This scene reinforces the idea of Romeo being very romantic. In the beginning of the play Romeo was upset because he had split up with his girlfriend, he shows the signs of being obsessed with love. He spends time alone, uses poetic language and day dreams. He is maybe overreacting to the break up and this can be backed up because he seems to get over Rosaline very quickly when he first sees Juliet. He says, “she doth teach the torches to burn bright”, “she hangs upon the cheek of night”, “a rich jewel in an Ethiop’s ear” and “a snowy dove trooping with crows”. Romeo is using the sort of same poetic language to show how much he loves Juliet that he used to describe his feelings about Rosaline. However their love is conveyed in a different, more emphasised way because their meeting is written in a sonnet, which suggests that their love is something special and that they really are in love.
Rome says, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”
This shows how he changes his mind quickly, forgetting Rosaline and how he thought she was beautiful and now becoming obsessed with Juliet even though when he says this he hasn’t yet talked to her. He says that maybe he didn’t love Rosaline but he was using such romantic and strong language about her before, this suggests again that he is confused about his feelings and emotions.
The strong contrasts that he uses, light/dark such as a jewel in an Ethiop’s ear and a white dove surrounded by black crows, convey his strong feelings for Juliet. And possibly the mixed emotions he is feeling because he has just split up with someone who he though he loved but now is confronted with someone else who he has such strong feelings for.
The scene links with others in the play, and there are re-occurring themes that are echoed throughout the play. For example on line 134 Juliet says, “My grave is like to be my wedding bed” This idea of Juliet marrying death occurs many times throughout the play and is a kind of dramatic irony, because, as the audience, we were told in the prologue at the beginning of the play that Romero and Juliet would both die. So by marrying Romeo, she is effectively marrying death because ultimately he will cause her to die. This adds a sense of suspension and premonition to the play.
Line 137 onwards contains some opposites, which run throughout the play, Juliet says, “My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown and known too late! Prodigious birth of love it to me, That I must love a loathed enemy.” The opposites are love/hate, early/late, unknown/known and love/loathed. These contrasts link to the rest of the story. For example the two families loath each other however at the same time this is undermined and contrasted by Romeo and Juliet’s love. “Too early seen unknown and known too late!” This line can be seen as a premonition of the final outcomes of the play. Romeo finds Juliet too early because if he had found her later she would have woken up from the drug she had taken and he would not have killed himself, and then they would have succeeded to be with each other. Also its can be perceived to describe the confusion and misunderstanding between Juliet and Romeo, she tries to get a message of her plan to him but he does not receive it because the message arrives to late so he does not know about her plan.
When Tybalt sees Romeo at the party, he wants to fight him and kill him because he believes Romeo has come just to ruin the celebration, but Capulet tells Tybalt to leave Romeo alone. Capulet says, “Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone, ‘A bears him a portly gentleman; And to say truth, Verona brags of him To be a virtuous and well governed youth. I would not for the wealth of all this town Here in my house do him disparagement; Therefore be patient, take no note of him; It is my will” Capulet may be saying he that he actually likes Romeo and would always be courteous to him. Or alternatively he is actually just making sure that there is not a fight at his party because this would be embarrassing to him. We can see that Capulet cares a lot for being a good host to his guests and for his party to be impressive to them because he says
“You are welcome, gentlemen! Come, musicians, play.
A hall--a hall! give room! and foot it, girls.--
More light, you knaves; and turn the tables up,
And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot”
He is trying to entertain his guests and get the party going, we can see from this that he cares a lot for what other people think of him (and his party). This suggests that his main priority is himself and this can also be seen because he does not care for Juliet’s wishes for who she wants to marry, he wants her to marry Paris because he wants money from him.
Tybalt wanting to fight Romeo in this scene is very significant in the play. If Capulet had let Tybalt do what he wanted then it is unlikely that Romeo would have ever met or spoke to Juliet because they would have been thrown out from the party, or killed. This would mean that Juliet would have married Paris and never be involved with Romeo and therefore they would have not died so early in their life. Also because Tybalt had to wait to vent his aggression on Romeo and Mercutio he built up more hate for them and subsequently killed Mercutio later in the play. This also leads to Romeo being banished. This may not have been the outcome if Capulet had not stopped Tybalt from fighting them at the party. This makes the scene have even more significance in the play.
In the scene we can see issues that are still relevant in today’s society and some issues, which have clearly changed. For example Juliet has no control over her marriage. Her father has chosen Paris to be her husband because he has high status, is rich and well respected. This was a common situation for the time, and as with many girls who were effectively “sold” to their husband, Juliet was not happy with this. She does not have a say in if she wants to marry Paris and he makes little effort to impress her, mainly his efforts are directed into impressing her family and father. In modern times this is a less common occurrence although in some religions and cultures marriages are arranged. Some issues are still relevant, Paris is chosen because he is rich, and today money is still an important factor for some people when finding a husband. “Gold diggers” are women who seek out rich (often old) men and pretend to love them to marry them and take advantage of their finances.
Something which has clearly changed is that in Shakespeare’s time it was common and widely accepted for girls as young as 13 to marry and have children with much older men. Present day society, however, regards this as ‘taboo’ it is illegal and most people agree that it should be. This shows how public opinion and morals has changed.
From the prologue we know that Romeo and Juliet will both die. This makes the play more interesting and draws the audience in more. We know that they will fall in love and die, but we don’t know why or how and what makes this more interesting is that the characters don’t know either. As the audience to see the story all come together as if by fate, inevitable it makes a much more enjoyable story not to want to find out what happens in the end, but what happens to get to that ending. Also as we learn more about the story we can pick up on ‘clues’ as to what else will happen.
When Romeo and Juliet meet we, as the audience know that they are from rival families, but they do no know this. This makes the story more interesting because it draws the audience in to see their reaction and the outcome when they learn of how they are from opposing families.
Modern films like, “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs” which were both hugely popular and successful showed the ending at the beginning and what made the story enjoyable was finding out how the characters came to be in that situation. This is one reason why after over 4 centuries Romeo and Juliet remains one of the best known and most read play of all time because of the superstition and suspense created. The superstition is created by the suggestion of fate controlling the events of what happened. And the suspense because we know what will happen and are anticipating how the story will lead to this.
I really enjoyed this scene because it gives insight and clues to the outcome of the play; it is a crucial element in the story.
