This is a very offensive and violent thing to say. Sampson is saying he will rape the Montague women, this shows how deep the feud is between the two families because even the servants are against each other. This also tells the audience straightaway of the bitter feud and sets up the main storyline.
Act 1 Scene 1 also introduces us to the main characters: Romeo, Benvolio, Tybalt, Capulet, Prince and Montague. The only main character that is not there is Juliet. It also shows the audience what sort of characters they are, for example Tybalt is shown to be a person who likes fighting he says to Benvolio:
“What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues and thee:
Have at thee, Coward.”(1.1.64-66)
He says he hates peace like hell so this lets the audience know he is a violent character. As well as this, the play was written in the 16th century and religion was very important and Tybalt saying he hates peace as much as he hates hell would have been a very strong term to use and lets the audience know that he is a passionate fighter. The play goes on to Benvolio and Romeo fighting in the street until an officer and three citizens come to break it up. This is very affective to have in an opening scene as it immediately grabs the audience’s attention and makes them want to watch. Although Benvolio fights with Tybalt, he is in fact a character who tries to keep the peace. He tries to stop the servants quarrelling in the street, by saying “part, fools!” The story goes on to the prince saying:
“…Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word (1.1.83)…If ever you disturb our streets again, Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace…”(1.1.90-91)
The prince speaks in blank verse; an unrhymed iambic pentameter used only by characters that are of high class. The prince is stating that if anyone is caught fighting again in the streets they will be put to death because he is angry that there have been three fights recently. This is a very important speech because later on in the play Romeo fights Tybalt in the streets and kills him. The audience already knows that Romeo will die so there is an element of dramatic irony in this speech that will play a key part in the story later on.
Although Act 1 Scene 1 is predominantly a violent scene it also has a theme of Love between Romeo and Rosaline. Romeo is portrayed as being lovesick because he is in love with Rosaline but she will not love him back.
Act 3 Scene 1 is the beginning of the tragedy aspect of the play. Tybalt stabs Mercutio and then Tybalt is stabbed by Romeo. It is possibly the most violent Scene in the play with two main characters dying. It then leaves the audience wondering what will become of Romeo and reminds us of the prince’s speech in Act 1 Scene 1 when he declares that anyone caught fighting in the streets will be put to death. It grips the audience’s attention.
The characters personalities are shown especially in the conversation between Romeo and Tybalt. Tybalt says:
“Romeo, the love I bear for thee can afford
No better term than this: thou art a villain.”(3.1.58-59)
To which Romeo responds:
“Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage
To such a greeting. Villain am I none.
Therefore farewell; I see thou knowst me not.”(3.1.60-64)
Although they are both using words such as love and villain, Tybalt uses these words to try to try to provoke a fight, where as Romeo reflects these words to try to avert a fight. The reason for Romeo not wanting to fight is because he has married Juliet and is therefore related to Tybalt. There is dramatic irony in this, as no one else knows of the marriage. Mercutio can’t understand why Romeo is not defending himself and steps in, to try and defend Romeo against Tybalt. There is a lot of word play in this scene to make fun of each other. Mercutio says:
“Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives:…”(3.1.75-80)
This doesn’t mean anything to a modern day audience but in the 16th century there was a well-known story about a fictional king of cats and here Mercutio is referring to that story. A 16th century audience would have enjoyed this part of the play. In addition to this it provokes more conflict between Mercutio and Tybalt. This leads to the sword fight and the stabbing of Mercutio. After this Mercutio says before he dies:
“I am hurt.
A plague o’ both your houses! I am sped.
Is he gone, and hath nothing?”(3.1.87-89)
This reminds the audience of the fate of Romeo and Juliet. The dramatic irony is that the audience already knows that Romeo and Juliet will die and that the two houses will be cursed.
After Mercutio’s death Romeo becomes very angry and can no longer refrain from looking for Tybalt and seeking revenge. His mood changes and is a complete contrast to his earlier attitude of not wanting to fight. After Romeo kills Tybalt he says:
“O, I am fortune’s fool!” (3.1.134)
This refers specifically to his misfortune in being forced to kill his new wife’s cousin, therefore being banished by the prince. It also shows the theme of fate that is in the play. Again, there is dramatic irony in that the audience knows that the fate of Romeo and Juliet is to die.
