisions of the house and he would definitely decide who is daughter was and wasn’t to marry. I very much doubt that he would want her to marry his enemy’s son. She also says that she would do this with hardly even thinking about it. “Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain, fain deny, what I have spoken”. This means I’d gladly deny what I just spoke. This shows she has no respect for her father or is deeply in love. This would be very surprising and this would catch the audience’s attention. However when this is said in the modern play it does not have such a great reaction. Nowadays people always deny there fathers and nothing is normally said of this. Also the father does not have a say on who he is daughter marries or not, the daughter can “do what she wants”. When they decided that they would marry it would also be very surprising and hard hitting because of how little time they have spent together. Juliet says “My ears have yet not drunk a hundred words of thy tongue’s uttering, yet I know the sound.”. This means she hardly knows Romeo and has not been with him for long but loves him. This shows her true love towards Romeo which could either be her downfall or the start of a great love affair. This is very important and tense scene for the audience which brings about the love theme.
Conclusion
The setting of the two scenes is rather the same. The first is set inside the Montague’s house and the second is just outside it. Both are very important to the play and are tense in there different ways. The two scenes are not so far apart time wise either. The Ball scene is in the early evening and the Balcony scene late evening, they are after one another. However they are quite different to each other, there is a lot more people in the Ball scene then there is in the Balcony scene. The Ball scene is a lot livelier than the Balcony scene. However they both have a very good affect on the audience. The first keeps the audience’s attention with a big party, the love affair with Romeo and Juliet and the possible fight scene with Tybalt and Romeo. The Balcony scene keeps the audience interested because it is exciting to see two people who are desperately in love with each other talk to each other and arranging a marriage, disobeying their fathers.
Personally I think that the most dramatic is the Ball scene. All of the dramatic events unfold from this scene. It is very exciting too see Romeo go to a party just after the premonition he had. It is also filled with a lot of tension, mood changes and a lot of different things going on. There is many love parts in it between Romeo and Juliet and there is even a possible fight scene. Also all of this is with Romeo and his friends in their enemy’s mansion, the last place they should be after another battle with them early that day. This altogether makes a very dramatic sense and a brilliant entertaining one.
