Shakespeare uses dramatic irony so that we know things that the actors do not, like the fact that when Lady Capulet walks in, Juliet begins to cry because Romeo has had to leave, however, Lady Capulet believes Juliet is crying over the death of Tybalt, her cousin.
We are shocked by the way that Capulet treats her daughter, because she refused to marry Paris. He tells her if she does not turn up to the wedding on Thursday, then he will not let her house with him, and she will “hang, beg, starve and die in the streets!” This is a surprise to us today, because we are not used to the chauvinistic ways of powerful men in those days. They live in a male dominated society where the daughter is just a possession of the father, and marriage is compulsory, and you are married to whoever your father chooses. Deception is used when Juliet tricks the nurse, and possibly even the audience, into thinking that she will confess that she is married to Romeo, and so cannot marry Paris because it would be a sin.
It is ironic because Juliet does not know the full meaning of what she is saying, such as when she is talking about Romeo, and says “as one dead in the bottom of a tomb”, and later on how she imagines him dead from taking poison, both of which later come true in the story.
The nurse is brave because when Capulet shouts at Juliet, the nurse stands up for her and fights against her master, which would have been very insulting to Capulet at that time.
Suspense is built by the changing pace of their speech. It starts of slow, with longer words such as ‘pomegranate’ and ‘nightingale’, but as they realise that Romeo must leave, the pace speeds up, and monosyllabic words are used to give a sense of urgency.
Antithesis is used, when Romeo says “More light and light, more dark and dark our woes!” this is Romeo talking about how if he does not go; he will be executed, because he has been banished.
Rhyme is used to link together Romeo and Juliet’s sentences, so the last line of one will rhyme with the first line of the second. This links them together like marriage, and ties them together with language, therefore linking their fates together, as they die together.
If I was directing a stage version of the play, I would have soft lighting shining from one side of the stage, to make it look like daybreak. I would have the sound of a lark singing in the background, as this is the bird they refer to in the story, so they can tell it is morning. I would have a bed on one side of the stage to make it clear that they are in Juliet’s bedroom, with the couple sitting together by the window. When Capulet enters, I would have him talk in a big booming voice to make him seem like the all powerful person, and he would point his finger at Juliet when he is shouting at her. I would also have a spotlight shining on Capulet as he speaks to Juliet, to show his power, and I would have Juliet run to the nurse and hold her hand when she is scared because of her father shouting at her the nurse should stand up straight and bold when she fights back at her master, so that she is made to appear bigger to show she is proud to be standing up against Capulet. I would have the door and window on opposite sides of the stage, so that it is more obvious where the characters are going to and coming from.
