The main characters in this scene are Romeo, Julliet, Tybalt, Nurse and Capulet. The characters that influence the play mostly are Romeo and Julliet. Romeo instantly falls in love with Julliet.
“What lady’s that which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight?”
The fact that Romeo has fallen in love with Julliet before getting to know her shows that he’s young and quite naïve. He is experiencing ‘love at first sight’, this tellls me that Romeo is slightly immature in the sense that he doesn’t understand the significance and the power of love. Romeo speaks in a very melodramatic manner and gets a bit carried away with Juliet’s beauty.
“Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.”
Romeo describes Juliet as if she is too beautiful to live on this world. Which is ironic because their relationship leads to her death.
This is not the first time in the play where Romeo acts in a melodramatically manner. Earlier on in the play he is so caught up with his relationship with Roseline that he doesn’t really get involved with the feud between the Montague and the Capulet's. I get the impression Romeo is quite a romantic, smutty character. There are also other parts of the play, which emphasise Romeo’s romantic naivety.
“It is the East and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon.”
This is a quote from Act 2 scene 2; Romeo uses a metaphor to compare Juliet to the Sun. He is telling her to kill the envious moon. The night reveals their love and isolates them despite their love is associated with light symbolically they can’t love in daylight and society.
Juliet posses some similarities to Romeo. She to instantly falls in love with Romeo despite the fact her parents want her to marry Paris. This is again a sign of youthfulness and shows that she is uncertain.
“ If he married my grave is like to be my wedding bed.”
This is another doomed premonition; this again represents fate and irony. It is also an example of Juliet being melodramatic like Romeo, she’s barely spoke to Romeo and already she’s saying that if he’s married she’ll kill herself.
“ My only love sprung from my only hate…That I must love a loathed enemy.”
This is where Juliet finds out that Romeo is a Montague, She says that she must love Romeo despite the fact he’s a Montague. Here is the first instance where Juliet puts Romeo ahead of her family. Later on in the novel it is evident that she cares for Romeo more than her family. An example of this is when Romeo kills Tybalt and gets banished from Verona. Juliet gets upset at Romeo’s banishment rather than getting upset at the death of her cousin. This shows how passionate and dedicated Juliet is to Romeo.
We learn a lot about the character of Tybalt in Act 1 scene 5. He is a very fiery character who seems to lose his temper fairly easily.
“ This by his voice should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier, boy.”
This emphasises how much Tybalt hates the Montague’s. Romeo doesn’t seem to be causing any harm, but Tybalt feels the Montague’s are mocking his family by gate crashing their festivities. Tybalt immediately sends for his rapier, which shows he’s quite a violent, irrational character. The fight scene in Act 3 scene 1 where Tybalt kills Mercutio also represents Tybalt’s violent aggressive temperament.
Tybalt tries to convince Capulet that the Montague’s are making a mockery of the Capulet’s celebrations and they must be punished. Capulet tells Tybalt that they are to be endured.
“ Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting makes my flesh tremble in their different greeting. I will withdraw; but this intrusion shall now seeming sweet, convert to bitterest gall.”
Tybalt is full of rage and anger, he says that the intrusion will be welcome now, but later it will turn bitterly sour. Tybalt feels humiliated at the intrusion and he is out for revenge, which later on In the play has tragic consequences. I get the impression from reading the scene that Tybalt is a bucolic, obnoxious character.
