As more and more people arrive, Shakespeare tries to create an atmosphere that is hot, busy and sticky by writing: “More light, you knaves, and turn the tables up, and quench the fire, the room is too hot.”
Shakespeare uses juxtaposition in the play to contrast two different things. In this case, Shakespeare contrasts the rich and the poor in the beginning of the play and he uses juxtaposition again where he contrasts Lord Capulet and cousin Capulet between youths. This is a dramatic device because the contrast between the young and the old could have been to make the audience laugh. There is a use of irony in the sense that when Lord Capulet is recalling his youthful romances, Romeo is falling in love with Lord Capulet’s daughter, Juliet. This may have also been used so the audience can get prepared for what is about to happen.
Romeo’s speech takes the form of a soliloquy when he sees Juliet and describes her beauty. The atmosphere becomes more romantic and the pace of the play slows down. This is to engage the audiences’ attention. Romeo is expressing his feelings towards Juliet as he sees her for the first time. His speech is in rhyming couplets, similes and metaphors to emphasise his feelings of love towards Juliet. This is ironic as he swore before that he would love no one except Rosaline:
“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night”
Tybalt interrupts the romantic mood by going to Lord Capulet and complaining about a Montague, Romeo, in the Capulet household. This could be a sign to the audience about the difficulties that are going to come in the future if Romeo and Juliet fall in love. Lord Capulet tries to calm down the pace of the play by telling Tybalt to forget Romeo and enjoy the rest of the party. The pace of the play then quickens and the atmosphere becomes tense and full of suspense as Lord Capulet loses his temper and urges Tybalt to calm down:
“Go to, go to, you are a saucy boy…for shame…I’ll make you quiet.”
This use of characterisation by Shakespeare demonstrates that Lord Capulet has a very short temper. Tybalt’s speech is poetic which indicates his status is in the Capulet household. This also adds some excitement to the play for the audience. Again Shakespeare uses juxtaposition when he contrasts Tybalt’s hatred towards the Montagues with Romeo and Juliet’s words of love.
Between lines 92 and 104, Romeo and Juliet share a sonnet. One of Shakespeare’s most famous styles of writing poetry, a sonnet is a fourteen line poem which has alternate rhyme and ends in a rhyming couplet. This use of dramatic device emphasises their love for each other and enables the pace of the play to slow down significantly. The sonnet shows that Romeo and Juliet are made for each other as both of their speeches rhyme together:
“Romeo: Have no saints, lips, and holy palmers too?
Juliet: Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
Romeo: O then, dear saint, let lips do what hand do:
They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”
In this sonnet, Shakespeare also uses religious imagery to emphasise how much Romeo idolises Juliet. From the above quotation, we can see that Romeo is describing Juliet as a place of worship and himself as a pilgrim who wishes to worship her. It is after the above quotation when Romeo and Juliet kiss for the first time not knowing that both their families hate each other.
The nurse constantly interrupts Romeo and Juliet in their conversation. This shows us the divisions in the household and could also be a reminder about the difficulties that await them in the future. This is a mirroring effect of how Tybalt interrupted us from seeing what was happening while Romeo and Juliet were having a conversation for the first time. There is a use of dramatic irony as the audience is aware that Romeo and Juliet come from two different households that hate each other. This dramatic irony creates an atmosphere that has a lot of suspense and tension in the audience. The strength of Romeo’s feelings towards Juliet is shown as he finds out with horror that Juliet is a Capulet. Timing is crucial in this scene as Benvolio arrives straight after Romeo has discovered Juliet is a Capulet to lure him away from the party; unaware of what Romeo has just found out.
In an attempt to find out more about Romeo, Juliet asks questions about other men before coming on to Romeo. Clearly, Juliet is trying to disguise her true feelings towards Romeo. This is strange because Juliet normally confides in the nurse as if she is Juliet’s best friend. When Juliet finds out Romeo is Capulet, she is shaken by the truth. As soon as she finds out, Juliet’s speech is in rhyming couplets:
“My only love sprung from my only hate!
Too early seen unknown, and known too late!
Prodigious birth of love it is to me,
That I must love a loathėd enemy.”
Again Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets to create a dramatic effect in Juliet’s speech. Romeo and Juliet leave the scene separately. This could be a way of showing the difficulties that await them in the near future.
Overall, I think that Romeo and Juliet is a good play. I also think all these dramatic devices add a lot to the play. For example, a soliloquy engages the audience and characterisation shows different sides of the character like Lord Capulet. He ha a humorous side to him and he has a short temper. With out the dramatic devices; the audience will have lost interest in the play. Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets in the romantic lines between Romeo and Juliet. I think this is very clever because it engages the audience and also makes the atmosphere romantic. This sort of device also shows that both Romeo and Juliet are made for each other.