The prince’s lines:
“…Therefore use none. Let Romeo hence in haste,
Else, when he is found, that hour will be his last.
Bear hence this body, and attend our will.
Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill.” (3.1.192-196)
The prince is saying that Romeo should run away and if he doesn’t he will be killed if the prince finds him. This sets up tensions and conflicts to come and make the audience worried about what will happen to Romeo.
Act 3 Scene 5 is important because it shows Capulet as a very different person to the man they saw in the previous scene. The last time the audience saw him he was at the masked ball where he seemed like a cheerful, relaxed man. He is like this at the very beginning of the scene but his attitude and actions towards Juliet change as the scene progresses. He says:
“…My fingers itch…”(3.5.164)
He is implying that he wants to hit her towards the end of the scene. Capulet is angry with Juliet because she is refusing to marry Paris. Juliet is already married to Romeo so she is in an awkward position. She can either marry Paris and be a bigamist, or refuse and be disowned by her family. It is the beginning of Juliet’s troubles because she won’t marry Paris and Romeo is to be banished. This scene illustrates that love is also a core theme in “Romeo and Juliet” because Juliet has to choose between the love of her family or the love of Romeo.
If I were to direct Act 3 Scene 5 of “Romeo and Juliet” I would consider the following aspects of the scene: the characters actions, the characters costumes and the stage lighting.
The costumes I would have each character wearing are as follows. Juliet should be wearing a long white dress to show that she is still very young and innocent. I would have Romeo wearing black trousers to show that he will be caught and exiled and to show that he cannot escape this fate. But as well as this I would have him wearing a light coloured shirt to show that there is still hope for Romeo. Capulet should be wearing red trousers to show his rage and anger towards Juliet. He should also wear a grey shirt, again to reflect his bad mood. The nurse should be wearing neutral colours such as yellow or white to show she is not really apart of this argument and that she isn’t on anyone’s side of the argument. Capulet’s wife would be wearing a grey dress to show she is upset with Juliet but not as upset as Capulet.
For the characters actions in lines 1-40 I would have Romeo and Juliet holding hands until the end when Romeo leaves when they break hands to show that fate is steering them apart and to create a sense of uncertainty as to whether they will see each other again or not. I would also have Capulet raise and clinch his hand as if he were going to hit Juliet in line 164, and to build an atmosphere of conflict and tension.
For the lighting I would have the early morning sun coming through the window into Juliet’s room throughout the entire scene. I would also have Capulet holding a candle (because in the 16th century people would have to use candles during the night to see where they were going) to illustrate his fiery temper.
My main point about violence and conflict in “Romeo and Juliet” is that there is a side to all the characters in the play that is violent or aggressive with the exceptions of Juliet, friar Lawrence and the Nurse. But even these characters have to live every day with the conflicts and the violence in their society and this shapes their personalities so no-one is unaffected by this violence. The violence isn’t just a one-off aggressive act, it’s a theme that goes on through to the very end when Romeo and Juliet carry out there fate of death.
Violence and conflict are definitely central to the play but it is extremely difficult to decide which is the more central theme. Violence occurs because of the love each family has for each other and they feel they have to protect themselves with violence. So without love for there families they wouldn’t be willing to fight for each other therefore there wouldn’t be any violence. But without violence there could still be love for each other.
There is also another theme of pride in “Romeo and Juliet”. Each family is too proud to try to have a reasonable conversation; this is evident because they aren’t even sure what they’re fighting for because they have been fighting for so long. If they didn’t have this idea that they needed to compete with each other then they wouldn’t need to prove themselves by fighting each other. Romeo and Juliet are the only two people who don’t want to fight each other because they didn’t know they were of opposing families when they met and fell in love. If they had known that they were of opposing families I don’t think they would have fallen in love.
It is almost impossible to decide which theme is definitely the central theme but I think that it is violence and conflict. Although love is also a continuous theme, it isn’t as important and central as violence and conflict.
