Paris is busy dancing with Juliet, while Romeo stands back watching them all as he was looking for Rosaline. Things change when Romeo first sets eyes on Juliet; he is overwhelmed by her sheer beauty and presence. He shows this by remarking to some bystanders that she is the most beautiful woman that he has ever set eyes upon and that all of the other women are ‘crows’, Later on he reinforces his statement by saying:
“She doth teach the torches to burn bright”.
In saying this he is emphasizing Juliet’s beauty, using references to light which make her noticeable from the rest of the crowd. The sheer sight of Juliet takes his breath away. He says that as soon as Paris leaves he will go and introduce himself to her.
Tybalt overhears Romeo and is immediately enraged; he informs Lord Capulet of his presence and sets off to deal with him. Before he is able to make a scene, he is restrained by Lord Capulet who does not want Tybalt to make a scene in the middle of his party. This shows the impatience of youth, Tybalt wants to rush into things; he wants to fight with Romeo right there and then as he has obviously not thought things through. Yet Lord Capulet on the other hand, thinks and understands the circumstances and does not want to make a scene at his very own party, he has thought the situation through and wishes to deal with it like a gentleman, so he lets Romeo stay as he believes that he is a decent young man.
The language at this part of the play is very angry and full of hate. We can tell by the way that Lord Capulet and Tybalt finish each other’s sentences off that the discussion is heated and very fast, there is a lot of tension between the two as they disagree with each other’s views.
Tybalt says, “If fits when such a villain is a guest; I’ll not endure him”, immediately after Tybalt finishes talking, Capulet says, “He shall be endur’d”.
From this we can see the contrasting views of Tybalt and Lord Capulet, the pace of the conversation is also evident as Tybalt barely finishes his sentence.
Tybalt loses as Lord Capulet threatens to dishonour him if he makes a scene. During this part of the scene the mood is very tense; the audience is not sure how the situation will turn out. Will Tybalt start a fight with Romeo or will he obey Lord Capulet and deal with the situation like a gentleman? This keeps the audience in suspense and gets their full attention span for Romeo and Juliet’s first meeting.
While the battle of wills between Lord Capulet and Tybalt goes on, Romeo walks over and introduces himself to Juliet. The focus of the audience is shifted to the two almost immediately, the audience is so wrapped up in what is going to happen next between them that the feud between Lord Capulet and Tybalt is forgotten about. Shakespeare wanted to make the meeting of the two something special. He wanted to please the crowds, yet in the day of Shakespeare there were no special effects to emphasize the moment. He does it more subtly than we realise.
When Romeo and Juliet first meet, their initial words together form a sonnet. This makes the two stand out from the crowd; it adds a sense of magic and wonder to the story.
Juliet says, “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this: For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers kiss.”
Throughout the duration of the sonnet, Juliet is teasing Romeo as she does not want to seem too keen, until she gives in and grants Romeo the kiss he has been searching for.
The Language in this scene contrasts to that of the rest of the play. In this scene we hear prose, blank verse and a magical sonnet. At no other point in the play do we see such a gathering of these powerful and suggestive poetical devices. In many ways prose and blank verse are placed around the sonnet to make it stand out and appear to be more than just a meeting of two ordinary people.
The nurse proceeds to break the two up as she fears that if the two are caught kissing then a fight may break out. Tybalt may be pushed beyond his limits and disobey Lord Capulet by attacking Romeo. As the nurse is Juliet’s mother figure, she may be over protective; the idea of her kissing a stranger scares her. As Juliet has been promised to marry Paris, though she doesn’t yet know, if she meets some one better it may disrupt the plan and lead to problems between the Capulets and Paris’ family.
Once Juliet has left, Romeo inquires into Juliet’s identity by asking who her mother is and he is shocked to discover that Juliet is a Capulet; he knows that he can not simply be with her now as the feud between their families will come between them. They are star-crossed lovers; their circumstances can only end in tragedy.
Romeo says, “O dear account! My life is my foe’s debt”.
This shows that he is now completely in love with Juliet as he feels that he owes her his life.
When the other guests are leaving Juliet’s curiosity as well as her feelings are expressed, she asks the Nurse to find out Romeo’s identity as she is already in love with him. Juliet feels that she will never meet another person like him, she is sure that Romeo is her soul mate.
Juliet says, “Go, ask his name. – If he be married, My grave is like to be my wedding-bed.”
Only later to find that her true love is her family’s sworn enemy. When Juliet learns that Romeo is a Montague, she is upset as she feels that they can never truly be together. The audience pity and sympathise her situation as the use of dramatic irony sets a young, innocent and naive girl against the backdrop of the harsh cruel reality of the world.
This scene is the answer to Romeo’s dream that something that night would happen that would lead to his ‘untimely death’, though he does not realise the severity of the situation.
Shakespeare can manipulate the audience into believing and thinking what he wants them to, his use of language highlights the points he wants to make, he can make good into remarkable, and bad into terrible. In a sense he makes us think what he wants us to think.
Shakespeare raises may moral issues in this play, he shows the hate and ignorance of youth, when Tybalt wants to rush into a fight with Romeo; the inequality of women in his day, when Juliet is forced to marry Paris; the power of love, the measures that the two take to be together; and the damage of hate and envy, the family feud. All of these issues add to the sense of realism that the play contains. It allows us to connect with the characters and understand their motives, yet at the same time sympathise with their situations.
In conclusion, I believe that Act One Scene Five contains some of the most important and profound events of the entire play. It marks the turning point where things begin to go wrong. Had the Capulet’s party never taken place, Romeo and Juliet would never have met and Tybalt would never have sworn revenge on Romeo. It is these two occasions that I feel determine the outcome of the entire play. If Romeo and Juliet had never met, then there never would have been a story, but as a result of their meeting, Tybalt killed Mercutio, and later Romeo killed Tybalt. Had Romeo never have killed Tybalt, he would never have been banned from Verona and he and Juliet, may have had a chance of being together.
